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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

September 29, 2005

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COASTAL FUTURES PROJECT

Mid Coast Forum on Saturday, October 1st at Florence Events Center

The Mid Coast Forum is in only two days! This Saturday, October 1st, the Forum will be held at the Florence Events Center at 715 Quince Street, Florence. The Forum will go from 8:30-4:00 PM, with a reception following. Please come and hear our keynote speaker, Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, and participate in workshops exploring rural development strategies, tools for creating good downtowns, and sustaining coastal economies. We will also have an update on Measure 37, and tools available for land-use planning in a Measure 37 world. Register online at http://www.coastalfutures.org/forum/mid/index.html Questions? Call (503) 497-1000.

Garibaldi Trail Project Begins

1000 Friends is partnering with the City of Garibaldi, the Port of Garibaldi and the Tillamook County Economic Development Council for a design opportunity chosen through the Coastal Futures Project. 1000 Friends and its project partners will collaboratively develop a plan for an urban trail network that will connect different parts of the town, the port and the waterfront. Garibaldi has done some work on this project before, but there has not yet been a comprehensive strategy developed to design and implement this idea. For further information, read more here or contact Dan Eisenbeis at (503) 497-1000.

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COASTAL NEWS

Florence Lacks Affordable Housing As Prices Skyrocket

Florence has been touted as a wonderful place to retire, and it has received top ratings as a retirement town. But it’s very difficult for the working class to buy a house because of that. Florence’s economy is largely service-based, but houses are becoming very expensive indeed: anything under $250,000 is considered a bargain. Whereas housing prices in Portland have been going up 10-20% a year, prices in Florence have been going up 35-40%. The working people are being driven out of town, as is clear from school enrollment figures: the school district lost 16% of its students since 2000. Local realtors and city government officials are working to expand the affordable housing stock and lower-priced condominiums.

Building Size Limits to Maintain Industrial Land for Industrial Purposes in Florence

As coastal towns grow, there is often a push for industrial areas to become residential areas, because that is where the money is at this time. This has especially been a problem in Florence where housing prices are extremely high. In the new Pacific View Business Park, the Florence City Council is trying to curb this problem by limiting the size of any residential unit built in the Park. Caretaker residences are allowed in the Park, but not general residential uses; the city wants to use the Park for businesses. Size limitations on buildings in certain zones are an effective tool to keep the area limited to the uses for which they were designated.

Clatsop County Parks Finishes New Project

Clatsop County has proudly unveiled a new wetlands interpretive trail at Cullaby Lake Park—a 1.5 mile hiking and biking loop trail along Gearhart Bog, large conifer wetland at the south end of the park. The trail was funded largely by state grants from the Parks and Recreation Department, and from the Land Conservation and Development Department. This is one of the new projects of the county parks department, which also has its eye on updating the county’s 13-year old Recreational Lands Master Plan. Preliminary to that, the department is surveying households to find out what people want from their county parks. The update should be completed next year.

Astoria Power Plant Clean-up and Redevelopment Process Underway

A long-awaited project in Astoria finally began this summer: clean-up of the old Pacific Power steam plant site. The plant was demolished in 2000, but there were many tar residues left from a manufactured-gas plant that used the site until 1950. PacifiCorp Environmental Remediation Company and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality developed the clean-up plan for the site on Youngs Bay. Meanwhile, as the clean-up progresses, the city is working on the master plan to guide the redevelopment. The site could be a key to revitalization of the whole South Slope area of Astoria. Some kind of mixed-use development is being explored through the South Slope Master Plan. The Astoria City Council could give final approval by summer of 2006.

Development and Coastal Residents Clash Over Neighborhood Issues

Integrating new developments with homes and street patterns can be difficult in coastal towns, where slopes are often steep, towns are already built into well-structured neighborhoods, and coastal hazards near the ocean limit expansion. One example of this is the 80-unit Land & Sea Addition development proposed in the Fairway Heights neighborhood of Waldport. Local residents have expressed many concerns about road width, traffic and public safety, including the availability of public services such as fire protection. A second example is the proposed 35-unit Belhaven development off Logan Road in an urban area just outside the Lincoln City city limits. There has been a great deal of opposition to the planned-unit development over issues such as building in hazardous areas, road safety and traffic. These are the kinds of issues that good planning and commitment to working together can often solve.

Indian Point Project at LUBA

The proposed Indian Point project in Coos County is before the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA). This project would be situated between South Slough and Joe Ney Slough just south of Charleston, in an area that the Department of Land Conservation and Development says was mistakenly included in the Charleston Urban Growth Boundary. Currently zoned for forest uses, the owner/developer, Hank Westbrook, proposes to convert it to urban uses and develop a large recreation planed-unit development. Local residents have been very concerned about the proposal on many grounds, and the approval of the project by the Coos County Commissioners led to an appeal being filed at LUBA. Oral arguments are at the end of September, and a decision should be rendered in 2-3 months.

"Big Look" to start

Last session, the Oregon legislature passed SB82, the "Big Look" to take a comprehensive view of Oregon's planning tools to see if they are what we need to prepare for the future. The task force is to report back to the legislature by 2009 with recommendations. An estimated 1.5 million people are expected to move to Oregon by 2030, so there is a lot of work to be done to make sure we are prepared for them. Bend is planning a vision process called Bend 2030 and Eugene has begun planning to double in size through Region 2050. The state will do so through a 10-member Big Look task force that is to be jointly appointed by the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House. No members have been appointed yet, but stay tuned to see how this task force will take shape. Read one recent commentary on what this task force should do.

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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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