Board sets Aug. 6 hearing on Mackenzie Meadow Village rezoning request near Sisters

The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners held a work session July 29 to prepare for an Aug. 6 de novo hearing on a comprehensive plan amendment and zone change application from Mackenzie Meadow Village LLC. The application would re-designate roughly 50 acres north of the City of Sisters from forest to rural residential/Multiple-Use Agricultural 10 and seeks a Goal 4 exception related to forest lands.

Senior planner Holly King summarized the application and the administrative record, noting the hearings officer recommended approval on June 25 following an open-record period. King said the application parcel sits immediately north of Sisters city limits and the UGB; it abuts Trout Creek Conservation tract and the Sisters school district property and is adjacent to Deschutes National Forest in places. Because the matter affects resource lands and requests a Goal 4 exception, the commissioners will hear the matter de novo as the final local decision makers.

Commissioners asked detailed questions about the record and the policy implications. Commissioner Chang pressed staff on how the state land-use system values forest lands at the margins of commercial timber capability and whether those margins should receive special consideration under Goal 4. King said the applicant supplied a soils and tree-growth analysis that found predominantly Class 7 soils and that the trees were not currently merchantable, and she said the hearings officer found the applicant's responses to DLCD comments adequate.

The board also examined the Highway 20 Landscape Management (LM) scenic overlay that affects structures within a quarter-mile of the corridor. Planning manager Will Groves told commissioners the LM overlay is intended to moderate visibility by encouraging muted colors and vegetation rather than to make structures absolutely invisible: "The purpose of the LM zone is not to render structures invisible from these features. The notion is it creates a step hierarchy ... if you're within a quarter mile, we're gonna check out to see if it's visible. And if it's visible, we're gonna ask you basically to paint it earth tone colors and have at least some vegetation between you and the feature."

Commissioners asked about clustering and subdivision mechanics if MUA 10 zoning were granted, including open-space requirements, effective density, and how properties that enter a city's UGB later could be treated. Staff explained clustering rules historically produced a 1 unit per 5-acre effective density with a 65% open-space requirement for UGB-adjacent clusters, but noted recent code and state rule changes (Division 4600-related provisions) complicate future cluster calculations and could limit options.

King said the record includes nearly 200 written comments and about 15 oral participants at the hearings officer proceeding, with a majority opposing the application but several comments in favor. Commissioners requested supplemental materials for the Aug. 6 hearing, including a map showing surrounding zoning and ownership, a clearer summary of public comment counts, and the hearings officer record. The public hearing is scheduled for Aug. 6; commissioners will receive staff and applicant presentations, then public testimony.