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Wednesday, June 23, 2021
Columbia Gorge News
www.columbiagorgenews.com
Wasco County to seek support from Gorge Commission
Mark Gibson
■ By Columbia
Gorge News
THE DALLES — Wasco
County Commissioners will
seek to “turn the page and go
forward” in their relationship
with the Columbia River
Gorge Commission even as
they seek to address systemic
problems and lack of support
for the county’s role in land
use planning, enforcement
and management, the board
agreed during a work session
June 16.
The Gorge’s National
Scenic Area (NSA) has been
in federal protection since
1986. New proposed revi-
sions to the NSA plan include
added protection for streams
and wetlands and new
guidelines for farm stands,
wineries, short-term rentals,
recreation developments and
dwellings, among others. The
revisions will go into effect as
soon as each county adopts
the regulations into their
respective ordinances.
In May of this year, officials
in Wasco and Hood River
counties expressed frustra-
tion with the significant costs
associated with managing
NSA rules, as compared to
the reimbursement counties
receive from the state. At a
May 5 public hearing, the
Gorge Commission, Friends
of the Columbia River Gorge
and others associated with
the NSA offered to work with
the county in integrating
the new NSA guidelines into
county planning documents,
and advocate for additional
state funding.
As of June 16, the county
has 270 days to complete
the process, under state law,
and planning staff at Wasco
County expressed frustration
at the lack of follow through
on those promises of support.
A draft letter detailing
county concerns and frustra-
tions intended for the Gorge
Commission was reviewed
during a work session held
in-person at the Wasco
County Fairgrounds.
Commissioner Kathy
Schwartz, while acknowledg-
ing the problems and frustra-
tions of the situation, said she
found the letter overly divi-
sive. “I’ve only had two and a
half years [working with the
Gorge Commission], but I’ve
observed problems and both
sides,” said Schwartz, the
newest member of the Wasco
County board of commis-
sioners. “I think we will be
more successful if we turn
the page a bit and just move
forward. I think the tone
needs to be more relation-
ship building. This letter is
exactly the opposite.”
She agreed, however, that
the Gorge Commission need-
ed to follow through with the
support offered the county
when the commission agreed
to undertake correlating
county and NSA land use
regulations and guidelines.
County administrative
officer Tyler Stone noted that
planning staff has request-
ed support of the Gorge
Commission to address
conflicts between county,
state and federal guidelines,
but their requests had met
a stone wall of silence. “We
have actively tried” to get
Gorge Commission support,
he said, even offering to pay
for facilitated mediation,
but those efforts have failed.
“We have put in thousands
of hours into this,” he said of
the planning update process.
“We have tried [to get their
support], it’s just not there.”
Commission Chair Scott
Hege said, “We need to
say [in the letter] that we
are moving forward on the
commitment we made, but
its a two way street — they
also need to move forward
on this. They [the Gorge
Commission] need to sit
down with the planners and
work through the problems.”
Gorge commission
staff is not the problem,
they are working will with
county planners, noted
Commissioner Kramer.
“It’s not the staff, it’s the
board,” Kramer said. Having
negotiated with the Gorge
Commission for many years,
A sign for the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area greets northbound drivers heading into The
Dalles on Highway 197. Large portions of Wasco County are bound by county, state and federal land
use laws and guidelines, all of which are managed by local county planners.
Mark B. Gibson photo
Kramer said he was not
confident a request from the
county would be effective,
regardless of the tone of the
letter. “They’re going to throw
it out the window without
reading it,” he said. “It goes
on and on for years and we
are still not going forward. It’s
crazy.”
Hege agreed the Gorge
Commission board had “not
been supportive of some of
the things we need to do.”
TD council approves housing
code amendments
Alana Lackner
■ By Columbia
Gorge News
residential areas. Before the
bill, these types of housing
were previously outlawed in
many neighborhoods.
THE DALLES — The
In order to comply with
Dalles City Council voted
and build upon HB 2001, the
Monday to pass an ordi-
ordinance updated many of
nance amending many
sections of the city’s land use the city’s policies regarding
middle housing:
code to increase housing
• Duplexes will be exempt
supply in The Dalles.
from all maximum density
The ordinance, General
requirements in The Dalles.
Ordinance No. 21-1384,
• Detached duplexes will
updated the city hous-
be allowed, as will duplexes
ing code to fit with state
with side entries.
standards, including House
• Minimum off-street
Bill 2001. According to the
parking will be reduced for
official website of the state
all middle housing including
of Oregon, HB 2001 is a
townhomes.
statewide bill that intends
• Developers will be
to increase housing in
Oregon by permitting middle encouraged to convert sin-
housing — a term used to
gle-family housing to duplex-
describe a range of attached es, and requirements and
or clustered homes such as
standards for this transition
duplexes and triplexes — in
will be created.
• The temporary family
hardship provision — which
permits an RV or manu-
factured home to stay on
a lot when a nearby family
member is needed due to a
physical or mental disability
or impairment — will be
allowed for duplexes.
• The minimum lot size for
duplexes can no longer be
any larger than the minimum
lot size for single-family
homes.
• Duplexes will no longer
have subjective design re-
quirements like “traditional”
or “appearance of a single
house.”
Part of the push for more
affordable housing in The
Dalles comes from limita-
tions on the city’s expansion
due to the urban growth
boundary that prevents the
SOLAR
Bickleton Grange Hall, and
another is planned for the
near future.
Avangrid Renewables
Communications Manager
Morgan Pitts said the compa-
ny appreciated the opportu-
nity to provide information
to the community.
“We have a long history in
Klickitat County, beginning
with our Big Horn Wind
Farm in 2006 and continu-
ing through to the Lund Hill
Solar project, currently under
construction,” Pitts said.
