By a vote of 73%, the citizens of Cannon Beach soundly rejected the “Sustainable Dunes” Initiative on the ballot, placed there by local landowners who were hoping to direct the city to manage the foredunes more closely. Their aim was to limit sand-trapping invasives like European beach grass that make dunes grow taller. In 2020 Cannon Beach finalized its Foredune Management Plan, which applied the best available science to managing the city’s extensive foredunes in the wake of ending all view-grading of the dunes. But some landowners were dissatisfied, and proposed this ballot initiative to essentially amend the Foredune Management Plan, requiring the city to regularly monitor the foredunes, and undertake dune-grading of those with high amounts of invasives. However, the “Sustainable Dunes” initiative was an unfunded mandate — it would have required Cannon Beach to pay for all the work required with no budget or funds allocated. ORCA congratulates the voters of Cannon Beach on defeating this poorly thought-out proposal.

DLCD has released a draft of proposed rules for the Housing in Unincorporated Communities (HUC) initiative that is currently undergoing rulemaking. DLCD has scheduled one, and only one, public hearing on this massive statewide proposal to turn a variety of unincorporated communities into essentially small cities with a focus on growth rather than meeting rural needs. The hearing will be Friday, December 4th, beginning at 9:30 AM, for those wishing to testify in person or on zoom. Written comments will also be accepted until December 13th. For more information, see the “Housing in Unincorporated Communities” tab on this DLCD webpage.

ORCA strongly opposes this Kotek initiative to increase housing in rural communities around the state. No need has ever been shown to exist for this proposal. There are already several existing, and well-used, pathways for additional housing in rural areas when it is needed; this proposal will only benefit residential and commercial developers. ORCA is part of the alliance that has formed in opposition to this rulemaking, called Protect Rural Oregon. More information about PRO can be found here.

The midterm elections showed Americans’ great concern around the boom in building data centers: at least 38 jurisdictions passed ballot measures limiting or banning the centers; many candidates for state and national office have also spoken out against data centers, their extravagant use of water, electricity and land, and their negative effects on the environment and communities. For a roundup of national reaction at the polls to data center proliferation, here is a good article.

Oregon did not have any data center initiatives on the ballot locally or statewide in this election cycle. However, the 2027 Legislature convenes in January, and there are many proposals being put forth by concerned legislators to limit the centers’ tremendous use of water, energy and land.