Current Listing

Round Two

One of our neighbors, the owner of an oceanfront home who opposes view grading, received a letter from the Manzanita Neah-Kah-Nie Dunes Management Association–the DMA, from now on. She passed it on to me and I’m sharing it here with you.

Some backstory. In November of 2021, a group of 7 property owners had applied to grade the dunes between Horizon and Spindrift to improve their ocean views. Oregon Parks and Recreation Department held a public hearing on February 3, 2022, and in March 2022, OPRD denied the application.

The letter from DMA states that they have been preparing an amendment to the 1995 Manzanita Fore Dune Management Plan to be adopted by the City. The DMA wants to pay for their own set of planners and geologists so they can continue view grading by amending the City’s zoning ordinance. They will present this to the Council at the July 6 workshop at 3pm.

Mark your calendars, kids.

In part the letter from DMA reads: “We need your support to ensure the amendment is adopted by the City and we do not go the way of the City of Cannon Beach’s recent dune management plan update where they were denied the ability to maintain their ocean views. “This would severely impact the quality and value of our beach front homes…”

I’ve added the italics.

Exsqueeze me?! Oregon’s coast is public land. All of it. Including those inconvenient dunes. It doesn’t belong to private citizens or to any private entity for private benefit. However, the president of the association suggests that beachfront property owners have a special right to own the view because it adds value to their private property. Since they seem to believe they own the view, they also believe they should be able to maintain the dunes as they see fit.

It’s deeply troubling to me that the very entity writing this amendment and offering to pay for the process is not neutral and stands to gain financially from view grading.

The November application was to scrape 4+ acres of dunes (10,000 cubic square feet of sand) and spread it near the shoreline about 2 feet deep displacing or killing every living thing that depends on the dunes for habitat and also anything under the sand that would suffocate. After the dunes are gone, they’d replant the same invasive European Beach grass responsible for sand accretion, so they can lather, rinse, and repeat the process every few years, regardless.

The DMA letter brings up Cannon Beach’s recent update to its Fore Dune Management Plan. The reason view grading is no longer allowed in Cannon Beach is because the majority of its residents didn’t want more view grading. Simple as that. The minority of property owners who did want view grading lost the decision.

While the goals of our Comprehensive Plan are aspirational, policies containing mandatory language have the force of law. On page 2 of the City of Manzanita’s Comprehensive Plan, Policies 6 and 7 read:

6. The plan must have the support of the majority of the community.
7. The plan is not to be used for the benefit of a few property owners or special interests, but for the city as a whole.

OPRD’s public hearing in February was a robust showing of opposition to what a handful of property owners wanted to do to public land for their profit. OPRD recognized that and denied the application in part because so many people turned out to oppose it, and in part because the Fore Dune Management Plan is too old and no longer reflects the current science behind climate change, sea level rise, and the kind of severe storms likely to increase in frequency.

Manipulating nature always comes with consequences. Too often when we mess around with natural systems and cycles, Nature bites us. Hard.

While the application mentions safety and access, Oregon law already allows for access grading for safety and habitat restoration grading for Snowy Plovers. But this is not that.

Those who received the letter from the DMA are asked to, “show the powers that be (The City, State Parks, Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development) that the community supports dune management.”

But here’s the deal–the community DID show the “powers that be” that we support access, habitat restoration, and safety but we don’t support view grading for a handful of property owners.

What constitutes a beautiful view is a very subjective thing and also a changeable thing. The world offers itself to us every moment of our lives. Beauty, in a million different forms, is everywhere, if we have the eyes to see it.

To provide comment, email City Council and the City Manager before the workshop on Wednesday, July 6 at 3 pm and let them know what you think.

Mayor Scott mscott@ci.manzanita.or.us
Council President Kozlowski lkozlowski@ci.manzanita.or.us
Councilor Tonjes htonjes@ci.manzanita.or.us
Councilor Nuttall snuttall@ci.manzanita.or.us
Councilor Spegman jspegman@ci.manzanita.or.us
City Manager Aman laman@ci.manzanita.or.us

Kim Rosenberg. loretta.kim.rosenberg@gmail.com

Did you know that the City Council has the final say in rulings made by the Planning Commission?

