The below misleading information is posted on the North Coast Housing Solution Web Site and in emails that have been distributed.
| What North Coast Housing Solutions Says: | What is Accurate: |
| Clatsop county has generously offered more than 12 acres of surplus land in the community of Arch Cape. | Clatsop County has not “generously offered” the land. Clatsop County posts all of its surplus land on its web site. These parcels are just some of many. Click Here – Surplus Lands Inventory |
| From the Jan 23 Meeting in Cannon Beach: “Other than the property in Arch Cape, there are only 2 other parcels of surplus property, one in Gearhart and one in Warrenton” | There are actually 15 parcels of surplus property, in addition to those in Arch Cape. There are 4 in Warrenton, 8 in Astoria, 2 in Seaside and 1 in Gearhart. Click Here: All of the parcels on this list are available. Click Here: In an email of 01-24-23, the Assistant County Manager wrote that all but the last 2 on this list are available. |
| From Jan 20 article in Cannon Beach Gazette: “The Arch Cape property meets the State requirements for any new construction of affordable housing to be built outside of a flood plain or geologic slide zone.” | From Clatsop County Web Maps: 1) In the Geologic Hazard Overlay the property is in the Landslide Topography 2) In the Landslide susceptibility Overlay, it is in the High and Very High zones Click Here to see Geologic Hazard & and Landslide Overlay from Clatsop County Web Maps |
| From the Jan 23 Meeting in Cannon Beach: “The County uses the term ‘low-income’ housing but doesn’t define it.” | Oregon Statue Statute 271.330 gives the County the power relinquish title to County Land for the purpose of “low income housing”. Oregon State Stature 456.270 defines ““Low income household” as a “household with income less than or equal to 80 percent of the area median income”. |
| From the Jan 23 Meeting in Cannon Beach: Arch Cape meeting attendees had a sigh of relief when I told them that we could do 80-120 Average Median Income (AMI). | We are not aware that the County can give away land if the intent is not for low-income housing as defined in State Statute (ORS 271.330). |
| In their Expression of Interest, NCHS says: ‘NCHS is proposing to build environmentally-conscious cottages for low-income workers on the following tax lot ID numbers”. | At the January 23 Meeting in Cannon Beach, NCHS said: Arch Cape meeting attendees had a sigh of relief when I told them that we could do 80-120 Average Median Income (AMI). Our Note: As stated above, low-income is 80% or below of the Area Median Income |
| “There’s opposition from neighbors who do not want increased traffic in their neighborhood” | We are opposed to the County giving away millions of dollars of land without a standard, transparent due process that: 1) Confirms that the location has social benefit to the occupants and to the county, 2) Confirms that the land is environmentally suitable, 3) Confirms that housing will be built timely and will be available into perpetuity 4) Has an RFP process that a) Confirms developer’s qualifications b) Confirms the design plan, operations, property management plan and its financial viability |
| “They are writing to the Clatsop County Commissioners to drown the project in red tape”. “Unfortunately, this project risks being shut down by a small group of local property owners and for-profit developers in Arch Cape. They are writing to the Clatsop County Commissioners to try to drown the project in red tape”. | If ‘Red Tape’ is the necessary precautions to make sure land is not given away before it can be determined that the developer is qualified and housing can and will be built where it is needed in a timely manner – then that is exactly what we are doing. We don’t want a repeat of the County giving away land to Seaside and no housing construction is planned at all. |
| “Fire Chief Reckmann supports it fully.” | Chief Reckmann has stated in writing that he has been misrepresented. As a public agency Cannon Beach Fire cannot express support or not support for any private project. |
| “If his non-profit wasn’t able to get the land then it would be auctioned off to the highest bidder, to a for-profit developer, and they would certainly build large vacation homes and/or short-term rentals”. Based upon a question about the basis for the statement, the response was: “The Assistant County Manager stated that on March 1, 2023 the property would be auctioned to the highest bidder if the property wasn’t given to a municipalities or non-profits.” | In an email of 01-17-23, the Assistant County Manager wrote Q: It is also being said that the County will auction off the land if it has not been given away to a non-profit by end of March. Any truth to this? A: This is at the discretion of the Board and I can’t speak to what the Board might do as it has not been discussed. |
| From the Jan 23 Meeting in Cannon Beach: A for-profit developer who resides in Arch Cape said that if the property was auctioned, he would be on the court-house steps to purchase the forest. | There are no ‘for-profit developers’ associated with RLUA, living in Arch Cape or elsewhere. The only “for-profit” developer that we know of that resides in Arch Cape is on the Board of NCHS, and they have an incentive for the property not to go up for auction. We don’t know of, nor are we associated with, any contractors, architects, developers or builders of any type who have interest or intent to purchase the property for housing development or any other purpose. Everyone we know and are associated with sees this property as environmentally unsuitable for development. We see this comment of NCHS as pure fabrication. On a related note, NCHS was asked … if the property was auctioned, would they purchase it on the courthouse steps and pursue their interest in affordable housing, The answer was “No” |
Responsible Land Use Alliance 