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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (March 10, 2018)
THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM ❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ SIUSLAWNEWS SATURDAY EDITION SET CLOCKS FORWARD 128TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 20 C OURTS FIND D OLLMAN GUILTY OF ANIMAL NEGLECT Former humane society employee fined $2,900 S TAFF R EPORT ❘ MARCH 10, 2018 ❘ $1.00 SPRING CLASS SCHEDULE INSIDE SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890 FLORENCE, OREGON VFW seeks to honor veterans with input from families Siuslaw News On March 8, Mapleton-area resident and former Oregon Coast Humane Society employee Heather Dollman was found guilty of six counts of ani- mal neglect. The guilty verdict was handed down in relation to two horses seized late last year by Lane County following reports of neglect. Dollman’s trial was held at the Florence Justice Center under the jurisdiction of the Lane County Circuit Court. On Dec. 21, 2017, Lane County Animal Services responded to reports of neglect related to two horses, Pumpkin and Pepper, on Dollman’s property. The onsite visit resulted in the issuance of neglect citations and required assistance from Oregon State Police in the removal of the animals. At the time, Dollman was cited on two counts each for lack of food — insufficient quality and quantity, lack of necessary veterinary care and unsuitable confinement. In January, Dollman was arraigned at the Florence Justice Center on nine counts related to animal neglect. Judge Rick Brissenden presided over the arraignment during which Dollman pleaded not guilty to all charges. Brissenden also presided over Dollman’s Thursday trial. See COURTS 8A PHOTOS BY MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS Veterans interred at Pacific Sunset Cemetery will be recognized for service in VFW program More than 500 veterans are interred at the Pacific Sunset Cemetery on Highway 126. V eterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) District Nine Post 3232 is asking members of the surrounding commu- nities to participate in an informal gathering of information pertaining B Y M ARK B RENNAN to veterans buried in the Siuslaw News Pacific Sunset Cemetery, located just outside of Florence on Highway 126. Ken Smith, Commander of VFW Post 3232, hopes any information gathered will allow the local chapter members to officially mark the headstone of veterans with approval from their family. VFW primarily undertook the effort so that identified veterans can be included in future military recognition ceremonies that take place at Pacific Sunset. Florence plans events to honor veterans during Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day, Independence Day and other patriotic hol- idays. “We want anyone with a relative or family member in the cemetery to let us know if they want us to put a permanent medallion, honoring their relative’s service, on the individual’s headstone,” Smith said. Pacific Sunset Cemetery has veteran head- stones dating back to World War I — and VFW hopes to honor every veteran buried there. See VETERANS 8A Forest assessment hits homeowners Petition to repeal marijuana ban dismissed Department of Forestry sends out Forest Patrol Assessment B Y M ARK B RENNAN Siuslaw News INSIDE A number of property own- ers and homeowner associa- tions in Florence have received an unexpected tax assessment for 2018. The bill comes as a result of a Forest Patrol Assessment imposed by the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) which reclassifies land parcels that the state feels may need protection from wildfires. The initial phase of the process for determining the needed scope of the assessment process began in 2016 and included a well-attended public meeting that September at the Florence Events Center. ODF Wildlife Fire Supervisor Tom Soward has oversight responsibility for the project and feels the work session at the FEC was impor- tant in beginning the dialogue with local property owners — many of whom are just now receiving confirmation of the change in their tax status. “A year and a half ago we had the community meeting at the Florence Events Center to Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . Girl Scout Appreciation . . . . Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B6 A3 A6 A4 MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS Areas where private property meets wild vegetation and brush are subject to the new reclassification guidelines put in place by the Oregon Department of Forestry. explain the Forestland Classification process that was taking place in all of Lane County,” Soward said. “At the meeting, it was explained to the attendees that as a result of the classification being done, that properties classified as ‘forestland’ would be protected from wildfire by the Oregon Department of Forestry.” More than 5,700 property Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B This Week on the Coast . . . . A7 Weather Data . . . . . . . . . . . A2 owners in Lane County, potentially affected by the forestland classification, were notified by mail in 2016 that the reclassification was underway and might affect their tax obligation. Letters affirming the process and the assessment were required to be delivered by March 1 of this year. See ASSESSMENT 6A THIS WEEK ’ S Land Use Board of Appeals declares Dunes City marijuana case not a ‘land use’ issue Siuslaw News On March 5, the Land Use Board of ture” in the city code and comprehensive plan Appeals (LUBA) dismissed a claim by Dunes to combat the ordinance. It argued that the City resident Catherine Caudle, which city did not follow residential (R-1) zoning requested Dunes City’s emergency marijuana regulations when drafting 245. Under the ban be repealed. assumption that marijuana is agriculture, In the dismissal, LUBA concluded that they which is allowed in R-1 zoning, the petition lacked juris- argued the city diction over council erred “We conclude that when a local government acts in drafting the the appeal. The issue pursuant to the authority given it to prohibit some ordinance. stems from or all marijuana businesses within its jurisdiction- “(The) peti- Ordinance 245, al boundaries, review of such a decision by a spe- tioner argues passed on Nov. cialized land use decision review body like LUBA that in adopt- 17, 2017, by ing the ordi- the Dunes City is not appropriate.” nance, the city — L AND U SE B OARD OF A PPEALS should have Council, which OF THE S TATE OF O REGON applied six dif- placed a ban on marijuana pro- ferent policies ducers, processors, wholesalers, retailers, dis- from the city’s comprehensive plan in adopt- pensaries or any combination of those entities ing the ordinance and adopted findings until the public could decide the ultimate fate addressing these policies,” the LUBA dis- of marijuana grows in November. missal read. However, the ordinance allowed three mar- In one of the criteria, the comprehensive ijuana grow operations that had opened with- plan states, “Waste discharges from future in city limits prior to the decision to remain in facilities shall not exceed the carrying capaci- business. ty nor degrade the quality of the land, air and Dunes City officials feared that repealing water resources.” 245 would open the floodgates to more mari- One of the main arguments opponents of juana facilities, since the ban would no longer the grow facilities made was that water seep- be in place. age from the sites could damage the local Caudle’s petition, filed on Nov. 17, looked environment. Air quality issues were also to deconstruct the marijuana argument in mentioned, with the smell of marijuana creat- terms of land use. ing a nuisance. The petition focused on the term “agricul- See LAND USE 7A TODAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY 60 47 66 47 64 45 51 42 WEATHER Full Forecast, A3 B Y J ARED A NDERSON S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS ❘ 22 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2018
