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Sisters voters seized control of how the city will grow when they passed Ballot
Measure 9-40, requiring a majority vote of city residents to approve any new
annexations.
The measure, which passed by a 247-114 margin, was strongly supported by city
council candidates Tim Clasen and Gordon Petrie, who won their election bids.
"Now we have a voice in future annexing," said councilor-elect Tim Clasen, "and
we definitely sent a message to developers and business people that if they're
going to change the character of Sisters, we want to have a say in what
happens."
Steve Wilson, who garnered the largest number of city council votes, believes
the voters are not necessarily opposed to growth, but that they want more say
in how the city handles it.
"It doesn't necessarily say as much about the growth issue as it does about
citizen involvement," Wilson said. "They voted for a voice, not to keep growth
from coming to Sisters."
Wilson opposed the measure during his campaign for city council.
The measure will likely be applied first to the Pine Meadow Ranch Development,
a proposed 62-acre commercial and residential development at the western edge
of Pine Street. The property, owned by the Sokol family of Sisters, is
presently outside the city limits but within Sisters' Urban Growth Boundary.
Members of a citizen's group called the Committee to Save Sisters, which
petitioned for the measure, have opposed the PMR development, sighting loss of
views and increased traffic congestion and burdens on city services.
The committee is petitioning for a second ballot measure that would require a
favorable vote of residents to provide city services such as water outside the
city limits.
PMR Development has agreed in principle to annexation, but the developers will
to go forward with the project whether it is annexed or not.
According to Steve McGhehey of PMR Development, Deschutes County granted a zone
change on 50 acres of the property from urban area reserve to standard and high
density residential zoning on the condition that the development "consent to
annexation." Twelve acres of the property already had commercial designation.
"We're going to offer annexation as the county requires," McGhehey said," and
if they have to have an (unfavorable) vote, then I guess we won't be annexed.
"If they think that's a way to stop development, that's wrong," McGhehey
said.
McGhehey said the development has the resources to build and maintain its own
water system and could work with the county or private providers for services
such as garbage collection and police protection. McGhehey said that it would
probably not cost any more to develop a private water system than to use city
water.
Still, McGhehey said, it would be more convenient to uses city services.
"It's best, even if it costs more, to be tied in to the city," he said.
If the voters deny annexation after the project is built and approved by
Deschutes County, the tax revenue from the properties in the development will
go to the county. And, according to city planner Neil Thompson, the city would
forfeit approximately $500,000 in water hook-up fees.
Those considerations will be left for a later decision. For supporters of the
measure, what is important is that the decision will be made by the voters
directly, instead of being made by the city council.
"It's just sort of a tangible way of getting a little control for the
citizens," said William Boyer, of the Alliance for Responsible Land Use in
Deschutes County.
ARLU DeCo has appealed the county's zone change for PMR to the state Land Use
Board of Appeals.
According to Boyer, ARLU DeCo "provided some ideas, some assistance" to the
Committee to Save Sisters in the annexation measure, "but it was driven
by the community."
Boyer acknowledged that the Committee to Save Sisters may have initially been
motivated by concerns over the PMR Development, but, he said, they have
larger concerns about the city's comprehensive plan -- which they see as
expansionist -- and about the perceived unwillingness of the current city
council to respond to citizen's concerns.
"The community was driven by the intransigence of the council," Boyer said.
"Sisters has set an example that will be picked up by other small communities
in eastern Oregon," he said.
