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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2015
Alliance urges ‘collaborative’ dune-grading approach
Breakers Point
homeowners
to ‘regroup’ in
new year
By DANI PALMER
EO Media Group
Cannon Beach has decided
not to address foredune grad-
ing for the moment, but the
battle over whether it should
be permitted continues.
In November, Frank and
Janet Patrick, along with
multiple other Breakers Point
homeowners, ¿led an appli-
cation to grade 75,000 cubic
yards of sand from the north-
western and southern land
boundaries of the property. In
their application, they stated
landowners and their guests
“cannot access the beach ad-
jacent to the property due to
impassable slopes created
by drifting dunes arti¿cially
created through the planting
of invasive European dune
grass.”
City Planner Mark Barnes
sent the homeowners a letter
stating the application was
incomplete due to a number
of factors. These included
the need to address foredune
grading in the oceanfront
management overlay zone
standards,
comprehensive
plan polices and to receive
permission from other home-
owners if their request was the
same as a previous Breakers
Point Homeowners Associa-
tion request.
Cameron La Follette, ex-
ecutive director of the Oregon
Coast Alliance, said her orga-
nization was disappointed by
the latest application.
“It’s important work. It
should be collaborative,” she
said. “The new application,
that’s not working together.”
She and others in opposi-
tion have said the city should
be allowed to complete more
Dani Palmer/EO Media Group
Viewed from the Fir Street bridge, sand is piling up next to Breakers Point, blocking the view for some homeowners.
research and update its sand
management plan before any
further dune-grading projects
are approved.
Cannon Beach’s last plan
was completed in 1997 and
expired in 2008. La Follette
said it should be updated more
often.
The city considered pro-
hibiting foredune grading af-
ter the Planning Commission
approved a 13,700-cubic-yard
Breakers Point Homeown-
ers Association dune grading
project in August. Councilors
expressed concern over ef-
fects to the littoral cell without
a ¿nished sand management
plan on hand, but ultimately
decided to table the topic until
further notice.
Other developments
La Follette said homeown-
ers should be more thoughtful
about the foredune grading’s
impact on other properties.
At Planning Commission
meetings, Chapman Point
homeowners stated the last
dune-grading project com-
pleted at Breakers Point in-
creased the amount of sand
coming their way.
“It should give pause,” La
Follette said. “It’s necessary
to work collaboratively. What
you do affects your neigh-
bors.”
She called foredunes the
“¿rst line of defense in storm
surges.” If the dunes are Àat-
tened, the area could become
a safety concern in case of a
surge or tsunami, she added.
When the Breakers Point
Homeowners
Association
proposal to grade was ap-
proved, Property Manager
Bruce Francis said the tsuna-
mi of 1964 showed the dunes
provided little protection.
La Follette said the dunes
are based on ocean cycles.
In the 1990s, residents wor-
ried about dune erosion about
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PICK OF THE WEE K
The Daily Astorian
SALEM — The Oregon
Department of State Lands
has extended the deadline
for comments on rulemaking
surrounding historically ¿lled
lands. The deadline was Dec.
31 but has been extended to 5
p.m. Jan. 31.
Senate Bill 912, passed by
the Oregon Legislature this
year, distinguishes historical-
ly ¿lled lands and new lands
for purposes of determining
ownership and transfer of
ownership of lands created
upon submersible or sub-
merged lands by arti¿cial ¿ll
or deposit. Historically ¿lled
lands are de¿ned by the state
as land created by placement
of arti¿cial ¿ll or deposit atop
state-owned submerged or
submersible land prior to May
28, 1963.
The bill establishes a pro-
cess for the State Land Board
to identify and declare state’s
interest in historically ¿lled
lands and to provide notice
of declaration. It directs the
department of state land to
provide a progress report to
the Oregon Legislature on or
before Sept. 15, 2017, and ap-
propriates $328,228 from the
state’s general fund to create
two positions for the purposes
of the measure.
An advisory group repre-
senting broad interests was
convened by the Department
of State Lands to recommend
changes and streamline efforts
for how the agency handles clar-
ifying ownership of such lands.
Chris Castelli, a policy an-
alyst for the department, said
attendees at hearings in Astoria
and Coos Bay expressed the
need for more time to consider
the proposed addition of a new
administrative rule division —
OAR 141-068 — covering his-
torically ¿lled lands.
For more information on
the legislation, visit http://ti-
nyurl.com/jbwhu5j
rather than an abundance of
sand.
With El Niño this year,
there is a chance the sand will
move on its own, she added.
Littorial (or sediment) cells
constantly move.
Patrick and other home-
owners say the European
dune grass has accumulated
over 2 million cubic yards of
sand over the last 15 years and
needs to be removed along
with the European dune grass.
La Follette countered that
the Breakers Point Home-
owners Association revege-
tation plan approved by the
Planning Commission raises
its own concerns.
“It’s generally a good thing
to eliminate invasive species,
but American dune grass
doesn’t hold as well as Euro-
pean grass. The dunes move
much more without it,” she
said. “The grass stabilizes it.
European grass is in a catego-
ry of its own.”
Much of the area home-
owners want to grade doesn’t
even belong to them or the
city, she added. La Follette
said the land belongs to the
state.
The views homeowners
are ¿ghting for are for every-
one, she said, adding many
like the dunes. They’re char-
acteristic of Cannon Beach to
some.
But homeowners say
changes in dune patterns
have made beach access a
nightmare in some locations,
especially for those with dis-
abilities.
La Follette said she is not
aware of any major public ac-
cess issues, and added there is
no guarantee to views or ac-
cess for beachfront property
owners.
Frank Patrick said the
Breakers Point homeown-
ers will likely regroup at the
beginning of the year to plan
their next step.
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