Back in the dying days of the Central Oregon timber economy, mills were closing, unemployment was in double digits and downtown storefronts were sitting vacant. Things weren’t a whole lot better at the national level in the early 80s with the country mired in a deep recession.
Out of this economic morass came a proposal to pump up Oregon’s tourism economy by easing the state’s land use laws for resorts that would draw tourists from around the country to our state where they would spend money, creating jobs and injecting cash into our local economies. With its proximity to the mountains and disproportionate amount of sunshine, Central Oregon was a natural choice for developers. Fueled by a national real estate boom and easy credit, real estate and resort developers converged on Deschutes and Crook counties over the past few years floating one proposal after another for increasingly massive resorts.
But lately things haven’t been looking so good for destination resorts. Sales are down and prices are dropping. The once red-hot residential real estate market that fueled the resort industry has entered the deep freeze. Developers who aren’t in too deep are putting plans on hold, and those who have already broken ground are finding that their once steady stream of cash has run dry.
Last week one of the area’s most ambitious resorts, Tetherow, confirmed that it is putting its plans for a hotel on hold indefinitely because it doesn’t have the money to build. In fact, it already owes its architect nearly three quarter of a million dollars that it can’t pay. That wouldn’t be a problem for anyone but investors, except for the fact that, by law, resorts are required to build a certain percentage of overnight units to accommodate resort guests. These overnight guest accommodations are one of the reasons that the state has carved out special rules for resorts. And Tetherow isn’t the first resort in Central Oregon to fail to produce its promised hotel. The exclusive Pronghorn resort has said that it doesn’t have the money, or the market for a hotel. The development, which sits east of Redmond and features an “owners only” Tom Fazio designed golf course, has received four extensions on its hotel deadline from Deschutes County.
The failure to deliver on these promised overnight accommodations underscores one of the dirty little secrets of the resort industry in Central Oregon. And that is: they aren’t resorts at all – they are housing developments for wealthy retirees who want privacy and exclusivity above all. Those in the industry know there is no money in hotels, restaurants and golf courses. Resorts exist for developers to sell homes.
This past week the state of Oregon convened a hearing in Prineville to kick off its plan to re-examine destination resort laws. During the hearing they heard plenty from Central Oregon residents about the impact the resorts have on wildlife, water supply and the rural character of places like Powell Butte.
The committee has plenty to consider in its overview, but those of us who have been watching this industry over the past few years already know that these resorts are a sham. It’s time to close the book on this misadventure. In the meantime we’re giving the destination resort laws The Boot.
This article appears in Oct 23-29, 2008.
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Could not have said it better..
” they arenâ ™t resorts at all â ” they are housing developments for wealthy retirees who want privacy and exclusivity above all. Those in the industry know there is no money in hotels, restaurants and golf courses. Resorts exist for developers to sell homes”
If the county is considering expanding or even retaining its map, it ought to do so only based on really solid analysis demonstrating that the industry is not already overbuilt and in fact still has tremendous growth potential in the future. I’m not talking about having the resort industry gin something up, I’m talking about an objective third party study that really looks at a wide range of factors from being in the “post abundance era” to baby boomer demographics to the rising cost of gas to simple supply and demand.
Barring conclusive evidence that the upside of more resorts is tremendous and that the risks are minimal, we shouldn’t even have a map at all. Deschutes County doesn’t *need* more resorts. And it may not have the market for them, or even the market for those that have already been approved. I was at the hearing last night, and it seems that the focus for this process is on avoiding Measure 49 claims (which is little more than political cover for those who don’t want to shrink the map) and giving landowners who want to do a resort “a chance”. This is not about property rights fairness, it’s about protecting against a potentially catastrophic failure that’s going to impact all of us. It’s about protecting a financial resource (albeit one that’s undercut by substantial costs and impacts) that we’ve come to rely on. The County is taking resort success for granted. That’s foolish. Dennis Luke (who ought to know better) and Mike Daly (who clearly doesn’t) are the prime culprits. And guys like the chair of the planning commission Keith Cyrus – who is working to gain the right to do a resort of his own and who injects his own conflict into the dialog – are no better.
Let’s face it, Deschutes County’s leadership (Tammy Melton and Brenda Pace aside) lacks the sensibility to do the right thing. It’s all a bunch of grey/ white haired conservative men with disdain for anything resembling smart planning. This process is almost doomed before it begins. Unless the citizens take over.
Where are you guys? And why hasn’t anyone in Deschutes County taken the lead in drafting a Crook County-style initiative to repeal the map? That’s really the only chance of a sensible outcome, barring legislation at the state level that prevents Deschutes County leadership from acting like children in a candy store. Really, we need both. So I’ll ask again, WHERE ARE YOU GUYS???
DR’s are defacto SageBrush sub-divisions. While the small property owners get’s locked out sub-dividing their property, the big out of state developers run all over local Zoning laws with these exclusive gated communities out in the bunnies. I for one want to see more affordable housing that is more in character with Central Oregon’s rural life style. Not these McMansions and the rude fast lane people they bring to the area.
So who is Mike Bookey, and what does he stand to gain from shutting down destination resorts? If everyone in this controversy is so self interested, my bet is that Mr. Bookey has his own stake in the affair as well.
Yes, Joe, my finely honed skill of logic and deduction lead me to believe that your accounting of Mr. Bookey’s intentions is 100% accurate. I demand that Mike Bookey come clean and thoroughly denounce any and all of these outrageous accusations that resorts are not in fact placed here by the hand of God as our one and only savior during these troubled times. Anything less would be an affront to journalism and morally reprehensible. I suggest reading the Bulletin if you want to know what’s *really* going on – and pay particular attention to their 100% honest headlines and sub-heads.