Oregon Coast Alliance

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Astoria, OR
Oregon Coast Alliance

To protect the Oregon coast, its natural resources and its livability.

To protect the Oregon coast by working with coastal residents for sustainable communities; protection and restoration of coastal and marine natural resources; providing education and advocacy on land use development; and adaptation to climate change.

05/22/2026

The Wheeler Planning Commission approved the Botts Marsh LLC proposal to build a huge (for tiny Wheeler) development on old industrial fill land fronting Nehalem Bay. The proposal would involve a hotel as well as cottage clusters. The problem is that Wheeler does not have adequate infrastructure for so large a development. Furthermore, the geological hazard report makes clear that this is a substandard lot, because the land is old infill. Building structures will require exotic and elaborate preparations, including such things as “geo-foam” to enhance stability. This is a longstanding controversial project in Wheeler. It would be much better to engineer a land trade, by which Botts Marsh LLC could build a development elsewhere in town, and this property could become a bayfront park.

Photo: Wheeler Waterfront. Courtesy City of Wheeler

05/08/2026

Gearhart City Attorney was supposed to deliver his report to City Council on May 6th, so Council could move forward determining what to do about the fence blocking public beach access erected by Kevin Kidd at 13th Street. However, the attorney was not present at the Council meeting, and Chad Sweet (City Administrator) said the attorney was still reviewing documents. Meantime, ORCA last week sent a letter to all Council members reminding them that regardless of whether the Kidd property is deemed publicly or privately owned, the fence he built is subject to the Beaches and Dunes Overlay Zone. That zone explicitly lists permitted activities, and explicitly states that activities not listed are forbidden. Building a fence to block public access is not a permitted use under the zone, nor are other structures that block view or access. More waiting is required before Council reviews the Kidd fence controversy, but the language of the Beaches and Dune Overlay is quite clear.

Photo: Kidd Fence at 13th Street Public Access in Gearhart. December 2025.

04/24/2026

In 1853, the Russians had had a colony in what is now Alaska for more than half a century. It was run by the Russian American Company, and its principal source of wealth was the luxurious pelt of the sea otter, which was hunted by Alaska natives (principally Kodiak Islanders) via labor contracts to the Company. There were other unfree workers in the RAC colony, and in 1853 four Scandinavian indentured servants stole a canoe and escaped. After a harrowing journey they probably reached the north Oregon coast. Famed Western writer Ivan Doig wrote a historical novel about these four men, called The Sea Runners. It illuminates a corner of coastal history very little known.
https://www.amazon.com/Sea-Runners-Ivan-Doig/dp/0156031027

Photo: Cover of The Sea-Runners.

04/02/2026

Gearhart City Council, at its April meeting, agreed to pay the city attorney to investigate the question of whether closure of the 13th Street public beach access by an adjacent landowner, Kevin Kidd, was legal or not. Researchers have found Kidd's purchase deed, and it appears to indicate that his ownership ends further east than has been claimed — and, thus, the fence he erected to block the public access may be illegal. The city attorney’s report will be shared with Council at its next meeting on May 6th. ORCA is pleased to see some research on this important Gearhart controversy over beach access by the public.

Photo: Kidd Fence at 13th Street Public Access in Gearhart. December 2025.

03/06/2026

ORCA and a local resident appealed the Bay City approval of the large Mistybrook Estates proposal to the Land Use Board of Appeals, as several important planning requirements had not been fulfilled. Before the case could be heard the city and applicant requested that ORCA also agree to a voluntary remand of the project back to the city. With all parties agreeing, LUBA remanded the case back to Bay City. Now the ball is in the applicant’s court, whether to redesign the project, change it substantively or decide not to move ahead with a remand hearing.

01/27/2026

Bay City is holding a public workshop on January 29, 2026 to gather information and opinions about a proposed 15-acre addition to the city’s Urban Growth Boundary under recent legislation permitting such a one-time expansion, but only if criteria of “need” are met. It is not clear to ORCA that Bay City meets those important need requirements, and if not, the UGB would not be expanded. The property the city is proposing is known as the “Green-Williams” property. Please bring your opinions to the table! For further information, see here: https://www.ci.bay-city.or.us/cityhall/page/community-workshop

01/16/2026

On top of its three recently approved resorts (Keiser’s Bandon Beach Hotel, and Gravel Point Phase 1 and Phase 2) Bandon was poised to issue a replat of part of an existing but unbuilt plat, called Portland Addition, to allow approximately 420 housing units. The new owner was to be Breath of Life. The city provided no information about the project in its materials, but Breath of Life’s own website described it as a “420-unit” project that would include mixed income and multifamily buildings. ORCA provided testimony that a replat must meet the standards applied to a preliminary plat, which includes showing that “the utilities conform to the City’s adopted master plans.” That is, there must be a showing that there are sufficient utilities to support the proposed number of dwellings. There was also no proof that the underlying plat authorized this many houses — a very large number for a town of Bandon’s size. Upon inquiry to the city, it turns out that after reading the comments received, Breath of Life withdrew the application. They gave the city no reason, but ORCA hopes it was because calmer heads prevailed about the likelihood that Bandon’s already overstretched utilities could support so massive a project.

Photo: Face Rock, Bandon. Courtesy ORPD.

01/09/2026

Bandon City Council, in a whirlwind hearing on January 5th, decided unanimously in favor of the Gravel Point Phase 2 project, without probing the serious gaps in Bandon’s ability to provide infrastructure for this second massive resort. The city is clearly seeking to bootstrap its failing infrastructure (and its budget) by approving these resorts. But tying the health of sewer and water infrastructure to private developers is always chancy, especially as they do not have responsibility for the overall municipal system. Adding more tourist facilities to Bandon’s downward-spiraling tourist-based economy is not going to solve the city’s problems. But Council is apparently not interested in thinking outside the box.

Photo: Face Rock, Bandon. Courtesy ORPD.

12/23/2025

ORCA wishes all our supporters, hard-working volunteers and contractors, and all coastal residents and visitors, safe and happy holidays. Let us emerge into the New Year ready to protect the coast we all love, our coast of unparalleled beauty. Thank you as ever for your commitment; we could not do this work without you.

Photo: Boiler Bay. Courtesy Barry Wulff.

12/16/2025

The Bandon planning commission, after hearing extensive testimony on all sides about the massive Gravel Point Phase II resort proposed for Bandon, ended up in a split vote of 3-3, thus denying the application. Thank you to those commission members who understood how Bandon’s livability would be compromised by this resort, and its small-town infrastructure strained beyond its capacity. Because a zone change is involved, there is an automatic city council hearing on the proposal, which will be held January 5th.

Photo: Face Rock, Bandon. Courtesy ORPD

Address

Astoria, OR
97103

Telephone

+15033910210

Website

http://www.oregoncoastalliance.org/

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