Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, September 21, 2022
Page A-5
County addresses outdated zoning classification
CJ Schatza
IVN copy editor
The Sept. 14 Board of Josephine
County Commissioners’ weekly business
session took place at Anne G. Basker
Auditorium in Grants Pass.
The meeting kicked off with a public
hearing to consider a zoning change to a
property that currently houses the Grants
Pass Over-Niters RV park.
Tami Smith of the JoCo Planning
Department gave the rundown on this
proposed zoning change, noting that the
comprehensive plan map for Josephine
County would be amended to reflect the
change.
“The subject property is 5941 Highland
Avenue,” said Smith. “It’s an existing
campground/RV park from around the 1960s.
“Just to recap, the Josephine County
Planning Commission held a public hearing
May 23, 2022, and a decision of approval
for the comprehensive plan map changes
comply with the amendments of the
Nifty Tidbits:
Originally printed in
the Nov. 6, 2002
edition of the
Illinois Valley News
Two of our children and five of
our grandkids live in Medford and
so we go there quite often, especially
when they need some help. Every trip,
on going over Gold Hill and down
into the Rogue Valley, I look at Mt
Mcloughlin to check out the snow
level. This is the tall volcanic peak
east of Medford that is indicated by
a sign along the freeway. The book,
Oregon Geographic Names by Lewis
Mc Arthur, relates the complicated
story of how the mountain received its
name.
The first available map of the
Josephine County and state law.”
Smith pointed out that no appeals were
filed in response to the planning commission
voting in favor of the zoning change.
Commissioner Dan DeYoung sought
clarification on how an RV park could avoid
being zoned commercial for so long, and
Smith said it was because the establishment
of the campground in the 1960s predated
county zoning laws, which went into effect
in the 70s. This zoning change brings
to a close half a century of improper
classification for Grants Pass Over-Niters.
“Jiminy Christmas, how did this thing
go that long?” DeYoung expressed. “I’m
glad we’re trimming that off and getting it
marked up the way it’s supposed to be.”
Meeting frequenter Judy Ahrens was
concerned about the implications of rezoning
residential land as commercial, such as if
an increase in traffic will be seen or other
nuisances for nearby residents.
In response, DeYoung stated, “Anytime
there’s any zoning change or anything,
there’s a really long process that goes into it.
First off, this thing’s been there since 1965,
or somewhere along in there, but they send
out, I think 10 adjacent property owners get
a letter of any kind of zone change, and an
opportunity with a long process to respond
to what’s going on and share their concerns.”
DeYoung also found it unlikely the
new commercial zoning would affect traffic,
given that the property has been a business
for decades and is already filled to capacity
often.
“Our planning department, sometimes
I disagree with them, but I’ve found they’re
pretty malleable when they say, ‘You
really need to go out and look at that.’ And
oftentimes they’re right… They’re the
professionals in this organization so we rely
on them heavily.”
Board Chair Herman Baertschiger
agreed with his colleague’s conclusions,
commenting, “We didn’t have any land
use or any of that until 1973 with Senate
Bill 100, then it took another 10 years to
actually get a handle on regulating all that,
so we’re into the ‘80s. This activity has been
taking place since the ‘60s. And Judy, there
was a list of letters that went out to every
government agency you could ever think
of to comment on this, and the citizens, so
to get to this point, where we’re actually
reading this, it’s a long checklist.”
The commissioners approved the
zoning change’s first reading and scheduled
the second reading for Sept. 28.
Moving on in the agenda, the week
of Sept. 17-23 was proclaimed U.S.
Constitution Week.
Commissioner DeYoung read the
proclamation aloud, which stated in
part, “Our U.S. Constitution means an
opportunity for each, protection for all,
justice for everyone, and liberty, both civil
and religious, for the strong and weak, and
for the rich and the poor.”
The brief proclamation also recounted
some of the historical milestones of the
holiday, including: The signing of the first
draft of the US. Constitution was by 39
delegates Sept. 17, 1787; President Dwight
D. Eisenhower proclaimed in 1955 the first
U.S. Constitution Week; and in 2004, at the
urging of Senator Robert E. Byrd of West
Virginia. Congress passed a law designating
Sept. 17 as Constitution Day and Citizenship
Day.
by Chuck Rigby
area, printed in 1838 by Samuel
Parker uses the name Mt. Mcloughlin.
