10 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2015
Local
Planning Commission considers Huntington:
contentious permit remand issue Steak feed,
music for all
• NEIGHBOR OF
GRAVEL PIT OWNER
IN HALFWAY AREA
PROTESTS
DECISION FOR
THIRD TIME
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
On Wednesday, May 28,
2015, the Baker County
Planning Commission
held a public hearing
in the County Commis-
sion Chambers at the
Courthouse, at 6 p.m., to
consider Plan Amendment
PA-15-001, and LUBA
(Land Use Board of Ap-
peals) Case No. 2014-021,
A Remand To An Amend-
ment (CU-13-011) To
Conditional Use Permits
CU-98-02 and CU-00-05.
Kerry Gulick and Linda
McEwen are the owners of
a gravel pit in the Half-
way area. Previously they
were issued conditional
use permits, which would
allow them to crush gravel
and operate a small asphalt
plant part of that property
for a limited time.
A landowner down the
road from the permittees,
Barbara Dion, currently
lives in Arizona and
is renting out her own
Halfway-area property that
has been in the family for
years. Dion has protested
the original conditional use
permit to the Baker County
Board of Commissioners—
who upheld the Planning
Commission’s original
decision.
Dion then fi led the
LUBA complaint, and
LUBA remanded the issue
back to the Planning Com-
mission.
Among Dion’s com-
plaints are noise, dust
abatement and the like.
This is the fi rst LUBA
remand experienced by
Planning Director Holly
Kerns as well as the cur-
rent Planning Commis-
sioners.
Present from the Com-
mission were Chair Alice
Trindle, Vice Chair Lauri
Hoopes, and Commis-
sioners Suzan Jones, Jim
Grove, and Randy Joseph.
From the City-County
Planning Department were
Planning Director Holly
Kerns, Planners Eva Ceder
and Kelly Howsley-Glov-
er, and Planning Assistant
Kevin Berryman.
Attendees included Attor-
ney Dan Van Thiel, Kerry
Gulick, Linda McEwan,
Leona Jones and Barbara
Dion.
Trindle called the meet-
ing to order and read a
statement regarding the
hearing process, including
testimony, evidence, time
limits, etc.
She asked if there were
any challenges to the
jurisdiction of the Plan-
ning Commission to hear
the matters, and Dion
stated yes, she objected
to the jurisdiction of the
Commission, and that the
public notice was improper
and insuffi cient.
According to Planning
Commissioner Jones, this
is the fi rst time the Com-
mission’s jurisdiction has
ever been called into ques-
tion in recent memory.
Dion said the County’s
notice didn’t give the
public any indication
how the hearing would be
conducted, and what, if
Eileen Driver / The Baker County Press
Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press
The Baker County Planning Commission is in the middle of handling a tricky
remand situation regarding a Halfway-area property.
any, evidence or testimony,
would be allowed, and
that the hearing should be
canceled and rescheduled,
with new notice given.
Dion mentioned a peti-
tion signed by a little over
a dozen individuals in the
community who supported
her position, and Trindle
made a statement about
seeking an opinion from
Van Thiel. Kerns asked
Dion if there were a writ-
ten statement of her objec-
tion, and Dion responded
that it was received by the
Commission.
Trindle said Van Thiel
may wish to have an op-
portunity provide some
opinions, and she asked
Dion to step down from
providing her testimony for
the moment. Trindle asked
if there were any confl icts
of interests, personal
biases, or ex parte com-
munications to be declared
by a Commission member,
and none were stated.
Joseph made a motion
to move the Plan Amend-
ment up in the order on
the agenda, in order to ad-
dress the lengthier LUBA
Remand matter later, and
Jones seconded. The mo-
tion carried.
With a motion from
Grove, and a second from
Hoopes, the minutes from
the February 26, 2015
Commission meeting were
approved.
Ceder introduced and
explained PA-15-001.
