News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
A proposed airport boundary map has circulated that includes an expansive area for airport activities.
The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners will grapple with several questions related to the operation of Sisters Eagle Airport at a work session on Monday, September 19.
According to a memorandum from Senior Transportation Planner Peter Russell prepared for the session, the commissioners will discuss a paved "runout" on the airport runway; a pending request by the airport to be added to the Oregon Department of Aviation's (ODA) list of recognized airports; and the use of a property on Barclay Drive as a landing site for skydivers.
Contacted by The Nugget for the airport's point of view on the matters up for discussion, airport manager David Campbell said he was out of town and referred The Nugget back to Russell.
According to Russell, the paving of the runout in 2015 poses several "challenges" for the County - the first being that it was reportedly done without permits. Additionally, the use is not allowed in the Rural Residential (RR-10) zone and it sits on property not owned by the airport but on the common area owned by the adjacent Eagle Air Estates subdivision.
The memo states that, "the runout causes Eagle Air Estates to violate its condition of approval to have 65 percent of the land be in undeveloped open space." Also, the runout was built on lands mapped as wetlands.
Russell notes that, "County and City (of Sisters) staff have met with representatives from the Eagle Air Estates Homeowners Association and Sisters Eagle Airport. The groups continue to search for a mutually acceptable solution."
The commissioners will also discuss a pending request from the airport to be recognized by the state. As reported in the September 7 edition of The Nugget, Sisters Eagle Airport has made a request of ODA to be included in the agency's list of recognized airports. Airport Manager Campbell earlier told The Nugget that no formal application had been made and declined further comment.
ODA planner Jeff Caines told The Nugget that the materials submitted - "request" or "application" or whatever they are being called - had not been reviewed as of last week and remain subject to change. A map circulated in association with this request shows an expansive boundary, which has concerned some local residents.
Their concerns are exacerbated by the fact that, as Russell notes, "For these airports, aviation uses are outright permitted on land within the airport boundary regardless of local land-use regulations. Lands within the airport boundary are lands either owned by the airport or leased for long-term use, or committed to airport use."
A public hearing will be scheduled in Deschutes County when an application is deemed complete. Assuming that happens, "affected property owners" - those whose property is within 500 feet of an airport boundary, within an approach corridor, or whose use of their property may be directly affected if the proposed airport is listed - will be given notice of a public hearing. Caines noted that others who are interested can be placed on a notice list by contacting the Oregon Department of Aviation.
Local governments - Deschutes County and the City of Sisters - will have the opportunity to weigh in.
The third topic of discussion at the September 19 work session is the use by skydivers of a landing zone on a lot along Barclay Drive. The skydiving operation based at the airport had also been using a lot on Camp Polk Road, but last month the airport withdrew a conditional use permit application for that site and ceased using it.
The site on Barclay Drive is zoned to allow recreational activities that require large acreage as a conditional use, according to Russell's
memo.
He noted that "Code Enforcement has opened a case and is attempting to reach a Voluntary Compliance Agreement involving the property owner, Sisters Eagle Airport, and the business."
The commissioners' work session is scheduled for Monday, September 19, at 1:30 p.m. in the Allen Room of the Deschutes Services Building, 1300 N.W. Wall St. The Board normally does not accept public testimony at work sessions.
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.
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