By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
YACHATS – A Yachats couple who wanted to turn a former restaurant site overlooking the Yachats River into a farm-to-market restaurant and gathering place have abandoned those plans and put the property up for sale.
Now, the Yachats Parks & Commons Commission, which is overseeing plans for a boardwalk along Oceanview Drive just west of the property, wants the city to buy it for a park.
The asking price? $525,000.
Paul and Emily O’Neill moved to Yachats from Bend and bought the former Landmark and Beulahs restaurant property in 2020 for $385,000. They purchased the property from Pat and Suki Miller of Yachats, who had demolished the long-closed and decaying former restaurant building in 2018 with the idea of developing it themselves.
The O’Neills engaged the architecture program at Portland State University to help design a showplace for farm-to-table goods and a community meeting place overlooking the Yachats River. Those plans have apparently fallen through. They declined a request to comment via their Yachats Farmstand website and via their broker at the Newport branch of Coldwell Banker.
The O’Neills also listed their extensively renovated 51-acre farm six miles up Yachats River Road for sale last month for $899,000, but pulled it off the market after a few weeks, said Coldwell Banker agent Stacey Clendenin. The O‘Neills bought the farm in 2017 for $272,000, added greenhouses, renovated a house and used it for growing vegetables for their Radical Radish foot cart. Last year they bought another 10-acre property and house farther upriver and moved there.
On Tuesday, the Parks & Commons Commission voted unanimously to recommend that the city of Yachats buy the site as part of a boardwalk project overlooking the Yachats River that has broad support of the city council and many residents. Councilor Ann Stott, who is the city council’s liaison to the commission, asked Thursday that the council have a possible purchase discussion at its March 16 meeting.
“I think it would be an amazing city park,” commission chair George Mazeika, who brought up the idea, said Tuesday. “It wouldn’t need a lot of redevelopment to be a really nice space.”
Mazeika’s fellow commissioners and Yachats Trails Committee leader Joanne Kittel enthusiastically agreed.
“There’s every reason in the world to buy that piece of property for a park,” said commission member Dean Schrock.
On Thursday, Mazeika told the city council that a Yachats resident read this story Wednesday on the YachatsNews website and called him to say they would commit $100,000 “and possibly more” to help the city purchase the property if the council was serious about moving forward. “I need to see how serious the city is,” Mazeika quoted the resident as saying.
It is not clear what led the O’Neills to walk away from their project. But development of the property is limited by the state’s right-of-way along U.S. Highway 101 and very limited parking on Oceanview Drive, which Lincoln County is turning over to the city soon.
The boardwalk project envisions a gravel path or concrete sidewalk along Oceanview Drive from Pontiac Street to Highway 101. It would have two small extensions overlooking the river estuary and is expected to cost $750,000 to $1 million, according to preliminary engineering estimates given to the city.
Kittell, who is helping spearhead the project, said the boardwalk is part of the 804 Trail and purchasing the property or developing it could be aided by Travel Oregon, the state’s tourism development agency, or Oregon State Parks, which oversees the Oregon Coast Trail.
“There is grant money out there,” she said. “Travel Oregon would eat this up.”
She also mentioned that the Eugene architect donating his time to help design the boardwalk had mentioned the vacant property would be ideal for a park, included a small amphitheater, decks and sitting areas.
“He had all different kinds of ideas for that spot,” Kittell said.
Commissioner member Craig Berdie said it was important for the city to try to purchase the property and then slow down to see what could be done with it.
“Once we have the property we have the luxury of time to define what we want it to be,” he said.
Buy it! Spend the money you would have used on the Little Log Church.