Sisters 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update

This online open house provides the opportunity for you to learn about and provide feedback on upcoming work on the Sisters 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update project.

The open house is organized into 5 "stations": 

🗨️ = Includes questions or opportunities for comment. 

🖱️ To get started, simply use your mouse, keyboard, mobile phone, or tablet to scroll down, or click on the headings across the top of the page to navigate to a specific section. 

The Comprehensive Plan is the City’s long-range plan for how it will grow and serve its community members in the future. It addresses topics such as land use, housing, economic development, transportation, parks and recreation, and natural resources, with a strong emphasis on how land is used, developed, and/or conserved. The Plan and its policies will drive future decisions and actions undertaken by City staff, advisory groups, and decision-makers to plan for the future of Sisters. The Plan only applies to land within the Sisters Urban Growth Boundary; it does not directly apply to the larger Sisters Country area outside the City.

The City’s current Comprehensive Plan was adopted in 2005. Since that time Sisters has experienced rapid population growth and shifts in demographics. Although many of the recommendations of the current Plan still hold value, the fundamental data, trends, and land use categories used to establish the recommendations are outdated. Additionally, a full update of the City’s Comprehensive Plan is identified as an action item in the Sisters Country Vision and Action Plan. The updated Plan needs to reflect contemporary policies and views regarding housing and housing affordability; recreation; livability; economy; sustainability; resilience to natural hazards and economic obstacles; diversity, equity, and inclusion; creating an age-friendly community environment; and historic preservation. 

 View the 2005 Sisters Comprehensive Plan  

The Comprehensive Plan update process began in August 2020 and is expected to be completed by August 2021. The following schedule outlines the key tasks that will be undertaken throughout the Comprehensive Plan update process, including potential dates for advisory committee meetings and community events. 

Please answer the following four questions. Click anywhere on the survey to get started.

This Comprehensive Plan update will include an analysis of existing local and regional economic trends and forecasts for future employment growth by industry. These analyses are based on the City's Economic Opportunities Analysis, which will identify emerging trends and conditions for the City’s target industries, evaluate the short- and long-term capacity of the land supply to accommodate growth, estimate the need for future employment land, and recommend strategies to support a strong, resilient economic future. Sisters can support specific industries through its Comprehensive Plan policies in order to retain existing businesses and attract new ones.

The Sisters economy is heavily weighted towards tourism and recreational activities. Currently, over 1,700 local jobs are filled by workers that commute into Sisters from elsewhere in the region. While the City has seen rapid population growth in recent years, the ability to continue to attract labor force will be critical in supporting ongoing economic and employment growth.

A Note on the Economic Impacts of COVID-19: Tourism and recreational activities have been disproportionately impacted by measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. While the national and regional economy was expanding as late as February, the pandemic has triggered an unprecedented contraction of economic activity. Although roughly 40% of employment losses in Deschutes County have been reversed, the short- and mid-term prospects for the economy will be heavily dependent upon the course of the virus and treatment options.

Preliminary analysis indicates that local target industries for the City of Sisters are likely to include:

• Accommodation and food services (businesses similar to Sisters Saloon, Five Pine Lodge and Conference Center, Sisters Coffee Company)
• Retail trade (businesses similar to Ray's Food Place, The Stitchin Post, Hoyt Hardware)
• Health care and social assistance (businesses similar to Step & Spine Physical Therapy, Sisters Habitat for Humanity)
• Business services (businesses similar to Energyneering Solutions, Howells Realty, Ponderosa Properties)
• Wood manufacturing (businesses similar to Sisters Forest Products, Lakeview Millworks)
• Recreational equipment & apparel (businesses similar to Velocity Sports Equipment)
• Brewing and distilling (businesses similar to Three Creeks Brewing, Cascade Street Distillery)
• Food manufacturing (businesses similar to Laird Superfood, Josie's Best, Metabolic Maintenance)

Please answer the following four questions. Click anywhere on the survey to get started.

Having affordable, quality housing with access to community services is essential for communities. The current Sisters Comprehensive Plan includes a range of housing  policies such as provide sufficient land for housing and housing that meets the needs of low- and moderate-income households. Sisters adopted a  Housing Needs Analysis  in June 2019, which includes a forecast of housing and residential land needs through the year 2039 based on population projections provided by Portland State University. This Comprehensive Plan update will bring key information from the Housing Needs Analysis up to date, including an inventory of buildable residential lands (how much land we have left and how much more we’ll need to accommodate the future housing needs) and a summary of current housing and population conditions.

Sisters is projected to need 1,057 new housing units by 2039—a 72% increase over the current supply— to support future population growth. These new housing units will require 167 net acres of buildable residential land, which is more than is currently available inside the Sisters Urban Growth Boundary. Of these new units needed, roughly 66% are projected to be ownership units, while 34% are projected to be rental units.

The needed new housing is expected to include the following types:

• Single-family detached (66% of the total need)
• Single-family attached townhomes (10% of the total need)
• Duplexes, triplexes, and four-plexes (11% of the total need)
• Multi-family with five or more attached units (11% of the total need)

To learn more about housing capacity in Sisters, read the full Housing Needs Analysis report  here .

Sisters can consider a variety of strategies to help meet future housing needs and provide opportunities for a wide range of housing choices, efficient land use, and development of homes that are affordable to people with low and moderate incomes, including:

• Land Supply. Adjust the supply of land to ensure adequate land is available for specific types of housing. Specific strategies include rezoning land from one type of residential use or intensity to another, rezone land planned for employment to residential use, and/or consider the need to expand the City’s urban growth boundary.
• Zoning Standards. Update the City’s zoning or development code standards to expand the types of housing allowed in different areas, allow more housing units on a given lot or area, or change standards related to building heights, parking, architectural design, or other aspects of development.
• Incentives. Provide incentives for the development of housing that meets specific needs. Incentives could include the ability to build more housing units, reduce land devoted to parking, speed up the development review process, reduce fees, or provide tax abatements or exemptions.
• Funding. Provide money or other resources to support development of housing, particularly housing affordable to people who cannot afford housing available through the private market. 
• Partnerships. Support organizations that build housing, particularly for households with limited means or specific needs. Support could include funding, land, coordination or technical assistance.

Please answer the following three questions. Click anywhere on the survey to get started.

The City is committed to engaging the community early and often throughout the Comprehensive Plan update process. Please help us reach more community members by answering the four questions below.

Click anywhere on the survey to get started.

Note: Given current social distancing requirements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, early meetings and other community engagement activities are expected to occur virtually. The project will resume in-person activities if and when it becomes safe.

Please answer the following five questions. Click anywhere on the survey to get started.

Enter your email address below to be added to a raffle for one of six $25 gift cards to local businesses including Ray's and Oliver Lemons!