To the editor:
The conditional use request for the Agate Point development is going to be considered June 21 by the Yachats Planning Commission.
The question is, does the community want to have input over issues like this? Judging by the response so far, the answer is a resounding yes.
Yachat’s reputation as “The Gem of the Oregon Coast” is mentioned in the city’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan and states that “policies, procedures and applications shall complement the natural beauty of our location and environment”.
Yachats Ocean Road is one of the most spectacularly beautiful treasures of our community. It is upsetting to imagine the wetland destroyed, the increased traffic and the other negative effects this development will have, quite apart from what I feel is an assault on Yachats municipal code and land-use plan.
The Agate Point application was made a year ago. Since then, there have been two cancellations of Planning Commission meetings that might have decided the outcome months ago. It has been a long haul, but anyone having hope or expectation that public interest might wane will be disappointed.
Consider the following list of events that began one year ago. A first “community meeting” of about 15 residents, organized by the Fletchers, and described by attendees as “totally glossing over our concerns.” A community member posting details of the Agate Point proposal, resulting in a deluge of comments. The impromptu meeting in the Pavilion with 50 attendees and subsequent protest at City Hall. The letter writing campaign resulting in about 100 letters to the Planning Commission. The formation of a steering group and the creation of two Facebook pages named Friends of Yachats Ocean Road and Yachats Action Alliance.
It is an amazing, spontaneous grassroots opposition campaign.
It is only a couple more weeks to the decision. Can this effort be sustained? It is easy to just click “like” on Facebook but action is key.
Will you tell your friends and neighbors who aren’t on Faceook? Another protest? More letters and emails? Will you speak your mind in the three minutes allowed at the Planning Commission meeting?
The answer I believe is yes, because we love our community.
— Jude Toler/Yachats
