PC 'calls up' event site application

The City of Sisters Planning Commission will review a request by Celia Hung for a temporary-use permit that would allow events to be held on a lot at the corner of Cascade Avenue and Oak Street.

The administrative decision approving the application, which would allow up to 91 vendors for up to 180 days within a 365-day period at 320 and 350 W. Cascade Ave. and two lots on West Hood Avenue between Cottonwood and Pine Meadow streets has been called up by the planning commission, City Planner Eric Porter reported.

Hung, owner of Bend/Sisters Garden RV Resort, has a long-term lease from property owner Nick Veroske on the former Chevron gas-station site, which has been vacant for the past nine years. She plans a variety of projects, from food-pairing events to a motorcycle show to promoter Richard Esterman's Sisters Artists Marketplace on the weekend of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.

The City has received numerous letters expressing concerns about the visual aesthetics and the parking. Some local merchants have raised objections based on their perception that bringing in large numbers of vendors takes away trade from established Sisters merchants. Hung and Esterman believe such events will increase overall business activity in Sisters.

The public hearing will occur before the Sisters Planning Commission on July 17 at 5:30 p.m., at Sisters City Hall, 520 E. Cascade Ave. Public testimony will be taken. Written or emailed comments will be copied and included with the staff report to the planning commission. For additional comments to be incorporated into the staff report, they must be received by the City on or before July 9.

Contact Porter at 541-323-5219 or at [email protected]isters.or.us for more information.