It was a long day for destination resorts Wednesday.
People who picked up their morning paper might have read today over a cup of coffee that Tetherow resort, which is located just outside Bend’s city limits on Century Drive, had scrapped plans for its “luxury” hotel because of financing problems. According to the story, the resort’s developers are being sued by the architects who worked on the design for the building to the tune of 700 grand. Lot sales, too, appear to have stagnated at Tetherow along with most of the other destination resorts. Just six lots have sold since June at Tetherow with hundreds still available.
If this storyline sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Pronghorn, the exclusive resort north of the Bend airport off the Powell Butte highway, has yet to build its promised hotel – some five years after the resort started selling lots and developing its TWO golf courses. So far the resort has received four extensions from the county, the latest stretching to 2013. How’s that for holding their feet to the fire.
While most folks were digesting the news that Tetherow is taking on water, Crook County commissioners were busy rescinding their entire destination resort map, essentially putting a moratorium on any new resorts. According to a report earlier today in the Oregonian, commissioners said they were compelled to take the action after a large majority of county voters endorsed a referendum directing the county to withdraw the map. The overlay maps are required by state law in any county that seeks to attract destination resorts, and at this point it’s not clear what direction Crook County will go.
It had already been a long day for resort developers and their backers (as well as their army of attorneys) and it wasn’t even lunch. By mid-afternoon, developers were under the microscope again in Prineville when the Department of Land Conservation and Development and several state legislators held a field hearing to discuss the impact of resorts on Oregon, particularly Central Oregon. The department kicked off the hearing by telling attendees many of whom were already aware, that the it was going to introduce legislation that would give the agency greater power to regulate the industry, which currently is governed by state law and local codes that have been designed to implement those laws.
Commissioners and state legislators got an earful, though, from many opponents of the resorts, including a strong contingent of Powell Butte residents who said their rural way of life was being undermined by the proliferation of resorts in their community. Others, including former state legislator Charlie Ringo, had strong words for the industry, which Ringo described as masquerading as something it is not.
“Pronghorn, Remington Ranch, Brasada. These things are not destination resorts – they’re rural subdivisions. It’s a sham to call them destination resorts,” Ringo said.
He described dropping by Pronghorn after a day in the outdoors with his son to see if they could get something to eat. He didn’t have to finish the story, though, before the room broke out in spontaneous laughter at the notion of walking into Pronghorn.
Ringo of course was turned away at the resort’s locked gate.
It’s an example, he said, of how so-called resorts have become exclusive subdivisions for millionaires. And while they may be profitable for some, including the county tax collectors, they are certainly not what Oregonians had in mind when they created the destination resort laws 25 years ago.
He suggested that the state impose an immediate moratorium while it studies the issue. Others seconded his opinion. Meanwhile those in the industry, defended the economic impact of resorts and called for caution. They assured the commission that the market had already put the brakes on development and welcomed a renewed look at the destination resorts – provided that they have a seat at the table.
I didn’t stay for the conclusion of the hearing, but state officials did outline their plan for the coming year, starting with drafting and introducing legislation to give them a greater role in oversight of the industry and the framework of state planning laws that guide it. At that point, the commission would like form a working group to consult with the department of land conservation and development and begin an in depth study of the resort industry in Oregon and its impacts. DLCD staff made clear that they weren’t sure what the outcome would be. In some cases though, they said, it could result in a strengthening of rules to protect things like wildlife, farmland and natural resources, and in other cases it could result in a loosening of rules to provide local government more flexibility and control. The only question now: Is it too little, too late?
This article appears in Oct 16-22, 2008.
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If they do not build the hotels, then they are liable to be litigated by the county to take way the destination resort designation, build it or lose it.
Hey Eric, thanks for the article, it’s a worthwhile report.
But it’s difficult to read: no paragraph breaks (maybe a formatting issue when it was posted).
Speaking of breaks, it’s “brakes” not “breaks” in the sentence reading “…put the breaks on development…”
Quibbles aside, thanks for the work.
