The 50-by-100-foot lot directly north of Hi-School Pharmacy in downtown Waldport has been a parking lot for decades after a residential building on the site was razed in the 1980s. Now it will be the site of an auto shop topped with two apartments.
By GARRET JAROS / Lincoln Chronicle
WALDPORT – Construction of an auto repair shop topped by apartments in the heart of downtown is expected to get underway in a couple of months thanks to one man’s effort to help his family find stability.
Gary Church of Yachats, who owns Topper’s Ice Cream in Yachats along with the building that houses it and two other businesses, purchased the empty parking lot directly north of Hi-School Pharmacy in September.
“We’re trying to help two situations at the same time,” Church told the Waldport planning commission prior to its approval for a conditional use permit Monday.
Gary Church and his son, Gary Church Jr.The two-bay garage will have only one mechanic – Church’s son Gary Jr. — who told the Lincoln Chronicle he as a passion for working on cars and believes he can make a living at it. One of the two apartments above will go to Church’s father-in-law who has been on a waiting list find low-income housing for more than a year.
“It really goes back to helping family members get their thing going at the same time,” Church said of the decision to build in Waldport. “We were looking for wherever we could do something that fit the mold of what we wanted to do.”
The 27-foot-high building will have a footprint of 32-by-38 feet and be situated in the southwest corner of the 50-by-100 foot lot at the corner of West Willow and Northwest Maple streets. The ground floor will consist of a 948-square-foot garage and 192-square-foot office. Upstairs will be divided into two 460-square-foot one-bedroom apartments with living room windows facing Alsea Bay.
The extra apartment will be available for long-term rental at market rates.
Gary Church hopes construction can begin in two months on his auto shop and apartment building in downtown Waldport.The office will run the length of the building’s south side and be fronted by a new sidewalk that the building’s roof – with lighting pointing down – will overhang. The bay doors will face east where there will be a parking lot with five spaces. Two more parking spaces will be located on the north side of the building. The west side will have a more residential look with stairs going up between the apartments.
Decorative moldings and trims will be applied to windows and door openings, including the roll-up garage doors “to add to the old-town atmosphere,” Church wrote in his application to the city.
The planning commission did receive two objections to the proposed building from neighbors with bay front property across from the site on Maple Street.
“An auto repair shop, with its noise and traffic congestion, is antithetical to the bay views, trees and serene strolls of Maple Street,” Greg and Scottie Jones wrote in an email. The Jones own Maple Street Beach House, a vacation rental.
They said the street is a tourist draw and questioned the availability of parking for apartment residents, auto shop employees and its customers.
The Jones added that “the very character of an auto repair shop would do irreparable harm to the integrity of Maple Street,” and is “bound to lead to tensions with neighbors.” And that the noise will be an irritant that will drive away tourists, lower home prices and do “considerably more harm than good,” they wrote.
Church said he was sympathetic to concerns, but emphasized it will be a low-volume shop with only one mechanic and enough parking either inside the garage or with the onsite parking to accommodate residents and customers alike.
Church purchased the lot from Jeff Berg, owner of Waldport Family Cuts.
A residential structure had sat on the site until it was removed in the 1980s and replaced with the parking lot, according to city planner Jaime White, who recommended the commission approve the build.
“It is staff’s opinion the standards for the downtown district have been met,” White said. “And staff finds the proposed development is an appropriate use for the site.”
- Garret Jaros covers the communities of Yachats, Waldport, south Lincoln County and natural resources issues and can be reached at [email protected]
Zoning that allows strip malls, loading docks and auto shops adjacent residential neighborhoods, misses the whole point of zoning.
The west facing side of the building is the residential entrance, the shop roll up bay doors are facing east towards US 101.
The worst thing for Waldport is that those ~ 9 or so houses exist on the Southern side of the bay rather than being used as a prime tourist attraction.
Its the one place you could build a giant boardwalk and put shops up. Instead, we have an ugly business side on 101 with traffic racing by rather than using 101 as the means of getting people onto a boardwalk.
If Waldport had a boardwalk it would change the economy of the town for the better and build a larger sea wall.
I agree with the “traffic racing by on 101”.
Seems like our city has an agreement with the Lincoln County Sheriff that includes code enforcement.
I see cars blowing the stop light at 101 and 34 at high speed, coming off the bridge at what is definitely not 25 MPH and maintaining that speed through town and speeding along 34 at what is surely way above 25 mph in both directions.
Add to that the high number of vehicles that blatantly fail to stop at the crosswalks on both 101 and 34.
And yet, no real enforcement on a daily basis, let alone every other day or so.
That lot has been vacant all this time and I don’t see any problem with having another auto repair shop in town. And, as for the noise, have you even heard how noisy hwy 101 is ??
Exactly. 101 noise should be cancelled out by more automotive noises, they kinda cancel the other out. No doubt there will be no spillage or piles of surplus parts/future sculptural components to be concerned about either.
Another zoning mistake.
Oh no, does that mean the vacation rental won’t get rented by tourists? Of course they will, along with all the other ones that are ruining the housing market in our area. Without long term rentals you have no employees for the businesses that these tourists frequent. When they inevitably get poor service from all the businesses in the area being understaffed, they will stop renting those houses. Seems like one more mechanic in town will hardly do as much harm to our town as the people who don’t live in the area buying second or third homes to make a quick buck renting them out by the day. The only people that make money and spend that money here are the maids hired to clean up afterwards.
Having apartments upstairs of auto repairs has always been not allowed mostly because of fire. Auto repairs shop are great; I am for it having been in that business number of years but apartments over it is non-compatible.
…and yet apartments are rented to cigarette and marijuana smokers. At least there’s a presumption that an auto mechanic will not be drinking alcohol on the premises, as smoking renters often will. Where is the greater fire danger, John?
Well I’m not too happy about how the business of STR’s in my neighborhood ruin the closeness and atmosphere of knowing your neighbors, the increased traffic and noise including parties and barking dogs, extra garbage, abuse of our private beach access area that is often used as an outhouse, STR customers wandering onto private property and unresponsive STR owners who expect year round residents to police their properties…..so, absolutely no sympathy for Greg and Scottie.
Well said, Janet. Some of the appeal of Waldport is that it is an actual, functioning town where real people work and live, not some kind of Depoe Bay Disneyland. Tourists will most likely be touring during the garage business hours, so there’s really no problem. As to garage waste, most auto repair sites are kept clean because the owners don’t want to cause problems with neighbors and the city. Letting absentee STR owners dictate policy is more destructive than having another useful business in town.