Later, records by Peter Skene Ogden,
a trapper, and by the cartographer
for John C. Fremont use the name
Mt. Pitt for the same peak. Because
it was spelled with two t’s it implies
that the name was to honor a person
such as William Pitt, a famous
British statesman, or an early settler.
However, there is no record to
substantiate that assumption and there
were no settlers living in that area
when the name was first used.
In 1855 a government railroad
survey states that Mt. Pitt was named
for the pits dug in the vicinity of the
mountain by local Indians to trap
animals, as is the name Pit River
further south in northern California.
Why the double t’s were used is
not known. Journals of early Rogue
Valley settlers showed that other
names such as: Snowy Butte and Big
Butte were occasionally used but
Mt. Pitt was the most common name
in printed reports and journals. This
name was superseded in 1905 when
the Oregon Legislature designated
Mount Mcloughlin to be the name and
this was accepted by the United States
Board on Geographical Names in
1912 making it official.
John Mcloughlin was named
“Father of Oregon” in 1957 by the
Oregon Legislature and his name
is found all over Oregon on streets,
schools, museums, and parks.
Mcloughlin was born in Quebec
Province, Canada on Oct. 19, 1784.
Trained as a doctor, which occupation
he followed for a time, he later joined
the fur trading business. He served in
various posts in Canada and then was
sent by Hudson Bay Company to be in
charge of their Columbia River region.
He arrived at Ft. George on Nov. 8,
1824 which was the headquarters at
that time.
Fort George started as Astoria
at the mouth of the Columbia River
and was built in 1811 by the Pacific
Fur Company founded by John
Jacob Astor. Astoria was turned over
to Hudson Bay Company in 1813
because its leaders were convinced
that the British would capture it
anyway during the War of 1812.
There was no bloodshed involved and
England returned it back to the United
States in 1818 as part of the final
treaty of the war.
One of John McLaughlin’s first
duties on taking over as Chief Factor
for Hudson Bay was to build a new
fort where they would be free of
American interference. In the spring
of 1825 Fort Vancouver was started on
the north side of the Columbia River
near the mouth of the Willamette
River. It became the main center
for all activities in the area which
included fur trapping, but also military
visits, settlement attempts, missions
for the Indians and natural history
collectors. John Mcloughlin became
the benevolent dictator of an empire
which reluctantly allowed and even
provided for the beginning of what is
today known as the State of Oregon.
Today in History: The Associated Press
Today is Wednesday,
Sept. 21, the 264th day of
2022. There are 101 days left
in the year.
Today’s Highlights in
History:
On Sept. 21, 1981, the
Senate unanimously confirmed
the nomination of Sandra Day
O’Connor to become the first
female justice on the Supreme
Court.
On this date:
In 1792, the French
National Convention voted to
abolish the monarchy.
In 1937, “The Hobbit,”
by J.R.R. Tolkien, was first
published by George Allen &
Unwin, Ltd. of London.
In 1938, a hurricane
struck parts of New York
and New England, causing
widespread damage and
claiming some 700 lives.
In 1957, the legal
mystery-drama “Perry
Mason,” starring Raymond
Burr, premiered on CBS-TV.
In 1961, the first Boeing
CH-47 Chinook military
helicopter made its first
hovering flight.
In 1973, the U.S. Senate
confirmed Henry Kissinger to
be Secretary of State.
In 1982, National
Football League players began
a 57-day strike, their first
regular-season walkout ever.
In 1985, in North Korea
and South Korea, family
members who had been
separated for decades were
allowed to visit each other as
both countries opened their
borders in an unprecedented
family-reunion program.
In 1989, Hurricane
Hugo crashed into Charleston,
South Carolina (the storm was
blamed for 56 deaths in the
Caribbean and 29 in the United
States). Twenty-one students in
Alton, Texas, died when their
school bus, hit by a soft-drink
delivery truck, careened into a
water-filled pit.
