Sisters continues to grapple with housing

Affordable housing continues to be an issue of intense interest in Sisters.

During a joint workshop of the Sisters City Council and the Planning Commission last week, Patrick Davenport, community development director, brought both bodies up to date on the progress of a comprehensive Sisters housing needs assessment being conducted by City staff.

Davenport presented a preliminary report of the findings, although work is ongoing in a number of different areas. The analysis is in support of various studies required to update the City's Comprehensive Land Use Plan. It also provides policy recommendations to Council, which are intended to support construction of appropriate levels of affordable housing within the city. The housing needs analysis is based on research from various sources to update the evaluation of trends that affect housing construction and future supply in Sisters.

In order to consider a for-sale home to be "affordable" in Deschutes County, based on an Area Median Income of $50,209, it would be valued at $155,687.

A working group of individuals who are directly involved in active affordable-housing programs or construction and other interested persons participated in reviewing background data and developing affordable-housing recommendations.

Data collected indicates that single-family homes, attached and detached, comprise nearly two-thirds of the housing stock in Sisters. Townhomes, apartments, and condominiums comprise only 14 percent, and only one development, Sisters RV Park, considered a mobile home park, exists in the city.

According to the 2010 census, 54 percent were owner-occupied dwellings and 46 percent were renter-occupied. 2015 GIS data shows 74 percent and 26 percent respectively.

Building permit issuances are keeping pace with 2013 and 2014, but all of the permits issued so far for 2015 are for single-family dwellings. Permit issuance rates are still approximately half the number as compared to 2005 and 2006.

One very interesting table in the report provides detailed information on residential buildable lands and development inventory including number of acres, zoning, numbers of vacant lots and potential vacant dwelling units, types of homes, how many are built now and will be at build-out and the dwelling units per acre (gross density). There are currently 1,132 dwelling units built. If all possible units were built out, there would be 2,872.

The report, when completed, will include national, state, and local housing and demographic trends as well as projected housing needs by structure type and tenure and desired percentages of each type.

From the housing needs analysis, staff and the work group have proposed possible policy recommendations to support affordable housing in Sisters. Those suggestions include: appointing a housing coordinator to monitor housing related activity; developing a housing policy board, separate from the planning commission, to deal only with housing issues; and developing a housing trust fund and use of other existing City funding sources to provide financial assistance for building affordable housing.

Other recommendations include: developing a comprehensive incentive program for developers of affordable housing; drafting amendments and revisions to the development code to encourage/facilitate affordable housing; surveying vacant, underutilized, and public land for purchase and building opportunities; and encouraging use of financing support and tax credits.

Staff is continuing to work on the overall housing analysis including the need for more affordable housing units in Sisters.

On another matter, the Planning Commission agreed to workshop the issue of food carts in Sisters by looking at possible revisions to the Development Code. Commissioner Jeff Seymour said, "We need to be proactive before it becomes a problem."