It is unusual to see an application for shoreline armoring rejected, but in a surprising outcome, the Cannon Beach Planning Commission last month unanimously denied an application for riprap from one of the city’s most prominent shoreline property owners, the upscale Stephanie Inn.

Now, much less surprisingly, the hotel has appealed the decision to the Cannon Beach City Council. A hearing will be held on Thursday, Sept. 5, at 6 p.m. The hearing will be held “de novo,” meaning that it is open to new testimony. All issues must be raised again (rather than relying on testimony to the planning commission); only matters raised during the hearing can subsequently be considered by the Land Use Board of Appeals.

Testimony can be in person, or by letter or e-mail. Correspondence should be mailed to the Cannon Beach City Council c/o Steve Sokolowski, P.O. Box 368, Cannon Beach, OR 97110 or via e-mail at planning@ci.cannon-beach.or.us. Such written testimony should arrive by the time of the hearing. Cite APP 24-05, appeal of Planning Commission’s denial of CU 24-01, requesting a conditional use permit for the purpose of replacing a deteriorating beachfront protective structure. (The property is located at 2740 Pacific Ave.)

Oregon Shores will join local organization Friends of the Dunes at Cannon Beach and many Cannon Beach residents in opposing the application.

The Stephanie Inn seeks to replace its existing riprap. Opponents would like to see preference given to less rigid, nature-based solutions. Oregon Shores argued in a comment to the planning commission that possible alternatives had not been seriously considered, as state regulations require. We also argued that the fact that the existing riprap is in a state of disrepair indicates a failure of maintenance, not justification for something bigger and longer-lasting.

Oregon Shores has steadily opposed the spreading of shoreline armoring along the coast through piecemeal decision-making, but applications have almost always been approved. However, the Cannon Beach commissioners held a lengthy and thoughtful review of the application and discussed the quandary of protecting public property while also allowing owners to protect their buildings. 

The planning commission agreed with the argument made by local opponents and Oregon Shores that the geotechnical report submitted on behalf of the Stephanie Inn was biased toward full-scale replacement of the riprap, without making the case that maintenance couldn’t extend the life of the structure and without demonstrating that a less intrusive approach such as a dynamic revetment wouldn’t work. As the commissioners said in their adopted findings, “the geotechnical report does not identify the efforts taken to maintain the existing revetment and the Commission feels that it cannot reward this lack of maintenance with a further armored approach.”

The commission also found that the geotechnical report “is insufficient to show that alternative, less invasive options are not viable. For example, installation of a dynamic revetment was rejected…because of the ‘uncertainty and lack of design methodology for dynamic revetments.’ But this evidence does not explain why the necessary design and engineering could not be done. The Report also indicates that these types of dynamic revetments require more frequent maintenance. These additional maintenance costs are not a basis for rejecting a less impactful solution.”

Oregon Shores applauds the Cannon Beach Planning Commission for giving shoreline armoring and its impacts the kind of careful scrutiny which is so often lacking. We also congratulate the Friends of the Dunes for their effective advocacy.

As Dianna Turner of Friends of the Dunes says, “This appeal will be a fierce battle between oceanfront property owners who see an upsetting change in city policy, and those of us who prioritize the health of our beach in land use decision-making….For decades the city has approved numerous riprap projects. Join me in seizing this decades-in-the making opportunity to stop riprap installations!”

— Written by Phillip Johnson, Shoreline and Land Use Manager

Photo: The Stephanie Inn, with its current riprap in the foreground,
by Dianna Turner

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