In 1996, President Bill
Clinton signed the Defense
of Marriage Act denying
federal recognition of same-
sex marriages, a day after
saying the law should not
be used as an excuse for
discrimination, violence or
intimidation against gays and
lesbians. (Although never
formally repealed, DoMA was
effectively overturned by U.S.
Supreme Court decisions in
2013 and 2015.)
In 2001, Congress again
opened the federal coffers to
those harmed by terrorism,
providing $15 billion to the
airline industry, which was
suffering mounting economic
losses since the Sept. 11
attacks.
In 2011, Josh Fattal and
Shane Bauer, two Americans
jailed in Iran as spies, left
Tehran for the Gulf state of
Oman, closing a high-profile
drama that brought more
than two years of hope and
heartbreak for their families.
The state of Texas executed
Lawrence Russell Brewer
for his role in the gruesome
dragging death of James Byrd
Jr.
Ten years ago: People
lined up to buy Apple’s
iPhone5 as it went on sale in
the United States and several
other countries. A man was
bitten multiple times after
leaping from a monorail into a
tiger exhibit at the Bronx Zoo
in New York.
Five years ago:
Millions on Puerto Rico
faced the prospect of weeks
or months without power in
the aftermath of Hurricane
Maria. President Donald
Trump and Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe met
on the sidelines of the U.N.
General Assembly to discuss
the ongoing crisis involving
North Korea. Facebook said it
would provide congressional
investigators with the contents
of 3,000 ads that had been
bought by a Russian agency;
it had already released the
ads to federal authorities
investigating Russian
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interference in the U.S.
presidential election.
One year ago: In his
first address before the U.N.
General Assembly, President
Joe Biden urged the world’s
nations to address the global
issues of the COVID-19
pandemic, climate change
and human rights abuses. A
coroner confirmed that human
remains found in remote
northern Wyoming were those
of Gabby Petito, a 22-year-old
who disappeared while on a
cross-country road trip with
a boyfriend, Brian Laundrie.
(Laundrie’s body would be
found in a Florida swamp in
October; the FBI later said he
had admitted killing Petito in a
notebook that was discovered
hear his body.) Melvin
Van Peebles, a playwright,
musician and movie director
whose work ushered in the
“blaxploitation” films of the
1970s, died at his New York
home; he was 89.
Today’s Birthdays:
Author-comedian Fannie
Flagg is 81. Producer Jerry
Bruckheimer is 79. Former
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear
is 78. Musician Don Felder
is 75. Author Stephen King
is 75. Basketball Hall of
Famer Artis Gilmore is 73.
Actor-comedian Bill Murray
is 72. Former Australian Prime
Minister Kevin Rudd is 65.
Movie producer-writer Ethan
Coen is 65. Actor-comedian
Dave Coulier is 63. Actor
David James Elliott is 62.
Actor Serena Scott Thomas
is 61. Actor Nancy Travis is
61. Actor Rob Morrow is 60.
Actor Angus Macfadyen is 59.
Retired MLB All-Star Cecil
Fielder is 59. Actor Cheryl
Hines is 57. Country singer
Faith Hill is 55. Rock musician
Tyler Stewart (Barenaked
Ladies) is 55. Country singer
Ronna Reeves is 54. Actor-talk
show host Ricki Lake is 54.
Rapper Dave (De La Soul) is
54. Actor Billy Porter is 53.
Actor Rob Benedict is 52.
Actor James Lesure is 51.
Actor Alfonso Ribeiro (rih-
BEHR’-oh) is 51. Actor Luke
Wilson is 51. Actor Paulo
Costanzo is 44. Actor Bradford
Anderson is 43. Actor Autumn
Reeser is 42. TV personality
Nicole Richie is 41. Actor
Maggie Grace is 39. Actor
Joseph Mazzello is 39. Actor
Ahna O’Reilly is 38. Rapper
Wale (WAH’-lay) is 38. R&B
singer Jason Derulo is 36.
Actor Ryan Guzman is 35.
Actor Nikolas Brino is 24.