News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The Sisters planning commission never saw the Type II site plan review that allows the placement of food carts in the courtyard at Eurosports. The plan was approved by City of Sisters planning staff last month.
While planning staff consider food carts a permitted use under City code, some in the community believe that allowing them represents a significant change. In a letter opposing the application, Sisters Bakery owner Melissa Ward said that allowing food carts "effectively alters the scope of existing business in Sisters and most certainly establishes a precedent for transient vendors in the future."
Community Development Director Pauline Hardie told The Nugget that "it has been our common practice to send all SP (site plan) applications to the PC (planning commission)." That did not happen in this case.
"The application submitted was deemed a complete application and I didn't forward it to the planning commission for review," Hardie said. "Although it is not required to be forwarded on to planning commission, we typically try to let them know of all SP applications. In this case, we believe staff inadvertently overlooked this step in the process."
Planning commission chairman Alan Holzman thinks the planning commission should have seen the application.
"Every single site plan review (SPR) should at least come to us so that we're aware of it," Holzman said. "Every one should, at minimum, be seen by us as an FYI."
Being given a "heads-up" about a site plan review does not necessarily mean that every SPR would be reviewed by the commission. Holzman said that the application for food carts was "a clean app" that meets code requirements and did not skirt the edges of the code or require a variance. As such, it probably would not have been called up for review.
Three or more members of the planning commission may initiate review of a Type II decision.
The site plan was submitted by Brad Boyd, who currently sits on the City council and serves as mayor. (He was not reelected and his term ends this month.) Given that every action of the mayor is subject to public inquiry, is there any protocol to ensure that any transaction with the City be put through the maximum level of scrutiny? No.
"There is no policy or protocol to forward applications made by people who serve as public officials to the planning commission," Hardie told The Nugget.
Holzman said he is thinking about requesting the establishment of clear policies and protocols - as opposed to informal standard practices - to ensure that all site plan reviews are brought before the planning commission on an informational basis.
The planning chairman downplayed concerns about the potential for proliferation of food carts in the wake of this application's approval. He noted that there are considerable requirements attached to citing food carts, including host property improvements and inspections at the county level.
"Only business owners who have improved their site can do this," Holzman said. "If they have, at that point, why not? But it's not like any business owner can just invite food carts onto their site. It's not so easy to do this... Not every business has them (the necessary improvements). You can't just skim over that issue, because we're not going to be inundated with food carts."
Each food cart at Eurosports will be required to conform to the City's Western theme requirements, and Boyd must make some additional improvements to his lot, including planting at least one "street tree." Each food cart operator will be required to have a City of Sisters business license and would have to pay systems development charges only if they connect to City sewer or water services.
Boyd envisions the carts as a permanent fixture in the back area of his lot. How many will be there depends on how much space each takes up of what is allowed - and on what the market will bear, he said.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
Reader Comments(0)