City and neighbors work on campground issue

Lynn Baker, representing the residents of the Buck Run and Coyote Springs neighborhoods, closed his testimony at the February 12 joint workshop of the Parks Advisory Board (PAB) and the Sisters City Council with a reminder:

"The character of a city is reflected by the ways in which the city protects the quality of life of its residents," he concluded.

The neighborhoods, adjacent to the Creekside Campground, have been actively involved in organizing, testifying, and petitioning the City regarding the impact of past decisions and actions regarding the campground and their concerns for proposed future changes.

The 104 petition-signers living around the campground fear those impacts will continue to increase. They believe that previous processes allowing for expansion of the campground did not allow for prior public input, and they want to assure that won't happen again.

They are asking for a good-faith moratorium on the opening of the campground this spring until there is a resolution to their petition. They are insisting on representation of their neighborhoods in any future processes and decisions regarding the campground. They have not only identified the problems as they see them; they have suggested solutions to a number of their concerns.

Mayor Chris Frye and PAB chairman Liam Hughes led a majority of the discussion during the meeting, with Hughes summarizing the PAB work to this point and answering questions from Council, and Frye asking most of the questions and outlining what his goal is for the campground and the things he does and does not want to see done.

Frye's biggest concern for the City is livability for its citizens, and he wants the campground to be a good neighbor.

"Lots of changes have happened to that campground over the years," he said.

He noted that any improvements to or expansion of the campground are not mentioned in the current Parks Master Plan and he has no interest in expansion. He would rather see the money spent at Clemens Park and enhancing other amenities for the community.

"I think there is a way to better the experience for the campers but at the same time not negatively impact those who live in that community," he added.

Dixie Eckford, PAB member, encouraged maintaining the uniqueness of the campground.

"We have a lot of hikers and bikers (who use the campground) and that's one thing of concern to me, that in whatever plan we set up, that we keep an area exclusively for people who are not arriving in an automobile... Personally, I'd like to see that part not reservable by anyone. When you arrive, you can put your tent there and that's unique," she said.

Councilor Nancy Connolly would like to see the size of the motorhomes allowed in the park restricted so that the large Class A rigs would not be using the campground.

"The big rigs can't easily navigate the park roads and without having to cut trees down, that can't be changed."

She also noted the increased visibility of the big rigs by the neighbors.

Councilor Wendy Holzman suggested that perhaps it would be helpful to describe the campground on the campground website accurately as far as maneuverability, types and amperage of hookups, and size of sites to help campers with large RVs understand the limitations.

"It's a small community park. It's not going to have all the same pull-throughs that will accommodate the larger vehicles," she suggested.

Pauline Hardie, community development director, has been in ongoing communication with the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department regarding the campground and the need for either amendments to the 1990 master plan or an entirely new master plan which would reflect changes and improvements.

In response to a question from Council, Hardie said that the State indicated submitting a new master plan for approval would be the easiest course because that would only require one approval process for the parities involved. Each amendment submitted requires its own approval process.

Connolly asked how much all the proposed changes would cost. City Manager Andrew Gorayeb indicated that until the master plan is done there is no way to calculate that. He offered that the master plan should be set up in such a way that it could be done in pieces, because the amount of money that will be available will be the reality check as to what can be done at any given time.

Citizens raised a key question:

"One of the purposes of the workshop was to get some clarity from Council about what they want from the park. Is it supposed to be a money-maker?" asked Eckford.

Frye made it very clear he is not interested in trying to make more money for the general fund through increased revenue from the campground.

"If it makes money, that's nice. It's not a revenue-generator for me. It's a benefit to people visiting the town because it offers a cheaper lodging option for people on lower budgets," he explained.

Connelly pointed to the questions asked by Hughes of the Council: What would the additional revenue mean to the average citizen of Sisters? What benefit will the neighbors receive from having the income coming in? What do people on the other end of town receive as a benefit? What does City Council see is the primary function of the campground? Is it a revenue stream, a facilitator for tourism, a facility for public enjoyment? How does the greater population of Sisters feel about it?

"I think we as a Council need to address these," Connolly said. She urged the Council to give the PAB volunteers the direction they are asking for.

The PAB was directed by Council to work with staff to draft a concept drawing to incorporate more landscape screening of the campground, improved drainage and signage, camp sinks, Wi-Fi for campers, removal of two sites and relocation of a third, and replacing bathrooms. They were encouraged to get more feedback from the neighbors on a number of other issues and to share the concept drawing with them.

Not all of the questions for which the PAB was seeking direction were answered. There were no provisions made for community outreach to the citizens beyond the neighborhood for their input regarding the campground.