Yachats rainfall in 2019 was second-lowest in past 10 years, again

January 2, 2020

It was a very dry year in Yachats. Again. Yachats received a total of 50.43 inches in rain in 2019 — the second-lowest amount of rain over the past 10 years of record keeping by the city of Yachats. It was the second consecutive dry year in Yachats this decade. Until 2019, the second-lowest rainfall in the last decade

Yachats council reverses direction on vacation rentals, goes back to citywide 125-license cap

December 19, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The Yachats City Council on Wednesday dramatically changed directions again on vacation rental regulations, going back to a citywide cap of 125 licenses and reversing a vote to allow unlimited short-term rentals in areas zoned for businesses and motels. The unanimous vote came after the city’s attorney advised that treating vacation rentals differently in different zones

Yachats council asks Lincoln County to put two lots along 804 Trail up for sale

December 19, 2019

The city of Yachats is asking Lincoln County to try to sell two small residential lots along the 804 Trail bordering Aqua Vista Loop and Marine Drive. The county used money from the 804 Trail settlement agreement to purchase the lots decades ago in order to link two sections of the popular trail along Yachats’ oceanfront. They have sat

In granting Drift Inn variance, Yachats commission laments lack of overall parking plan for downtown

December 19, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The Yachats Planning Commission approved a request Tuesday by the owner of the popular Drift Inn restaurant and hotel to allow it to have eight less parking spaces than required, but not before wrestling with lots of questions it hopes the city will soon tackle. Such as: When will the city address the chronic lack of

Yachats-area representative, rural legislators unload on state’s lack of attention to rural Oregon

December 18, 2019

By DICK HUGHES/Oregon Capitol Insider Rep. Caddy McKeown, D-Coos Bay, minced no words. “My communities have been in a recession for about 40 years now,” she told participants at the Oregon Leadership Summit this week in Portland. “We have high rates of poverty, child abuse, domestic violence, obesity, the capital murder rate, shorter life span, all because poverty has been

City of Yachats pulls in $170,000 in street and water grants for 2020 projects

December 12, 2019

Rick McClung is on a roll. In the past few months, the city of Yachats’ water plant supervisor has written and received grants totaling $170,000 to help reconstruct streets or study water issues. McClung said the four grants from state agencies are part of a larger plan by City Manager Shannon Beaucaire “to go after this money.” “She’s given

Lincoln County schedules workshop Dec. 19 to hear ideas on vacation rental rules

December 12, 2019

Lincoln County has scheduled a workshop for 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19 to update people and hear more ideas about regulating vacation rentals in unincorporated areas of the county. The session is the first since September, when county commissioners passed an emergency ordinance on occupancy rules for short-term rentals and instituted stricter requirements for rentals on septic systems. The

After resignation, Yachats Fire seeks applicants for open board position

December 11, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com The Yachats Rural Fire Protection District needs to replace one of its five board members and this week gave people until the end of January to apply. The position is open because A’lyce Ruberg of Yachats resigned in November after just four months in office. Ruberg, who was elected to a four-year term in May, is

For seventh year Yachats youth program offering its 2020 calendars for sale

December 10, 2019

The Yachats Youth and Families Program has the perfect little Christmas gift for anyone who loves the area – a 2020 calendar featuring the work of six local photographers. The seventh-annual calendar sale is a fundraiser for the program, which provides pre- and after-school care and programs in the Yachats Commons for local children and their families. It

Yachats Fire District staff makes move Thursday, begins settling into new, $8 million station

December 5, 2019

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com Six years after the idea for a new fire station, staff of the Yachats Rural Fire Protection District on Thursday moved into its new 12,700 square foot home. The phones, computers and radios were hooked up and working. The first ambulance call came at 11:30 a.m., followed two hours later by the first fire call –