ODOT holds reins on large developments

The potential development of at least one property in Sisters rests in the hands of the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT).

A discussion in Thursday's Sisters City Council workshop began with a review of Pacific Crest Affordable Housing's proposed acquisition of the nine-acre plot just south of the Sisters Post Office, formerly known as Black Butte Crossing. The larger issue of potential system development charges (SDCs) and the "failed" intersection at Locust Street and Highway 20 quickly became the focus of the discussion

"Without a clear decision on a path to move forward, that property may not be worth anything," said Rob Roy, partner in Pacific Crest. "In effect ODOT has a de facto moratorium on development in Sisters."

Pacific Crest could purchase the property and even pre-pay the SDCs to lock in the price, then pay for the infrastructure improvements (water, sewer, streets), and then get approval for a building permit from the city - and still have their building permit denied on appeal by ODOT because the Locust- Highway 20 intersection problem had not been solved.

By charter, the City of Sisters is required to charge the maximum allowable rate in SDCs. Systems development charges are paid by anyone building a house or commercial building to cover the impact of the new development on streets, sewers, water systems and parks.

The development proposed by Pacific Crest would increase traffic flow to the Locust-Highway 20 intersection.

Since even by the newly relaxed ODOT standards the Locust-Highway 20 intersection is "failing" due to congestion and access problems, any commercial development that impacts the intersection can be held financially liable (via SDCs) for some portion of the cost to bring said intersection into ODOT compliance.

Before purchasing the property out of foreclosure from the bank, Pacific Crest is requesting at least a clear estimate - or preferably a cap - on the fees they could be liable for as a contribution to fix the intersection.

This raises three major issues for the City of Sisters. First, the cost to fix the Locust-Highway 20 intersection is not included in the city's current capital improvement plan (CIP) and therefore not included in current SDC calculations.

Second, it is not currently feasible to even estimate what portion of the cost to upgrade the intersection the city would be held liable for.

Council attorney Steve Bryant summarized the third issue: "If the city puts that intersection into the CIP budget it raises SDCs by probably four times, so instead of a $2,000 per trip transportation SDC it is an $8,000 per trip SDC, and nobody is building anything with an $8,000 per trip SDC. (The current) charter provision prevents the council from allocating the burdens on future development... in some other manner that it thinks helps development but also helps the city to ensure that everything gets done in a timely manner."

Councilor Pat Thompson has raised concerns in the past about the deal-breaking potential of high SDCs.

"We have this grand transportation plan that says we are going to have failure there (the intersection) and we are going to need to do something there, and it is going to cost in excess of $12 million just for that intersection," he said. "We have to, as a city, make sure that it (the SDC fee) does not become such an enormous amount that it stops all development. I think that is what would happen if we quadruple traffic SDCs as the transportation plan suggests."

A fundamental aspect of the problem is that nobody seems to have the cash to fix the intersection.

"We are talking about a transportation problem in the state of Oregon that we are all sort of talking around here," said City Manager Eileen Stein. "We are moving the hot potato around to different parties; the city doesn't have the money, ODOT doesn't have the money,

either."

Pacific Crest left without a resolution to their requests, but with a challenge to present a clearly detailed letter explaining their situation and concerns about risk at the July 12 council meeting, as requested by Councilor David Asson.

In the meantime, the council will explore this issue further through Councilor Wendy Holzman's representation on Central Oregon Area Commission on Transportation (COACT).