Legal Battle Heats Up Over the Form and Function of Oregon's Coasts

After decades of enforcing a state law banning construction of rip-rap, or a barrier constructed of large rocks, along the coastline, Tillamook County, Oregon has decided to toss the state law and allow coastal homeowners to reinforce the coastline to protect their homes, according to an article by Kristian Foden-Vencil for OPB.

"Oregon land-use rules largely ban shoreline armoring, under what’s known as Goal 18," explains Foden-Vencil in the article. "The policy, adopted back in 1977, banned the use of rip rap to protect new development, unless the site qualified for an exception."

Goal 18 was adopted to protect the natural features of the Oregon Coast, but scientists have also shown that rip rap "changes the wave action on a beach, scouring away sand and potentially leaving no beach for the public to enjoy," according to the article.

"So there’s a natural friction between the hundreds of thousands of Oregonians who live on the coast and want their properties protected from the ocean, and environmentalists and visitors who vacation here and want to protect the beautiful vistas."

As reported in the source article below, Tillamook County, located on the Oregon Coast directly west of Portland but south of the mouth of the Columbia River, has recently begun to favor rip rap over public beaches.

But environmentalists aren't allowing the shift in land use policy without a legal fight. "The Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition is fighting Tillamook County’s decision and taking the Pine Beach case to Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals, or LUBA. They’re joined in their case by the Surfrider Foundation and the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development," reports Foden -Vencil.