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The Oregon Coastal Futures Project is a project of
1000 Friends of Oregon, Oregon Downtown Development Association,
and
Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition

1000 Friends of Oregon is grateful for the following foundations' support of the Coastal Futures Project:

• Meyer Memorial Trust

• Collins Foundation

• Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust

• Goodman Foundation

• Over the River and Through the Woods Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation

August 16, 2004

Welcome to the first issue of Coastal Futures Update. We hope to publish this Update approximately every six weeks.

Return to the Coastal Futures Update archives.

COASTAL FUTURES PROJECT

• The first meeting of 1000 Friends' Coastal Advisory Committee took place in Garibaldi on June 19. The purpose of the meeting was to provide guidance to 1000 Friends in crafting the public outreach and the North Coast Forum.

• Public outreach on the Coastal Futures Project will begin in the fall of 2004 in Clatsop and Tillamook Counties. We will be meeting with various groups in those counties. All meetings will be open to the public. The North Coast Forum is scheduled for early spring, 2004. The date will be posted on the website as soon as it is finalized.

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COASTAL NEWS

• Lincoln City won the 2004 "Transportation Planning Excellence Award" from the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Transit Administration and the American Planning Association. This is the first year the award has been given. There were 10 categories and 220 submittals. Lincoln City award was in the "Public Involvement" category for their redevelopment plans in the Taft and Oceanlake areas of the city. The redevelopment plans included pedestrian safety, traffic patterns, sidewalks, and other measures to make the downtown experience more inviting to residents and visitors. Lincoln City was the smallest city to receive an award. Other cities that won awards included Los Angeles, Phoenix, Atlanta, Detroit, Oakland, Sacramento, and Houston.

• Lincoln County has passed a $23.5 million bond measure to pay for a new Oregon Coast Community College (OCCC) campus. The bond sale was completed on July 28. The College opened its doors in 1987 and estimates over 3,000 individuals attend classes each year. The College is now looking for a suitable site. Click for more information.

• The City of Newport is taking economic development planning seriously: the city is in the process of updating the economic development portion of its comprehensive plan. Newport has received grants from the Department of land Conservation and Development (DLCD) for its work. The city will work on a local economic development strategy, an update of their industrial lands inventory, some planning for the South Beach area (including wetlands), and public facilities planning. The city hopes to complete this process by the end of June, 2005. The process, with public workshops and hearings, should begin in the fall of 2004. Click for further information.

• The town of Tillamook is moving towards completion of its plan to build a town square in the courthouse area. The main partners for the "Tillamook Town Square" are Tillamook County Transportation District, the Tillamook Chamber of Commerce, the Tillamook City Council and the Tillamook Downtown Association. The new development will include restrooms, office space, storage for the farmers market, transportation center, and landscaping in the courthouse area at Laurel and Second streets. The preliminary design has been completed and discussions on memoranda of agreement among the partners are underway. Some funding secured through the transportation district. The plan is to begin construction next summer (2005).
  

• On July 27, the City of Brookings planning commission held the first hearing on the proposal by US Borax to build a large development of 1,000 housing units on the 553-acre Lone Ranch property of in the newly expanded UGB area at the north end of
  town. As a result of the earlier UGB expansion, a master plan was required for this area under the agreement between the city and county. Borax drafted the master plan. The city planning commission work session will be August 17 and the city council hearing will be in September. The date has not yet been set. Click for local newspaper coverage on the issue.

• The Gold Beach planning commission voted on July 16 to move its beach hazard line closer to the sea to permit additional condominiums at the proposed Sebastian Shores Development to be built. Sebastian Shores is the most southerly parcel in the city before Hunter Creek. Gold Beach annexed the entire 756-acre Hunter Creek rural residential area in 1994. The city will also consider adjusting the beach hazard risk line for remaining oceanfront parcels inside the Gold Beach city limits. Hearings are not yet scheduled before the city council. DLCD provided funding to Gold Beach for a December 2003 technical report entitled "Beach Erosion Hazard Risk Assessment and Proposed Conservation Zone for the City of Gold Beach." The report identified areas of moderate and high potential for dune erosion. Click for more information on the development.

• Wind Power: There are two major proposals in the wings for coastal wind power. One is in north Tillamook County in the forested ridges above Nehalem and Wheeler. Meteorological towers for collecting data on the suitability of the site have completed their data collection and have been taken down. The second wind power site under active consideration is in Curry County close to the ocean near Port Orford. The Curry County planning commission earlier approved construction of meteorological towers, which are now in operation. An application for wind turbine towers may come before these two counties once the data is analyzed.

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Credits/Subscription Info

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Coastal Futures Update is edited by Cameron La Follette and Kate Kimball and brought to you by 1000 Friends of Oregon, a statewide organization dedicated to protecting Oregon's quality of life. To help support this work, including the distribution of Coastal Update, please consider making a tax-deductible donation.

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