FEATURE STORY
Coast River Business Journal
February 2021 • 7
PREPARED BY CLATSOP ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS, MLS
There were 73 active listings for single family homes in January 2021, compared to the 209 active listings in January 2020.
PHOTOS BY CAROLYN HOARD
Osburn/Olson works to develop a property
between Warrenton and Gearhart.
Housing development is underway between Warrenton and Gearhart.
population growth, as population is expected to
decline over the next 20 years as people move into
cities.
But a 2019 report wouldn’t account for the
infl ux of new residents moving into the county due
to the ability to work remotely that came from the
coronavirus pandemic.
“It didn’t plan for COVID,” Henrikson said.
Osburn worked with a group to buy and develop
the 185 acres near the Surf Pines area called The
Dunes, before selling it to fellow developer Harry
Henke. Osburn said between zoning and wetlands
issues, he was able to get 37 buildable sites over
that 185 acres. He was able to buy density credits to
bring the amount of lots up to 87.
The county does permit smaller lot sizes in some
cases on the Clatsop Plains, allowing developers to
go down to one acre lots while leaving 30% of the
property undeveloped.
But that’s still not small enough for Osburn.
“Between Gearhart and Warrenton, we need to
take zoning from one acre as the smallest lot to a
half acre at least so it would double our inventory,”
Osburn said.
There is some land in the county that allow for
lots to be 750 square feet because they are served
by water and sewer. But Henrikson said at this time,
there are no plans to install a new sewer system in
the Clatsop Plains unincorporated part of the county.
However, Henrikson said while Oregon’s land
use planning laws direct growth toward cities, the
county board of commissioners is looking for ways
to address affordable housing in unincorporated
areas.
The board of commissioners outlined afford-
able housing as one of the fi ve focus areas in their
strategic plan for fi scal year 2021 to 2022, which
they adopted Jan. 27. Additionally, several bills pro-
posed for the 2021 legislative session would allow
counties to permit accessory dwelling units on rural
lands. These include HB 2705, HB 2735, HB 2778,
SB 385 and SB 391.
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