Thanks, Jack
I posted that one from home last night which created some format problems. (and apparently some proofreading issues) I’ll re-post it with some paragraph “breaks” etc.
I am outraged that I was not given a seat the table when this story was being written! WTF??
How about some history on Tetherow? Is it true the Tetherow land used to be public land and that Carrie Ward was stiff armed into trading that land at $6,000/acre before she got canned? I seem to recall that land being tagged as “surplus land” after local residents cried foul. Seems like that was the only P&R land with full views of the cascade peaks- nine of them. Sure would be nice to have that land back, not to mention the 100 yards of rimrock habitat they blasted for their small “road to paradise.”
I was at the Oregon Big Look meeting and I sat at several tables listening, (which seems to be a minority skill in these groups). I kept hearing arguements like:
– I don’t want to look at Destination Resorts
– They impact my emergency services
– They should pay for infrastructure
– I moved here for the lifestyle
– They are ultra elite (not like us)
When exactly did we become a socialist nation? I was a farmer and I lost my farm because nobody could afford to farm it and nobody wanted 200 acres that they could only build one house on. The people who love to look at my farm never offered to help subsidize my losses but they were the first ones to argue against MY right to sell MY land. The Goal 8 law came into effect way after my family owned the land but yet I am handcuffed by the people who repealed measure 37. It seems like a lot of the people out to protect “their” freedoms of enjoying their lifestyles at others expense don’t really have a clue or care about my freedoms as a landowner.
Now, if I don’t like the hobby farmer next door, or the look of a house next door, would you be willing to tell that landowner that they have to cease unless they conform to my wants??? No way.
I lived here and watched Central Oregon dry up in the early 80’s when the mills shut down. I watched people lose their homes and saw double digit unemployment. I had friends desperate to put food on the table for their family as they moved into garages of friends homes. This is what happens when there isn’t any growth. This is what will happen when all of these opponents to free will get their way. Central Oregon will become an economic wasteland and people will move somewhere else.
If the Oregon land use law is so great and envied by others, why are we the only state that has a law like Goal 8? This law was written almost 3 decades ago before there were home computers, touch tone phones or where chemotherapy was commonly used. For god’s sake people, stop being so selfish about what you want and start thinking about what others need.
The very buildings that many of these radical gatherings draw were built by the money paid by growth and development. The hospital upgrade and expansion in Redmond and partly in Bend was funded in no small part by one of these development companies that builds resorts. I am heavily involved in charitable fund raising and the people that are at these events every time, giving money every time are the same people and companies that these land use wackos complain about. I bet you wouldn’t complain so much or skip treatment by “developer funded” medical equipment if one of your loved ones needed it.
The claims made are pathetic and often fabricated. I understand that change is hard for some people, but to be a barrier to development is not only silly, it’s ignorant.
If you don’t want to see land developed then buy it. If you can’t buy it, then keep quiet and let someone else enjoy the freedoms of the United States.
You get enough people chasing development away, and you will end up with a non-viable area and people will lose.
Open your eyes and not your mouth.
If you aren’t growing, you’re dying.
Money INTO an economy is good.
Wealthy moving into an area is good.
Get off your jealous high-horse people.
Well said, Mark. I live in Washington and have recently bought a lot at Brasada. Am I a millionaire? Not by a long stretch. I love Central Oregon and hope to be able to build a house someday and retire there. Growth is vital to the area and these resorts bring people, new restaurants, better facilities and money to the region.
Destination Resorts are nothing more than a way to build subdivisions outside the UGB. Pronghorn or Tetherow will never have hotels. Instead the lot owners will get stuck with paying for the money losing golf course that is nothing more than a loss leader for the developer.
Plumber, you be wrong.
The buyers at Tether & Prong signed up for the golf maintenance when they bought their lots. The developers learned from BrokenTop’s problems, where the lot owners did not have to pay support fees for the money losing golf course, hence the problems at BT.
hope those fuckers lose everything !
..but why shouldn’t these resorts be held to the laws? I’m all for growth and development but as many have said these developers are using loopholes and extensions to build outside of the UGB.
Set a standard and use it!