City approves some code changes

With unanimous approval regarding changes to the code regulating business licenses, Sisters City Council inched forward in efforts to clean up several municipal codes regarding conducting business and holding events in Sisters.

Two other amendments were approved, but with split votes, requiring a second reading at the next Council meeting, before the approval is final.

The business license Ordinance No. 463 clarified the types of licenses available and how they impact different types of businesses. For example, if someone has a home-based business inside city limits, and they are not simply an employee of someone else's business, they are required to have a business license.

If, however, they are employed by a business owned by someone else, and simply conduct that business from their own home, no license is required.

A home business located outside the city limits, but doing business inside the city, must have a Sisters business license.

The business license code modifications were made to improve code enforcement, to make the code easier to understand, and to clean up the code regarding issues that have been identified as problematic.

Ordinance No. 464, concerning transient merchants, has prompted considerable public input and Council deliberation spanning more than a year. The major sticking point involved whether transient merchants should ever be allowed to locate on Cascade Avenue and if so, when.

Besides public testimony and the receipt of letters from Sisters business owners, Council members recently conducted their own informal surveys of citizens and business owners to solicit their thoughts on transient merchants and public events.

Councilor Nancy Connolly surveyed only residents of Sisters, since she, as she put it, "was elected to represent the interests of her constituents." Other councilors surveyed a mix of residents and businesses. Because she is newly appointed, Councilor Andrea Blum listened to recordings of previous testimony to help her in her deliberations.

"We're not going to come to a perfect solution," Blum said after much discussion among Council members. "We're going to find the place to start. This is the best we can do for now. New situations will keep coming up."

Blum recommended that Council move forward with the best consensus available at this time. She also supported a previous suggestion to appoint a committee of those involved in the transient merchant issue to evaluate the results of a year under the amended code and recommend any needed changes.

Councilor David Asson, who favors no restrictions on transient merchants, contended that because the survey was "not a professional survey, it means nothing and only provided false data." Asson also contended that by not allowing transient merchants on Cascade, Council was creating "some major financial disadvantages to those involved."

The change in code to not allow transient merchants on Cascade Avenue at any time was approved by a 3-2 vote, with Asson and Councilor Amy Burgstahler dissenting. A second reading will occur at the next meeting of Council.

The other major ordinance modification that has involved considerable time, public testimony and letters concerns the matter of whether other public events should be allowed during citywide events.

In the past, four annual events were considered citywide: the Rodeo parade, Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, Sisters Folk Festival, and Harvest Faire. Public Works director Paul Bertagna and his staff recently analyzed the amount of time and person-power required during those four events, a driving factor in considering whether or not an event is citywide.

Bertagna reported that the Rodeo parade is an hour-and-a-half event that requires some setup and takedown of signs, traffic cones, and barricades, and some traffic direction. The SOQS requires a full day of their time. Sisters Folk Festival requires three days and Harvest Faire two days.

City Manager Andrew Gorayeb reported that in the past, the City has never really tried to coordinate traffic management during the parade with the Deschutes County Sheriff's office. They have had one meeting recently, with more planned. Gorayeb believes that the traffic issues surrounding the parade can be ameliorated, thus putting less demand on public works employees.

For the past 14 years, Arts in the Park has been held in Creekside Park during Rodeo weekend. City Council gave their approval for the event 14 years ago. If the Rodeo parade continued to be considered a citywide event, and the amendment disallowing a public event during a citywide event was passed, Arts in the Park would not be allowed.

Presented with Bertagna's and Gorayeb's information, Council agreed that the Rodeo Parade need not be considered a citywide event.

When Burgstahler proposed several hypothetical public events that could occur without interfering with a citywide event, the Council agreed to allow non-commercial public events during a citywide event.

School-sponsored events on school district property will not require a public-event permit, but private events on district property will require a public-event permit.

The Council voted 4-1 to approve the amendment that no other public events, except those identified as non-commercial, can be held during citywide events, with Asson casting the lone "no" vote, requiring a second reading of Ordinance No. 465.