Clatsop County quietly put on the September 28 agenda for the Board of Commissioners meeting the continuing effort to dissolve the Southwest Coastal Citizens Advisory Committee (SWCCAC), also known as the Arch Cape Design Review Committee.
The Board of Commissioners' hearing had no
known
public notice in papers of general circulation; even the press was not aware of it beforehand. The County also provided no notice to Arch Cape residents.
The County has been single-mindedly trying to eliminate the Committee since the beginning of the year. Their flimsy excuse was that the Committee was a liability, but the real pressure seems to be coming from the local real estate industry, which dislikes additional land use review.
At the hearing, the Board of County Commissioners once again dissolved SWCCAC, without a single dissenting vote.
Despite a petition from Arch Cape-area residents with many signatures
, and no public testimony in favor of the proposal, BOC voted to eliminate the venerable committee. BOC refused to even consider collaboration with Arch Cape residents to address their concerns.
The County had also pressured the Planning Commission to recommend dissolving SWCCAC. County Manager Cameron Moore directed planning staff not to provide alternatives to the Planning Commission for streamlining the Committee, since BOC had already decided to dissolve it! Worse yet, a County attorney called Planning Commission members the day before their hearing and told them the County wanted the SWCCAC dissolved.
Oregon's land use laws require and encourage citizen involvement. It is absurd, and contrary
to the spirit
of the land use framework, for Clatsop County to dissolve a 39-year old land use review advisory committee that has been functioning continuously during the entire time it has been in existence. The alternatives the County has put forth, such as neighborhood associations, would have no review power and be essentially useless except as hollow efforts following on
the
unjustified war against SWCCAC.
All this is very disheartening, and makes it clear the County considers public involvement to be a sham. Such a sorry tale of political strong-arming also makes it clear that Clatsop County officialdom cannot be trusted to serve the best interests of residents seeking to maintain livable communities. It will now be up to Arch Cape residents to defend their community from those who would threaten it, including Clatsop County itself. ORCA will be involved in the necessary ongoing and longterm vigilance.