The purpose of the Plan
Amendment is to correct
a zoning map error for the
subject parcel, currently
zoned Primary Forest (PF),
according to the document.
A PF zone is described as
applying to lands that are
managed by the federal
government, and since
this designation doesn’t
apply to private property,
it doesn’t allow the same
land use opportunities that
other similarly situated
private property owners
have.
The application has been
fi led for re-zoning of the
property to Timber Graz-
ing (TG), according to the
document.
The property, around 20
acres and owned by Leona
Jones, is located off of
Highway 7, east-southeast
of Sumpter, Oregon.
Hoopes asked about a
cabin on the property, and
Ceder said there was one,
which was lost due to a fi re
this March.
Jones asked the Planning
Department about rebuild-
ing the cabin, Ceder said,
but the zoning at the time
didn’t have standards for
siting buildings. Ceder
said Leona Jones wishes to
rebuild the cabin.
Joseph asked if the prop-
erty had been privately
owned, but then through
oversight, if, because of
zoning changes, it was des-
ignated as publicly owned,
and Ceder responded that
she wasn’t sure what the
process had been.
Trindle asked if anyone
present wished to testify
on the matter, and there
was no response that any
attendees wished to do
so. Joseph moved to close
the testimony, and Grove
seconded, the motion car-
rying.
Trindle said she wished
to move forward on the
matter, with no changes to
specifi c criteria, and
Hoopes said she didn’t
have time to review the
documents, since she
received them two days
earlier. Jones only received
them that same day.
Joseph said that there
weren’t any other zon-
ing options, and that the
amendment should be ap-
proved as-is.
Joseph moved to approve
PA-15-001, with the fi nd-
ings made by staff, with
no conditions, seconded
by Grove. The motion
carried.
Ceder read a statement
regarding the notice and
appeals process.
After a break, Trindle
asked for staff comments
about the objection to ju-
risdiction voiced by Dion.
Van Thiel said he didn’t
think there was any merit
to the objection, and that
the notice was suffi cient.
Kerns stated that the notice
was accurate as provided
by the County.
Trindle read the details
of the hearing procedure,
including a statement that
a time limit on testimony
may be set. Jones moved
to limit testimony to fi ve
minutes, with a second
from Grove. The motion
carried.
Kerns explained the
details of the subject mat-
ter of the hearing, LUBA
Remand No. 2014-021,
Remanding in part the
Approval of Modifi cation
to Conditional Use Permits
CU-00-05 and CU-98-02.
Gulick and McEwan, ap-
plicants and property own-
ers, submitted a request
to modify their existing
Conditional Use Permit for
a 15-acre aggregate rock
pit, known as the Gulick
Pit, located northeast of
Halfway, near the intersec-
tion of Estes Hill Lane and
Buchanan Loop.
Hoopes made a motion
to address the Fifth Assign-
ment of Error (from LUBA
Case No. 2014-021), with
a second from Jones. The
motion carried. Gulick,
co-owner of the property,
and co-applicant, entered
testimony into record as-
sociated with the Fifth As-
signment of Error, regard-
ing road use, noise, dust,
and property value.
Joseph voiced concerns
that the appellant didn’t
have a chance yet to see
a letter Gulick had in his
possession from Baker
County Road Master Jeff
Smith, concerning road
traffi c and adequacy.
The Commission dis-
cussed the issue, and Van
Thiel said that transpar-
ency is important, and that
all parties need to have an
opportunity to review any
documents, if they choose.
Trindle read a letter from
Smith, dated April 13,
2015, regarding road traffi c
and adequacy, and then
called Dion back to testify.
Dion said she hadn’t had
an opportunity to see the
letter before, and she noted
lack of road enhancements,
factual misstatements and
inaccuracies from a previ-
ous road department letter.
After some discussion,
Hoopes moved to continue
the hearing on the Fifth
Assignment of Error, with
a second from Joseph. The
motion carried.
