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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
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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
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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
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