Story by Rodger Nichols for Gorge Country Media
Yesterday’s meeting of the Columbia River Gorge Commission offered some hopeful news for those burned out by the Rowena and Burdoin fires in June. Since that time, Gorge Commission staff have been working closely with planning department staffs in Wasco, Klickitat and Skamania counties to change the rules regarding rebuilding for people who have lost their homes. Commission legal counsel Jeff Litwak made the proposal to commissioners
“We, the staff, are recommending that a plan amendment is warranted. We can make strategic changes and clarifications to remove barriers to recovery and rebuilding, we can streamline and clarify the permitting process, and we can make replacement provisions more usable. Through changes we make in our plan, we can help landowners now, and then we can also at the same time help counties advise and assist the landowners as they’re rebuilding”
Litwak noted that current scenic area rules allow residents who have lost their homes to fire or flood only two years to file a permit, while recent case histories from around the country show that in many cases it can take five to seven years. The rule also allows them to build a replacement home up to 10 percent larger than the home that was lost
“We think raising the timeline to apply and to build is one of the most obvious and impactful things we can do. It’s not just for landowners, it’s also for county and commission staff. We definitely want to look at this 10 percent standard. Is it the right number? I will tell you it does not capture all the issues that we’re seeing right now. And then our third category of changes would be allowing landowners to build and use temporary structures – anything, RVs, yurts, manufactured homes — as a hardship dwelling.”
Commissioners unanimously voted for the staff to put all those proposed changes on a fast track, with the specific language ready on the 18th to go out for a 30-day comment period, with results presented to the commission at its November meeting for a decision.
Of the many local residents who spoke during the public comment period, Sylvia Compton’s plea on behalf of her family that lost two homes in the fire was among the most heartfelt:
“Right now, this Gorge Commission and Wasco County have a chance to lead by example to show that this community supports people after a disaster instead of pushing them out. These decisions will not shape recovery just for today, but for future fires as well. Please hear us. We are not just property owners. We are family, neighbors and longtime residents, and we deserve the chance to come home.”
That Gorge Commission meeting yesterday was an example of something increasingly rare in modern society: people of all political stripes uniting in a common cause, and we should enjoy it while we can.
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