At the Planning Commission meeting on June 20th, emotional and concerned citizens asked for accountability on the proposed “hybrid Manzanita Lofts Hotel” in Manzanita. I have been following this dialogue for awhile. It centers around a 34-unit complex between Classic Street and Dorcas Lane, butted right up against the north-east end of the Manzanita Links golf course. The hybrid hotel would face the green of the golf course’s Signature Hole – #5.

At the end of the meeting, the Planning Commission voted unaminously to deny this proposal. Although concerns were numerous, safety was prominent. I listened to the 5 hour meeting, knew letters were submitted with nearly 130 signatures against this proposal, and knew neighborhoods surrounding this develoment were vocal about the impact on their lives.

The caveat, though, is actually in the operating requirements of the golf course. The consequences of this proposed development must be carefully considered and weighed against the risks. Therefore, the City Council must decide what to do with the Planning Commission’s advice and be ready to accept their responsibility if deciding against the recommendation.

Prior to the June Planning Commission hearing, my husband and I wandered by the Manzanita Links Golf Course and started chatting wiith Jeff Mitchell, the manager. It was a lazy day, not too crowded, so we asked Jeff how he felt about the proposed hotel going in next to the #5 hole.

Jeff was happy somebody asked the question, because the owner of the “hotel” had never been by to discuss the plans for this new development. My husband asked Jeff if he had concerns about the project, and he laughed before saying, “Oh yes!”

I asked for elaboration.

“Well first,” he said, “those folks (guests) are going to get hammered with golf balls. Hammered and constantly,” I asked him who is liable for damages done by golf balls, and he replied, “Well, if somebody gets seriously injured, isn’t the city responsbile since it allowed this hotel to be built in such a dangerous place?”

That’s one opinion, and is really the key question for the City Council. The golf course has been here a long time and, all the while, using those 2 tax lots as a safety buffer. The hole was designed for safety and challenge. Should the council now decide that tax revenue outweighs critical safety issues and functionality of this primary green space – the golf course?

I asked Jeff about the trees blocking the balls, and he — laughed again. I got the impression that any golfer worth the grain knew that golf balls going between 100 – 180 miles per hour would go straight through green spaces with trees. “Just ask the people who live in Dorcas Village,” Jeff said. “Golf balls show up there all the time.”

Jeff went on about concerns with the drainage… how water just pours over the hill after a few rainy days, how the gully is being filled in, and how that water has to go somewhere — usually down. He talked about guests with dogs and children who could wander onto the golf course and not be aware they were in the path of a speeding missle. Jeff was worried about vandalism with no manager on-site. He was concerned about the smoke and the sparks from the proposed fire pits and how the summers here seem to be getting drier. We listened to Jeff for 20 minutes — something I figured the developer should have done.

As my husband and I walked away, we had a lot to think about. My husband, a golfer, said that if he was teeing off at hole #5 and knew there was even the slightest possibility that he could injure someone – well, he’d just skip that hole.

The goal of the golfer, he reminded me, is to hit the ball straight. When everything lines up perfectly — the ball goes straight. “Most recreational golfers,” he said, “are more like works in progress.” History has proven that with the west wind and the height of that t-box up on the hill, the tendency is for balls to hook to the right when there’s a normal loft of 12 degrees or more. There’s a lot of golf balls that don’t go straight.

Manzanita is lucky to have this beautiful, pristine green space in the city, and the owners of the golf course have generously opened it up to the public so walkers can enjoy it in evenings and on Mondays. The golf course shouldn’t be saddled with lawsuits every time a golf ball breaks a windshield or worse, injures a person.
The golf course was here first. It was designed to be a challenge, but was also designed with safety in mind. It isn’t the fault of the golf course if the city council indiscriminately allows a “hotel” development (with no manager on site) to proceed in an area that has previously served as a safety zone for the golfers.

Lastly, I wondered if the current city council members facing a vote to approve or deny this project (let’s be clear here: it would over-ride the recommendation of the Planning Commission) will personally take responsibility for what the future brings with that vote?

Thank you for your time.

Deb Simmons