MIDWEEK EDITION
RELAY FOR LIFE IS STILL IN THE FIGHT IN 2019 see Page B1 Wednesday, July 24, 2019
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Brookings, Oregon
SERVING CURRY COUNTY SINCE 1946
Local
Builders,
bomb threat ‘scam’
agencies work on housing
Country Media commissioned a seasoned jour- Here are renderings showing two elevations of a single-family model house plan under development at Pacifica at Rogue Reef in Gold Beach. The houses nalist to spend the last three weeks researching will be designed by Sant Pacific through Studio 8 architects in Ogden, Utah. local efforts to create additional housing in the region stretching from Gold Beach south through Del Norte County. This is Part I of that two-part series, focusing first on Curry County. Kathleen Stinson Special to The Pilot
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developers who construct workforce housing, she said.
urry County officials Local Developers are drafting an emerMeantime, a single-famgency declaration to send to ily housing subdivision is Oregon Gov. Kate Brown planned for unincorporated as one of several efforts to provide more housing for lo- Curry County within the Gold Beach Urban Growth cal residents. “We’re in a state of emer- Boundary, said Joshua Stout, one of the project’s gency and we need housdevelopers. ing,” said Julie Schmelzer, Pacifica at Rogue Reef Curry County’s director of is approved for up to 33 operations. single-family homes, Stout The declaration “would not a proven market,” said “My wife’s family are And, “We are very intersaid. let developers and the Stout. from Gold Beach,” said ested in building workforce He and Joshua Richards, state know we are in crisis “It took a lot of time and Stout. “The community is at housing,” Crook said. “In both Gold Beach residents, mode and need assistance,” patience and market studies, the forefront of our minds,” fact, it was that need that are with the development Schmelzer said. (together with) the resumes prompting the decision to kicked-off our present degroup Sant Pacific, headThe county also is of the principals of the build there. velopment. quartered locally. In addition considering rezoning some company and the company’s He said work is underway “Unfortunately, the to Oregon, the group has properties to expand its proven track record,” to get on the group’s project and building costs of our present developments underway in urban-growth boundary to the banks to loan money for that “vertical” construcbuilding have priced us into Utah. “increase the availability the project. tion is expected to begin in a higher price point for our Stout said he knows of land” on which to build In 2008, the property early fall. “We are finalizing apartments than we anticiof only two residential accessory dwelling units now under development had details and engineering for pated. developments presently (ADUs). planning approval for 52 athome plans.” “However, we are workADUs are smaller homes that can be built at a more affordable price. They’re seen by many as one way to deal with the region’s housing crisis. To date, the Oregon Legislature has restricted ADUs to the urbangrowth boundary, said Megan Chuinard, spokeswoman for the Association of Oregon Counties (AOC). “In the 2019 (legislative) session, AOC advocated for SB 88, which would have allowed counties to authorize construction of ADUs on lands zoned for rural residential use,” Chuinard said. “This bill did not pass, but AOC will continue to work to pass legislation allowing ADUs to be permitted in rural residential areas.” City of Brookings Public Works and Herbert W. Crook, Jr. and his wife, Pamela, co-own Curry Properties, Inc. They are involved in developing Developmental Services Director Tony Baron said The Springs at Deerhaven, 94353 Leith Rd. in Gold Beach. The building, which they said is about 90 perCourtesy photo in an email last week that cent completed, will house vacation and long-term leased units. the city had issued only one permit for an ADU in tached units. But that project Another, separate group ing our way into much under construction in Curry the past year. “was halted in 2008 due to of developers is Curry Prop- lower-priced units to help County. And, Baron said, he does the recession,” he said. Stout erties, Inc., whose co-ownprovide staff-housing relief He said getting banks not know of any workforce and his group purchased the ers are Herbert W. Crook, Jr. for those looking for a great, to invest in a local housing housing construction curproperty in early 2019. and his wife, Pamela. affordable place to live. development was difficult rently underway in BrookHe said the houses’ prices Herbert Crook said in “Price will dictate size, because the area sports no ings. will range from $280,000 to a recent email that, “The but not quality,” said Crook. Schmelzer said that when recent proven track record. $440,000, depending on the development started as an “These will be very affordthe county has the necessary It’s been about 20 years size of the structure and lot. answer to the housing crisis able, attractive and amazing since anyone built a subdiviavailable land, it plans to Stout said he had read a in central Curry County. homes to live in, perhaps as sion in this area. notify developers and “say report that put the median “Our desire was to desmall as 600 square feet or “It took some convincing we’re open for business.” price for a single-family velop a mixed-use area that (the banks), because these The county also is home in Curry County at was custom homes, apartareas along the coast are considering a tax credit for $409,000. ments and vacation homes. More Developers on Page A2
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wo law enforcement agencies and the Harbor Fire Department responded to a bomb threat in Brookings at about noon July 22. Curry County Sheriff John Ward said the Brookings Police Department was the first agency to receive the call, which came from Blue Pacific Reality. The call was quickly transferred to the Curry County Sheriff’s Department. A realtor who works for Blue Pacific in Harbor told the sheriff’s office that she had received an email stating there were three pipe bombs in the building, at 16289 U.S. Hwy. 101, and $10,000 must be sent for instructions on how to disarm the bombs. Ward said the Harbor Fire Department responded, along with sheriff’s detectives. Once the building was evacuated, a search was conducted. No bombs were located, and employees were allowed to return to work. “This was a hoax,” Ward said. “We’ve had these before.” The last such threat, said Ward, occurred about six months ago at the South Coast Mill in Brookings. “That turned out be to nothing,” he said. “This latest one appears to be a scam, the way it was laid out. It is like the phone scams, and they are very difficult to track down.” Ward said his detectives will continue the investigation.
Council okays labor deal Jeremy C. Ruark Pilot Staff Writer
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he Brookings City Council now has ratified two employee contracts, ending months of negotiations with the Brookings Police Association, and Teamsters Local Union 223. In addition, the council has adjusted the city’s management compensation plan. The action followed a detailed summary of changes to the collective-bargaining agreements by Brookings City Manager Janell Howard during the regular city council meeting July 22. During the meeting, former city mayoral candidate More Deal on Page A2
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