Gulick then provided tes-
timony regarding the First
and Fourth Assignment of
Error, including documents
relating to a sound analysis
completed, and statements
about minimal noise and
dust impacts.
Dion also testifi ed, pro-
viding surveys concerning
impacts on land value and
livability.
After a lengthy discus-
sion about the testimony,
and the proper time frame
in which to conclude
the proceedings, Joseph
moved to close the record
on Thursday, June 4, at 5
p.m., and to continue the
hearing on the First, Fourth
and Fifth Assignment of
Error, to Wednesday, June
10, at 5 p.m., with a second
from Grove. The motion
carried.
The movement to June
10 is due to nearly four
inches of testimony from
both sides, which the Plan-
ning Commission will now
need to study.
A kitchen full of cooks helped prepare the breakfast
that went before the steak feed in Lion’s Park the
weekend before last in Huntington.
• WEEKEND EVENTS WERE ALL ABOUT THE
EATING AND THE LISTENING
BY EILEEN DRIVER
Eileen@TheBakerCountyPress.com
The Memorial Weekend visitors and locals alike were
treated to the good food put out by the Huntington Senior
and Youth Organization, headed up by Ron and Sandra
Vaughn, in two events this weekend.
Food.
First was breakfast in the park Saturday morning May
23 served from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. On the menu was your
choice of Pancakes, French toast or Biscuits & gravy all
served with bacon or sausage, scrambled eggs and hash-
browns or sausage breakfast burrito with onions, peppers
and tomato served with bacon and hashbrowns and your
choice of Got coffee or cocoa with any meal. The food
was delicious and defi nitely fueled you up for the week-
end of activities ahead.
Next on the agenda for these busy people was the
Steak Feed, on Sunday May 24 from 2 p.m . to 7 p.m. at
the VFW Hall / Community Center, an annual tradition
here that previously was put on by the VFW but has been
passed on to the capable hands of the Huntington Senior
and Youth. This has always been a greatly anticipated
event and this year was no different.
On the menu this year was a choice of Tender Boneless
Ribeye Steak or Juicy Hamburger Dinner. Both meals
came with a baked potato, baked beans, green beans and
loaded salad bar complete with green salad, potato salad
and macaroni salad. On top of all that, if you still had
room in your stomach, was an assortment of pies, cakes,
and brownies to round out the meal.
The tables were packed with good food and great
people who will be looking forward to enjoying it again
Labor Day weekend when Huntington Senior & Youth
Organization will be repeating this great meal at the VFW
Hall for the Snake River Car Show being held on Septem-
ber 5th in Huntington’s Lion’s Park.
Music.
In between the breakfast and the steak feed was another
time for entertainment.
Highway 30/Washington Street between Lincoln and
1st Street was cut off from car traffi c by large orange
cones Saturday night May 23 from 8 p.m. to midnight. In-
stead of cars parked on the sides of the road or driving by
to go here and there were more people than seen in years
gathered on the street in front of Lion’s Park. Young, old
and every age in between was on hand and ready to dance
to one of Huntington’s favorite bands.
Even the weather cooperated to make this a night to
remember by calming the winds at just the right time.
Yes! Big Blue Johnson was back for a special night of
listening, dancing and socializing to classic rock music
favorites. There was defi nitely dancing room only for this
event sponsored by the Huntington Chamber of Com-
merce, Howell’s Cafe & Streamliner Lounge and Hun-
tington Bait & Tackle.
Big Blue Johnson consists of Jim Strey, guitar/vocals,
Barry Carlman, drummer, Kevin Jensen, bass/vocals and
Greg Hill, guitar/vocals. This band has never failed to
rock the town and the people with great sounds and this
time was no exception. Said Kevin Jensen during one
of the bands breaks, “ I love coming to Huntington. It
reminds me of my childhood. I used to come here all the
time with my father when I was a kid.”
Those who missed this great concert or just want to hear
more of this awesome band they can be reached by email-
ing Kevin Jensen at Kevin 43@gmail.com.
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