Conveniences or eyesores? Waldport trying to sort out conflicting rules on storage containers in neighborhoods

By GARRET JAROS/Lincoln Chronicle

WALDPORT – The city of Waldport is working to rewrite its regulations on shipping containers, aiming to eliminate legal loopholes and ease a code enforcement headache while balancing neighborhood aesthetics with storage needs.

Waldport’s municipal code states that conex or other metal cargo containers are permitted only in planned industrial and public facilities zones. They are also allowed in retail commercial, general commercial, and commercial tourism zones located east of Lint Slough and south of the U.S. Highway 101 and Maple Street intersection. Temporary use is also allowed during construction or for limited moving and remodeling purposes.

Outside of those designated commercial and industrial areas, shipping containers remain effectively banned within city limits. However, because the current restrictions were implemented around 2019 or 2020, any containers installed prior to that period were grandfathered in, said city manager Dann Cutter.

This gap has created confusion among residents and a logistical challenge for the city.

“And so, some people have them, and some people don’t,” Cutter said. “So, when people look and see that their neighbor has one, they order one. Well, if they order it from the local guy here in town, he says, ‘I can’t put it there.’ But if they get one from the valley, where they don’t know about the restrictions, they just drop it off. And then it’s incumbent on the city to go around and figure out when one was put in. And that’s not easy. You have to be just constantly on the lookout.”

The current restrictions also apply to the Port of Alsea, where the containers are prohibited despite their common presence in most ports. Cutter noted that the port manager’s request to begin using shipping containers, which Cutter said makes sense to him, spurred his interest in fixing the issue.

A block from the port, several unpermitted cargo containers flank Shrimp Daddy’s Bait & Tackle Shack. Cutter said they are a “great example” of why he believes the code should be changed.

“That’s one of those things where it would have a negative effect on his business if we throw them off,” Cutter said. “It’s a prime example that our goal in our code should not be to make life harder for people trying to live and work in Waldport. The goal of our code should make it so that if you are going to use a conex box, that you just have to recognize that you’re in a neighborhood and that you have to paint it every couple years, you may have to put a fence beside it.”

The city hired a code enforcement officer in July but is withholding any enforcement on shipping containers until the council addresses the regulation.

To solve discrepancies, the city is working to move the regulation out of the Title 16 development code, and relocate it to Title 15, which handles construction standards. Moving the rules will allow the city to focus on regulating the appearance and maintenance of the containers rather than outright banning them in specific residential zones like R-1 and R-2.

Under the proposed changes, containers would be subject to uniform setback requirements.

“So you can’t have them in your front yard,” Cutter said. “You have to have them in the side or the rear yard. They have to be obscured by some sort of fencing, with the exception of the front of it. They can’t just be these rusted out hulks. They have to be painted and maintained, much like you have to paint your house”.

HOAs can still prohibit them

Cutter acknowledged that some resistance to the containers comes from residents seeking a better-looking community. But he pointed out that coastal conditions, petty theft, and the high cost of hiring contractors to build sheds and outbuildings make containers an affordable option. He added that many neighborhoods already enforce their own homeowners association bans on the containers.

“It really is just solving a problem,” Cutter said. “A couple of the councilors don’t like it, but there’s a problem right now. Your neighbor can have a benefit that you don’t because they put the conex in a couple years before you. This eliminates that and creates a fairness so you can use your property in the same way that your neighbor can — which is the whole thing about treating everyone equally.”

Last month, Councilor Susan Woodruff voted against having the city manager draft the ordinance proposal, expressing concern over the appearance of large containers in residential areas.

“I voted ‘No’ just because I just hate to see it happen,” Woodruff said. “I don’t know how I’ll vote on the final thing. Until we actually have a discussion on something in front of us, I really don’t know where it’ll go.”

Woodruff considers the structures an eyesore and doubts the current fencing height limit of five feet – “unless we change that too” – will hide them.

“I just don’t think they enhance the look of a neighborhood,” Woodruff said, adding that while placement in backyards is better than in driveways or front yards, “it’s just not my idea of an attractive neighborhood.”

The council postponed further discussion about whether to change the code at its July meeting so that procedural requirements under state law regarding modifications to Title 16 could be reviewed.

To avoid sending individual notices to roughly 1,100 households, if the change is passed by council, the city will include the required notice in an upcoming utility bill, which will coincide with an overall notice to update the city’s development code to meet new state standards.

• Garret Jaros covers the communities of Yachats, Waldport, south Lincoln County and natural resources issues for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at [email protected]