Pacific City
SUN
Helping hands assist in extinguishing house fire in Neskowin...................................... 2
Science Pub to look at Oregon’s kelp forest
Pacific City Skatepark to close for construction of Phase 2.......................................4
5
Commissioners hit pause on effort to enact business license tax..............................8
Vol. 16, No. 412 • January 27, 2023
County Commissioners to address ADU Ordinance during Jan. 30 hearing
A Changing
Landscape
Sinkhole discovered atop Cape Kiwanda, visitors to the area urged to use caution Failed culvert temporarily closed Sandlake Road, byway reopened on Jan. 23 Tillamook County Public Works closed Sandlake Road midway between Galloway Road and Sitka Sedge State Natural area on Jan. 19 due to a failed culvert. The closed section of the popular road was reopened by Monday, Jan. 23 with a gravel surface. Public Works is advising caution on the temporary road surface. The failed culvert was an 18-inch wide, 110-foot long pipe that, according to Public Works Director Chris Laity, was listed as in fair condition in 2019. He told the Sun that during the week of Jan. 8-14, Public Works received a notice that the culvert was plugged and the water level had risen about 10- to 15-feet above the “upstream end of the pipe.” At that time, the plug was removed and drained. But this fix was short-lived as, on Jan. 19, Public Works was notified that a long hole had formed next to the road. “The south county foreman went immediately to the site to assess the road hazard,” Laity said. The hole created what Laity described as an “immediate hazard to the public and emergency vehicles.” As of Jan. 19, Tillamook County had an excavator on site to dig to the bottom of the channel, which Laity estimated to be about 20 feet. He said the failed 18-inch wide pipe is being replaced by a 48-inch wide, 140-foot long plastic pipe, which Public Works had in stock.
FREE – TAKE ONE
Photos courtesy of Tillamook Co. Public Works
SANDLAKE ROAD reopened on Jan. 23 after Tillamook County Public Works repaired a failed culvert between Galloway Road and Sitka Sedge State Natural Area. The section currently features a temporary gravel surface.
Tillamook County’s Board of Commissioners soon will consider adopting a new land use ordinance to allow accessory dwelling units on properties in residential zones located in unincorporated communities in Tillamook County. If approved, Ordinance Section 5.110 will establish standards for ADUs, an effort that has been in the works for several months. County officials say passage of the ordinance could help provide a near-immediate response to the county’s current housing needs. The public is invited to attend the hearing for the ordinance at the Board’s Jan. 30 meeting. After extensive discussion of the ordinance, as well as community input, at its Dec. 8, 2022, hearing, the Tillamook County Planning Commission unanimously voted to recommend that the Board of County Commissioners approve the ADU Ordinance. Public testimony raised specific questions about the ordinance and several people spoke in favor of passing it. Among the latter was Peter Starkey, executive director of Community Action Resource Enterprises and a member of the Tillamook County Housing Commission. He urged the Planning Commission to pass the ADU ordinance as part of a multipronged approach necessary to address what he calls the housing “catastrophe” Tillamook County is experiencing. An audio recording of this first ADU Ordinance hearing can be found by visiting https://youtu. be/PyCuKL0Bpy0. Members of the public are encouraged to attend the second required hearing for the ADU ordinance, which will be at the hands of the Tillamook County Board of Commissioners when they host a Jan. 30 meeting, starting at 9 a.m. It will be held in the Tillamook County Courthouse, Room 106. BOCC is expected to either approve or deny the ordinance adoption request. At least two public hearings are required for a legislative text amendment process, one with the Tillamook County Planning Commission (held Dec. 8, 2022) and one with the Board of County Commissioners. Hearing date and time above are also available on the public notice, as is the text of the ordinance itself: https://www.co.tillamook.or.us/sites/default/ files/fileattachments/community_development/ project/78392/adu_notice.pdf. Officials say that construction of ADUs in Tillamook County will not in itself solve all the area’s housing shortages, but that they may help to improve housing affordability and diversify a community’s housing stock. The addition of ADUs is being lauded for its ability to become part of a growing arsenal of adopted solutions that, taken together, expand the availability of diverse housing options to long-term residents. The public is encouraged to follow Housing Commission meetings, where the conversation about ADUs in Tillamook County will continue. Its meetings can be attended both in-person and online. For more information, visit https://www.co.tillamook.or.us/bchc and https://www.facebook.com/profile. php?id=100068795516992.