Coos Bay council adopts Empire Area Blueprint, removes wording recommending waterfront housing at Hollering Place

Coos Bay Mayor Joe Benetti and the City Council on Tuesday adopted the Empire Area Blueprint and associated changes to the comprehensive plan, municipal code and transportation plan, voting unanimously to approve land-use application 187-24-000174-PLNG and to enact three ordinances implementing parts of the blueprint.

The council amended the staff-recommended findings to remove a sentence on page 14 (and a cross-reference on page 49) that had said consultants found mixed commercial use and "high-end housing" may be the highest and best use for the waterfront. The council also directed staff to clarify in the record that the Hollering Place should be preserved for open-space and recreational uses and that any change allowing residential uses there would require subsequent review through the Coos Bay Estuary Management Plan process.

Why it matters: The blueprint is a long-range plan aimed at guiding development, transportation improvements and waterfront strategy for the Empire study area. The adoption moves a multi-year project into an implementation phase and establishes city-level policy changes and implementing ordinances; it does not, by…