2 weeks Ago
COQUILLE — Coos County Commissioners have denied an appeal by the Oregon Coast Alliance of a golf course proposed south of Bandon. Commissioners Rod Taylor, Bob Main and John Sweet conducted a public hearing Oct. 23, 2024, on the appeal of a Coos County Planning Commission decision.
After the conclusion of the one-hour meeting, commissioners voted unanimously to uphold the planning commission’s action and ordered the county planning staff to prepare findings of fact to present to commissioners pending a final decision later. Planning Director Jill Rolfe said the matter would likely come before the commissioners at their Nov. 5 meeting.
The Oregon Coast Alliance (ORCA), based in Astoria, appealed the planning commission’s decision, which led to the Oct. 23 hearing before the county commissioners. Cameron La Follette, ORCA’s executive director, has said her organization appealed the decision to get an additional hearing.
ORCA is an advocacy organization. Among other things, it strives to protect the Oregon coast by working with coastal residents for sustainable communities, protecting and restoring coastal and marine natural resources, according to its website. A Eugene attorney, Sean T.
Malone, represented ORCA at public hearings last summer and again Oct. 23. Speaking to the commissioners via phone, he addressed the issues that prompted ORCA’s objections to the project.
He said golf courses differ greatly from cranberry bogs, which are the principal uses on the adjacent property, which also is zoned for farm use. Among other differences, he said golf courses promote more traffic and accumulate more litter. Malone also questioned the capacity of the property’s drain field, expressed concerns about water drawdowns affecting the neighboring farms and objected to the applicant’s lack of specific locations for buildings proposed on the 342-acre property.
He said commissioners should deny the application or return it to the planning commission for further review. Ocean River LLC of Bandon applied for a conditional use permit in April to establish the 18-hole regulation golf course with accessory uses in the exclusive farm use zone. The application for the New River Dunes Golf Course was signed by Michael L.
Keiser, who owns the property. Keiser said in his application the accessory uses would include a clubhouse/restaurant, a maintenance facility, restrooms, a caddy shack, driving range, practice course and parking. The application shows the proposed development would be west of U.
S. Highway 101 and south of Boak Lane, which would be the primary access to the property. The links would be on a long, narrow strip of property that extends south from Boak Lane between cranberry bogs and the Bandon State Natural Area.
The southern end of the proposed golf course would be directly west of Bandon Crossings Golf Course, which occupies land on the east side of the highway. Chris Hood of the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort and Ken Nice, general manager of Bandon Dunes, represented the applicant at the hearing. Hood said the application was complete and the commissioners had all the information they needed to uphold the planning commission’s approval.
In addition, Hood addressed some of Malone’s objections, explaining that the applicant would return to the county with more specific information about the layout of the golf course and its accessory structures upon further assessment of the property. “This is not high-value farm land,” Hood said. “The property is literally a sand dune.
We’re going to put it to good use. That property is very suitable for a links-style golf course.” Refuting ORCA’s concerns about impacts on adjacent farm uses, Hood said, “We’re not doing anything on the golf course that isn’t being done on the adjacent land already.
” He said ORCA’s concerns about wastewater, water table drawdown and chemical uses would be addressed and regulated by state agencies. “We have to go through the Oregon Water Resources Department,” Hood said. “We have to demonstrate there will be zero impact.
They will not give you a permit these days without that.” Ken Nice of Bandon Dunes said ORCA shouldn’t be concerned about how the developer will manage the property. “I think our environmental record at Bandon Dunes speaks for itself,” Nice said.
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