Yamhill County leaves record open in contested church land-use hearing after weeks of negotiation

The Yamhill County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 19 left the record open in a contested conditional‑use permit for a proposed church on Northeast Chehalem Drive after hours of testimony from the applicant, neighbors and county staff over traffic, stormwater, septic and access‑road maintenance.

The applicant, Chehalem Christian Fellowship, represented by attorney Andrew Stamp, presented negotiated conditions intended to address neighbors' concerns, including either paving the southern access road or entering a shared maintenance agreement requiring grading and oiling at least twice a year, landscape screening, culvert reshaping to manage stormwater and a prohibition on homeless camping on the property while the church operates. "That road was accepted by the county, not for maintenance," Stamp told the board while explaining the applicant's view that the right of way was dedicated and publicly used in the 1970s.

Neighbors and appellants raised…