Seaside City Council held a tumultuous hearing earlier this month on the proposed Southeast Seaside Urban Renewal Plan. About 120 frustrated residents showed up to ask many questions about it. There were pointed questions about the use of eminent domain; the legality of including a 32-acre forest parcel outside the urban growth boundary; the value of using tax monies to build unneeded infrastructure in unincorporated areas; why the existing and soon to be vacated school campus is not included in the urban renewal area; and why lack of affordable housing -- one of Seaside's greatest problems -- is not the centerpiece of this plan. Despite all the testimony, City Council unanimously approved the Plan at its meeting on August 28th.
However, they did make one important change: they removed the Weyerhaeuser parcel. Since projects in an urban renewal plan need to be on "blighted" lands, and there is no way a forested parcel can be considered blighted, removing it was a wise decision. But the plan in many other important ways continues to deviate from requirements of the Seaside Comprehensive Plan, as well as being grossly conclusory and lacking almost any specific detail of proposed projects.
Now vigilance will be up to Seaside residents, other affected landowners and ORCA.
Tillamook County and RV's as Permanent Dwellings: Decision Soon
Currently Unoccupied RV on Rural Land in Tillamook County, July 2017
Thanks an appeal by a neighbor, the question of using recreational vehicles as permanent dwellings has finally come to the forefront in Tillamook County, highlighting a longstanding County practice of permitting RVs as dwellings outside of RV or mobile home parks. There are many problems with this practice, the most obvious ones being the question of waste disposal, and access to utilities, especially water. Cris and Evan Orlando are living in an RV on a steep, heavily forested parcel in a rurally-zoned locale, in an area highly prone to fire danger and far from access to emergency services. They lived there illegally for three months before Tillamook County even granted the initial permit to live on the parcel, even though such permits are not allowed under County ordinances. The Planning Commission held its initial hearing on the appeal, and is scheduled to make its final decision at the end of August.
Effluent Pipeline for Knapp Ranch Golf Course: Hearing Sept. 21st
Cape Blanco Lighthouse North of Knapp Ranch
Elk River Property Development (ERPD), the applicant in efforts to get permits for a pipeline to pump Port Orford effluent out to Knapp Ranch for the unbuilt golf course on the Ranch, is getting ready for the next needed permit. They received a permit from Port Orford approving the city portion of the proposed pipeline, which would begin at the city's pump station. But the pipeline must also cross through Curry County-zoned land, as Knapp Ranch is outside the urban growth boundary. The hearing before Curry County Planning Commission will be September 21st. The staff report will be available seven days before the hearing. For further information, please contact ORCA Director Cameron La Follette
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