7/16/20, 6:04 PM
There’s been a lot of chatter regarding the proposed development of a church and community center located at the intersection of SW Mustang Road and SW Tarpon on Crooked River Ranch (CRR).
Today, we had an opportunity to sit down with Jefferson County Commissioner/Chair, Kelly Simmelink and discuss this proposal. He indicated right off, he has not been involved in the process, hasn’t heard from any constituents including Ranch Officials.
Simmelink added, he’s waiting to see the STAFF REPORT from the Planning Commission to better understand the dynamics behind the project. Further, Simmelink stated, “Commissioners typically follow the recommendations included in the Staff Report.”
According to Simmelink, this project might be up for discussion at the July 29, Jefferson County Commission Meeting.
After meeting with Simmelink we met briefly with Tanya Cloutier, Senior Planning Technician at the Jefferson County Community Development Department, regarding the release of the STAFF REPORT. According to Ms. Cloutier, the REPORT is being finalized and available later. She added, to date, her office has not received any written comments or complaints from anyone on the Ranch.
This afternoon, Ranch Matters received a copy of the STAFF REPORT. The REPORT consists of 10 pages and Exhibits A-C.
The report submitted by Jefferson County Community Development Director, Phil Stenbeck, includes “30 FINDINGS” “CONCLUSION” and “Potential Conditions.”
The CONCLUSION section states: “The Planning Commission must review the application materials for consistency with the appropriate criteria and decide if the proposal for the use of a church and community center is consistent with the law, and further determine which conditions are appropriate.”
For Specifics, see copy of STAFF REPORT, not including Exhibits,
The CONCLUSION section discusses the application materials and the need for them to be reviewed. We have obtained a copy of the “DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION” filed with the County by Mr. Frank Woods, on behalf of Highland Baptist Church dated June 02, 2020.
The application materials also includes, “ADDITIONAL INFO FOR HIGHLAND BAPTIST CHURCH/DBA TWIN RIVERS COMMUNITY CHURCH CONDITIONAL USE APPLICATION”
Additionally, a Cover Letter dated June 01, 2020 submitted by Mr. Wood regarding “Conditional Use request for Property located at 5900 Tarpon CRR.”
“CERTIFICATE OF RESOLUTION OF HIGHLAND BAPTIST CHURCH, dated December 15, 2019 and submitted to the County on June 15, 2020.
The Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing on July 23, 2020, at 5:30 PM in the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners meeting room, located at 66 SE D Street, Madras, Oregon.
