Big Island’s Hashem appeals permit denial

Sides fight to define what life should look like on Sauvie Island

By Erica Ryberg

The South County Spotlight, Jan 20, 2010, Updated Jan 20, 2010

ADVERTISEMENTS

<< Prev. Page 1 | 2

Hashem, for his part, points to confusion on the part of planners, but according to the denial Multnomah County planners penned last October, he failed to meet nearly half of the criteria for the greenway permit with the same arguments he detailed last week over the phone.

“The notice of the decision in denying him the greenway permit is pretty lengthy, but it’s pretty clear,” Bagon said.

Many of the county’s points centered on the removal of riparian vegetation he asserts was invasive blackberries.

The county didn’t agree. And so Hashem could, in short, have an uphill battle in his quest to win the permit.

“The burden of proof is on us,” he said.

But he was encouraged by the tone of the hearing officer’s comments at last week’s meeting and will have an opportunity for another appeal with the Land Use Board of Appeals if things don’t go his way.

Hashem said the hearing officer asked if he would accept a permit with language that the marina isn’t holding commercial events. He said he has no problem with those terms — at least in this context.

Hashem’s application for a conditional use permit to host a private kayaking club is still incomplete and won’t be reviewed at the hearing.

Urban-rural divide

The nexus of rural and urban uses have created issues in other parts of Sauvie Island as well. Multnomah County planners notified Kruger’s Farm Market last month that it was holding a public comment period regarding loosening the restrictions it placed on its farmstand permit last year. Those restrictions precluded nighttime activity, weddings and races.

Residents of the Reeder Beach RV Park are living there on borrowed time. After park owners applied for approval for an expansion last year, it came to the county’s attention they were out of compliance with zoning laws.

According to those laws, they shouldn’t be allowed to stay more than 10 days at a time, but guidelines for enforcement are vague, so they’re being allowed to stay there, for now.

<< Prev. Page 1 | 2