By KENNETH LIPP/YachatsNews
WALDPORT – The message from the public during a first meeting about the future of Don Lindly Park was clear — maintain the rustic nature of the 10-acre parcel with 1,800 feet of water frontage eight miles up the Alsea River.
Dozens joined the online Zoom meeting Thursday hosted by Lincoln County parks supervisor Kelly Perry with Janine Belleque, boating facilities manager for the Oregon State Marine Board. The meeting was called to find out what people wanted done at the 10-year-old park now that a second re-design is underway. Perry said it would be the first of many opportunities to comment.
Lincoln County has a 40-year lease of the park from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Named for Lincoln County’s longest-serving commissioner, it’s a 10-minute drive east of Waldport on Oregon Highway 34 at the first bridge crossing the Alsea River.
The county, marine board and ODFW started looking for a place for a public boat launch in the upper Alsea tidal area in 2011 after receiving significant input for years that one was needed. They located the 10-acre Lindly property in 2013, and ODFW purchased it the next year for $300,000.
While there are several private, pay-to-launch boat ramps along the lower Alsea, there are no public launches in the 12 miles of tidewater east of the Port of Alsea’s marina in downtown Waldport.
Funds for the purchase came through two grants and a private donation. ODFW provided one grant using money from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the second grant came from the marine board’s boating facility program. The Oregon Wildlife Heritage Foundation contributed $35,000, about a third of which came from individuals who donated to the non-profit specifically for that purpose. Naming rights went to the two largest private donors, who dubbed it the Pioneer boat launch.
The marine board first proposed a design in 2016 — a single boat ramp, about 25 trailer spaces and 10 parking spots. They also planned a restroom with plumbing and a fish-cleaning station.
But people at a public meeting then said that design was too limited — vehicles would swamp the parking lot during the busy fall salmon season, leading to heavy, dangerous parking along the highway.
A redesign featured a boat ramp with two lanes, about 50 trailer spaces in the parking lot and spots for 20 vehicles. Flushable bathrooms and the fish-cleaning station were eventually eliminated from the plans when it was determined that a well on adjacent property purchased for that purpose was not feasible.
The county hired Pacific Habitat Services to complete a permit application to the Oregon Department of State Lands and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but those agencies said they would not approve it if the parking lot encroached on a section of a mature tidal forested wetland. Another redesign was required.
On Thursday, Belleque briefly discussed the current conceptual design — 20 trailer stalls, 26 car stalls, a single concrete boat launch, vault toilets, a picnic area and an aluminum gangway to a floating mixed-use dock on the other side of the bend from the boat ramp.
“We are pushing accessibility,” she said, showing photographs of a long, low-grade gangway for easy wheelchair access and a disabled-accessible kayak launch from other board-designed facilities.
Shrink project’s impact
Members of the public who spoke Thursday were happy to see the accessibility features, less so the pavement.
Mike Gatens of Waldport, who introduced himself as a representative of the Alsea Sportsman’s Association, said there were few disabled-accessible options upriver of the Alsea Bay marina.
“I just wanted to express that those kinds of things are needed more than the (motorized) boat launch,” he said, adding that he saw the fact that it was harder for larger boats to access the area as a welcome feature.
He raised two concerns about the parking lot — what would be done to make sure it did not become a site for illegal camping, and what would be done about runoff.
Perry said security was provided by a live-in host during the season, and Belleque said there will be stormwater runoff facilities, although it has yet to be determined what type.
Further comments all revealed that despite the original purpose of purchasing the land, during the past 10 years Lindly has become a favorite for kayakers, swimmers, shore fishers and picnickers in its open spaces and shady riparian enclaves.
Friends Judith Hees and Maureen Little said they often swim at the park. Little said there were few other access points for swimmers because most of the riverfront property was privately owned.
Irene Bailey of Yachats asked what would be done to preserve trees such as a large octopus cedar.
Debra Fant of Waldport said she’s taken her grandchildren to the park to expose them to wildlife and encouraged forgoing a parking lot or any major developments other than for disabled access.
“There’s just so many reasons to leave it alone and I encourage people to consider that as a realistic and responsible solution,” Fant said.
“The development will basically turn the only open space into a parking lot, which concerns me,” said Jon French of Waldport
The meeting also brought representatives of two state conservation nonprofits.
Cameron La Follette of Astoria, executive director of the Oregon Coast Alliance, said she’s reviewed all of the publicly available documents regarding the property, including those related to its sale and the county’s lease.
“There isn’t anything in the documents that requires the county to build any of the options discussed tonight,” she said. “In order for any project to go ahead, Lincoln County has to grant a conditional use permit.”
La Follette said the county was free to hold full, open parks and land-use planning processes to determine the public’s will for the park, and the alliance encouraged them to do so.
Kelly Fuller of Depoe Bay, western Oregon field coordinator with Oregon Wild, said she was glad the design spared the tidal wetlands, but she’d heard concern from locals about the development deterring a particular kind of wildlife.
“Elk are really important as a wildlife watching opportunity,” Fuller said. “If a lot of that open area is turned into a parking lot, are elk going to keep coming back to the park?”
She also noted that Chinook salmon that swim upriver by the park are under consideration for endangered species designation.
“Please design it in such a way that it doesn’t displace users, both human and wildlife users,” she said.
Derek Wilson of ODFW said reducing impacts to the ecosystem, especially to the tidal wetlands, was a priority, and that any vegetation removed would be replanted elsewhere.
While Wilson acknowledged that there were other motorized boat launches in the area, those are old and run down.
“They can only facilitate so much use,” he said. “There’s also lots of cars and trucks that park out on the highway in these locations. Having a ramp up here may distribute anglers up and down the river so you don’t have one area congested more than others.”
Wilson said there were also other opportunities for kayakers on the Alsea, mentioning the port’s launch and Drift Creek.
“Maintaining a kayak launch here is really important too,” in particular the accessible feature, he said.
Wilson said ODFW would likely support making the boat launch free and that it doesn’t allow overnight camping at any of the county-managed parks it owns.
There’s a second chance to comment on the park’s future next week. The same presentation will be given at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 16 at Central Oregon Coast Fire and Rescue office in downtown Waldport.
- Kenneth Lipp is YachatsNews’ full-time reporter and can be reached at KenLipp@YachatsNews.com