“Bluebird is an excellent site
with a good solar resource
and proximity to existing
necessary infrastructure. We
appreciate the strong part-
nerships we have built with
members of the community
through the years and look
forward to making this proj-
ect a success.”
approval of Lund Hill Solar
Project, planning officials
could request public com-
100-megawatt
ment on the project. Lund
project proposed Hill Solar Project received
comment from federal,
Continued from page 1 state and county agencies,
homeowners, and the
authority to apply conditions Confederated Tribes and
Bands of the Yakama Nation
of approval of the project,
such as implementing envi- before its approval was an-
ronmental mitigating tasks
nounced in September 2019.
for the developers to follow.
Based on the comments
The proposed project,
received, Lund Hill Solar
should it be granted approval Project received 63 separate
through the county planning conditions of approval, such
department, would be the
as requiring the company
second solar facility sited in
to prepare and implement
Klickitat County. The first,
a process for protection and
Lund Hill Solar Project, is
for unanticipated discovery
also owned by Aurora Solar
of cultural resources, as well
and sited nearby. Lund Hill
as traffic and environmental
Solar Project, once construc- mitigating directives.
A community meeting on
tion is completed, is slated
to generate up to 150-mega- the proposed project was
held earlier this month at
watts of electricity — at the
time of approval, it was the
largest solar energy installa-
tion in the state by a magni-
tude of more than five.
Although the EOZ code
does not spell it out, based
on work done before
Historic
GRANADA
T H E A T R E
Dinner, Trivia, Entertainment
at the Historic Granada Theatre.
Upcoming events include:
Heat wave this week will force us to
cancel movies this coming weekend.
The Thing! To be rescheduled!
July 2
National Act
Concert! Love &
Theft w/band!
Only $60 tix!
Also a dinner option!
July 3 John Wayne, North To Alaska!!!
And just announced:
Legends in The Dalles Music Festival
featuring Marshall Tucker Band
July 17th, outdoors at Lewis & Clark
Festival Park The Dalles.
And for all info crosscheck @
GranadaTheatrethedalles.com.
city from growing outwards.
Several community mem-
bers attending the meeting
spoke out in support of
the ordinance. No com-
munity members spoke in
opposition.
The city council approved
the ordinance unanimously.
•••
In other business, the city
council voted 4-1 to opt into
the servicing group created
by State Accident Insurance
Fund (SAIF) and Citycounty
Insurance Services (CIS).
The Dalles already has work-
ers compensation through
SAIF, but joining the servic-
ing group will allow them to
receive a 9% discount.
Alana Lackner
■ By Columbia
Gorge News
NEWS IN BRIEF
Subdivision lots platted
THE DALLES — Four riverfront lots are among 16 lots
approved by the Wasco County Board of Commission
Wednesday for a new phase of the Lone Pine Village subdi-
vision east of The Dalles just west of The Dalles Bridge over
the Columbia River.
The new lots are the second phase of a three-phase devel-
opment of the subdivision. Development of the property has
been underway for more than 10 years.
Also approved was the second and final phase of Park
Place, located west of Sorosis Park off scenic drive in the
area of 20th Street and Radio Way. The second phase in-
cludes 20 additional residents lots. The first phase of 13 lots
have mostly been built.
USFS contracts with Wasco
County for law enforcement
The United States Forest Service entered a patrol agree-
ment with the Wasco County Sherrif’s office that allows
them to patrol Mount Hood National Forest roads and lands
within Wasco County. The annual intergovernmental agree-
ment saw a $10,000 increase in payment to the county, for a
total of approximately $28,000. “That’s a good thing,” Sheriff
Lane Magill said. “We are expecting a very busy year (in the
forest) this summer.” Otherwise, it is the same agreement
entered into in prior years, he said.
between Liberty
Street and Garrison.
The reconstruction
THE DALLES
will include the
— The Dalles City
implementation of
Council approved a
a new base for the
contract for the re-
construction of West street, repaving and
15th Street by Granite the construction of
Construction at their new ADA compliant
meeting on Monday. ramps on certain sec-
The contract is for tions of sidewalk.
$629,629 and encom-
The project will
cost $40,227 more
passes three blocks
- Resident at The Springs Living
Independent Living | Assisted Living | Memory Care
1201 west 10th st | The Dalles
TheSpringsLiving.com
ends to meet on this pro-
gram. It is a state and federal
program and we are having
to subsidize it.”
In the end all three com-
missioners agreed to have
Schwartz revise the letter in
hopes of inspiring improved
relations and better results
going forward. The revised
letter will then be brought be-
fore the board for approval.
TD city approves
reconstruction of W. 15th St.
“I have appreciated
everything. They take
fantastic care of my mom.
The people there are
friendly, and I brag about
them all the time."
5 4 1 - 2 9 6 - 1 3 0 3
They needed to respond to
county land use planners
when changes or clarifica-
tions were brought to them,
and they were not doing so.
He said those who support
the Gorge Commission
should also be advocating
for funding to cover the
significant investment Gorge
counties are making in
implementing NSA rules. “It’s
reasonable to be paid for the
work we are doing. I want the
than was originally
budgeted. This is
because there was
determined to be a
section of curb and
gutter that needed to
be rebuilt to improve
drainage throughout
the area.
The needed
$40,000 will come
out of the fund for
the scenic drive
stabilization project
next year, which cur-
rently has $400,000.
Next fiscal year’s
budget has $140,000
unallocated, which
they will use to pay
the amount back into
the fund.
A start date for the
construction was not
given.
HOOD RIVER | THE DALLES | WHITE SALMON
Columbia Gorge News