Council OKs amended annexation agreement

After 12 years and some $600,000 in legal bills, the owners of the McKenzie Meadow Village (MMV) property, the Willitts, Kallberg, and Reed families, won agreement from the Sisters City Council to an amendment to their original annexation agreement at the May 24 Council meeting.

One of the major prescriptive requirements of the original agreement called for construction and occupancy of an assisted-living facility in MMV before any other development could occur. The property owners completed a contract for the required facility to be built and managed by Mark Adolf and his Pinnacle Alliance Group out of Yakima.

After multiple failed attempts by Adolf to secure financing, the MMV group did not renew his contract. They instead contracted with a Bend developer who was ready to build the assisted-living facility.

What followed was a battle by Adolf to apparently derail the development of MMV by filing land-use appeals designed to stall the senior-living facility, and thus the entire MMV development. Adolf eventually sued the Bend developer, claiming he used Pinnacle's plans for the assisted-living facility. After hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, the Bend developer pulled out of the project.

Despite receiving City approval for an assisted-living facility on another parcel of land in town, Adolf has never paid the fees required to pick up his building permits, so his approved project is not yet under construction.

Their request to remove the requirement for the assisted-living facility frees the developers up to start building affordable and market-rate apartments and houses for all ages of residents.

The approved revised and restated amendment spells out clearly the provisions regarding affordable housing, water rights, infrastructure, master plan, and open space. The requirement for the senior-living facility is removed. However, it could still be built at a later date.

During the hearing several community members spoke in favor of the proposed amendment with no one speaking against it.

In his testimony before the Council, Bill Willitts indicated that Mark Adolf had already requested the records of the evening's proceedings. He closed his testimony by saying, "We can't continue the war. It's just untenable."