To the editor:
This is in response to the Yachats Action Alliance letter on the YachatsNews site.
We appreciate the time you have spent articulating your reasons for opposing our Cottages at Agate Point project. We were very much hoping to be able to address some of your issues in person last week at the public forum we organized, however, our 8 a.m. flight was delayed multiple times and did not leave until 4 p.m., pushing our arrival to Yachats until after 6 p.m. Unfortunately, the hastily rescheduled meeting had no attendance.
Therefore, we will use this public forum to try to address some of your concerns and correct some misinformation.
We initiated the concept for this project more than a year ago believing that there was a big need for a new type of hotel accommodation in this long-standing tourist destination, on this amazingly beautiful site. The bulk of the hospitality accommodations in the area, were quite old and slightly dated. Despite growing demand for local travel and a new demographic of traveler, no new hotel accommodations had been built for more than two decades.
We found an R-4 site within the community of Yachats and explored developing a low-density, high-quality community of hotel cottages that would meet the evolving demands of today’s travelers. In our minds this was the perfect site with direct frontage to this amazing seascape and within walking distance to the community’s many amenities and services.
As you know, the R-4 zoning allows a variety of uses, from single family, two family to multi-family and hotel. Single family and multi-family projects need no discretionary approvals so long as they meet stated requirements.
However, for hotel projects, if the property is smaller than 1 acre and/or does not have direct access to U.S. Highway 101, it requires an additional conditional use permit. This is exactly the process that we are currently engaged in that will culminate with the Planning Commission meeting June 21.
We are not asking the city or Planning Commission to waive any codes. We are asking for a conditional use permit to allow for a hotel. We have worked closely with the city’s planner to ensure that our current plan is not in violation of any codes.
The project that we have designed was intended to be extremely high quality, low profile to protect view corridors of neighbors and low density to protect open spaces and minimize the impacts of traffic and noise on the community.
To be clear, the R-4 Zoning ordinance standards allow for the following;
- A minimum lot size of 20,000 square feet. The lot for the Cottages at Agate Point is 24,829 square feet;
- A maximum building height of 30 feet. Our buildings would be no more than 14 feet high;
- A maximum density (square footage) of lot coverage of 45 percent (24,829 square foot lot x .45 = 11,173 sf). The cottages would cover approximately 6,500 square feet, or 26 percent of the lot.
- Hotels are required to have 1,500 square feet of open space per unit. Our development would have 2,618 square feet of open space per cottage;
We would also like to clarify your list specifying codes that must be waived because it is important that the community understands the rules.
- Access to hotels in Yachats is not required to be from Highway 101. A conditional use permit is required for hotel projects that do not have direct access to the highway. This type of permit has been issued in the past.
- We have worked closely with the city planner and, to the best of our knowledge, we have complied with all setback requirements.
- A hotel does not need to be on a minimum 1 acre site. If the hotel site is less than 1 acre a conditional use permit is required. This type of permit has been issued in the past.
- R4 lot coverage is limited to no more than 45 percent, not 30 percent. The Cottages at Agate Point has a lot coverage of 26 percent.
- Hotels are not required to have someone on-site 24 hours a day. To address resident’s concerns, we have added an office to our plans, which will be utilized in addition to the 24/7 coverage that will be provided to all guests.
- We chose to provide access from Shellmidden Way, which has a dedicated 30 foot right-of-way, instead of Yachats Ocean Road in order to minimize the impact on the coastal frontage road.
We believe that our development is consistent with Goal 8 of the Yachats Comprehensive Plan. The low profile and low density relative to the code standards as stated above, not only preserve open space, but also preserve views. We have worked diligently to minimize the impact of this development on our neighbors.
As I mentioned above, we have chosen to provide access off Shellmidden for many of the reasons you have raised about Yachats Ocean Road. We believe that with only seven units, the increased traffic on Shellmiddan will be minimal. I anticipate that guests will be making few trips, if any, daily from their cottages because of the local opportunities for walking the coastline and into town. We will also be providing bike racks as we anticipate that many guests will be biking rather than driving once they are settled.
This property has been described by many as a wetlands. We have worked very diligently with all the appropriate groups in order to satisfy ourselves and all others that we are complying with all rules and satisfying the requirements of all the relevant wetlands agencies. We hired a firm that specializes in surveying wetlands environments to establish a baseline of wetland conditions. Their work was further evaluated, reviewed, and updated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It was then reviewed by the Oregon Department of State Lands, which concurred with the Army Corps. Their findings indicated that approximately 20 percent of our property had wetlands characteristics.
It is important to understand that this parcel is significantly different than the adjoining property to the north, which is almost entirely wetlands, with large healthy willow trees and where a variety of wetlands flora and fauna thrive. We immensely enjoy this environment, and it is one of the features that initially drew us to this parcel. Please walk through our property so that you can see for yourself what kind of wetlands are described on our property. We will comply with the conditions of approval as mandated by city.
We appreciate that there are many who oppose this project for a variety of reasons. We would like to ensure that everyone has accurate information while evaluating our plans and we have always been transparent regarding the project and open to criticisms, suggestions, and comments of support. We have tried to respond to the few recommendations we have heard along the way, made improvements, and come up with what we believe is a quality community of hotel cottages that will meet the needs of the evolving traveler community while also being as respectful as possible to our neighbors and larger community.
We encourage you to contact us directly if you have any additional questions or recommendations.
— Chris Fletcher (ckfletch1@gmail.com) and Jonathan Fletcher (pinphoto@earthlink.net) /Newport Beach, Calif.