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Clatsop County planning commission recommends update to Goal 18 beaches and dunes; staff to remove dated development clause
Summary
The commission recommended the Board adopt ordinance 25-09 to replace the county’s Goal 18 and add digital maps and code changes; staff will remove a dated sentence about development before 1977 based on DLCD feedback.
The Clatsop County Planning Commission on Sept. 16 recommended that the Board of Commissioners adopt an updated comprehensive plan Goal 18 (beaches and dunes) and related implementing code changes, staff said.
Planning staff described the update as a technical and mapping-focused project that incorporates new geologic mapping from the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, adds digitized shoreline and dune maps and creates standards to govern dune grading, construction-setback lines and cable landings. "Goal 18 covers the county's beaches and dunes," David Cook, planning manager, told commissioners, noting the update is one of the county's remaining comprehensive plan goals to be modernized.
Staff summarized outreach that informed the revisions, including meetings with state agencies and stakeholders and work by the Columbia River Estuary Study Task Force as the county’s project planner. The update includes model language for dune grading, shoreline access standards and a new inventory of construction-setback lines and dune morphology maps; staff also proposed amendments to the county’s Land and Water Development and Use Code (LAWDoc) Article 5 to implement the policy changes.
Cook told commissioners that after the agenda materials were posted, the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) requested a correction: staff recommended removing the phrase "were or are committed to development on or before 01/01/1977" from a policy that allows limited dune grading for view enhancement or to prevent ongoing sand inundation where an overall management plan exists. Staff recommended the commission adopt the ordinance "as corrected by community development staff" to remove that dated clause and align with state guidance.
A public commenter, Scott McMullen of the Oregon Fishermen’s Cable Committee, supported provisions that prioritize co‑location of new cable landings at existing infrastructure. He raised a mapping question about one beach vault’s location relative to a construction-setback line; staff replied that the dune construction-setback lines do not prohibit placement of new or co‑located cable landings and that conditional use or permitting standards would apply.
Commissioners voted to recommend the Board adopt Ordinance 25-09 with staff’s corrections. Staff said the update modernizes dated paper maps, consolidates recently adopted policy changes and provides a framework for future, site-specific permitting related to dune grading, access, cable landings and coastal hazards.
