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Proposed Dee Tour Amphitheater

Dee Tour Appeals Fails Due to Deadlock HRVRC's appeal of Dee Tour, a proposed concert venue and amphitheater at the site of the old Dee Mill, was held before the Hood River County Planning Commission on December 10.  The Planning Commission needs 4 affirmative votes to reach a decision but because only 5  of the 7 members were in attendance and with the votes 3-2, our appeal failed (lacking 4 votes, the appeal fails and reverts back to the prior staff decision). We wish had had the opportunity to make our case before the full commission as we feel we would have had a good chance of prevailing. We thank the Dee area locals who came out to the hearing to watch or testify as well as those that submitted written testimony on the project. While HRVRC ultimately decided not to further appeal the decision to the Board of Commissions, we…

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Cell Tower Update

Cell Tower Ordinance at Planning Commission Work Session March 25 Last fall, HRVRC organized a Citizen Advisory committee last fall to work on an ordinance to regulate the siting and design of cellular communications towers. The Advisory Committee was sparked into existence by a number of controversial applications for towers proposed near residential areas. Currently, Hood River County does not have any specific zoning rules for cell towers. The Advisory Committee met 3 times and was plugging away, albeit slowly, at crafting an ordinance based on the prior work of former County Planner Anne Debbaut. The speed of progress on the regulations changed considerably when the Hood River County Board of Commissioners made implementing an ordinance to regulate the siting of cellular communication towers a priority for this year at their 2015 Goal Setting Session. New Community Development Director, John Roberts fasted tracked work on the ordinance. He convened two…

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Barrett Property /Park

BARRETT "PROPERTY" UPDATE At the moment this acreage on the corner of Barrett and Alameda Road is exactly that: neither productive orchard nor a multi-use park. Legally it is considered high-value Exclusive Farm Use as it should be. The way to move this property out of limbo is to look for solutions beyond it. We are looking for a win-win combination that returns these valuable acres of the valley's best farmland back into production and creates more ball fields inside urban areas for the youth of our community. Nearly everyone agrees there is a large un-met need in our community for more ball fields. The Hood River Valley Parks and Recreation District is looking to purchase more suitable properties for sports fields inside Hood River’s Urban Growth Boundary. After looking for a large 20-30 acre parcel for several months, the Parks District is now considering whether smaller properties would be…

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Hood River Waterfront Gets New Park at Nichols Basin

There are exciting things happening at the Hood River Waterfront! The Port of Hood River is continuing to work on the development of Lot 1 and Nichols Basin in the heart of Hood River’s Waterfront. This spring, HRVRC Executive Director Heather Staten was on the advisory committee that developed preliminary plans for the design of a 2-acre park and walking trail along the west shore of Nichols Basin. The Port recently received a $445,000 state grant for the park and trail. Construction is slated to start this winter. In July, the City of Hood River and Port will embark on a Waterfront Plan Refinement process to craft new zoning codes for much of the waterfront. They will consider: the balance between employment lands, recreation spaces and habitat vehicular and non-vehicular transportation building height, setbacks from river, design standards, view sheds acceptable uses in each zone parks and trails environmental impacts,…

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Odell Urban Unincorporated Community

ODELL BOUNDARY SETTING NOW OFF THE TABLE In September, the Hood River County Board of Commissioners indefinitely postponed the state- mandated boundary setting process for the unincorporated community of Odell. The County started this effort back in 2013 with public meetings presenting three different boundary options. Local opposition quickly developed over the two largest proposals favored by the Commissioners because they converted far too much farmland to urban uses. Additionally, state agencies weighed in that the larger proposals failed to meet Oregon guidelines for boundary setting. This is at least the third attempt the county has made at setting an urban boundary for the community of Odell. While HRVRC was opposed to converting high-value farmland into development, we believe it would have been beneficial to our community for the County to complete the boundary setting process. Under state law, once an urban unincorporated boundary is set, the County has much…

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Ride It. Respect It. Enjoy It. Protect It!

THE HOOD RIVER HARVEST RIDE FORMALLY ENDS - BUT KEEP ON CYCLING! After five great years, our Hood River Harvest Ride has ended but the mapped routes we created are still available for all to enjoy. The Hood River News recently ran our farewell message. Harvest Ride is no more HR News Wed. Sept. 24, 2014 The Hood River Valley Resident Committee announced earlier this year that their annual Harvest Ride is now a thing of the past. After five successful years of organizing the scenic autumn road biking tour around the valley, HRVRC credited several reasons for discontinuing the event, which it hopes people will continue informally by following former courses and maps it has kept available on line (www.hrharvestride.com). HRVRC offered the following statement on its website as a farewell to the Harvest Ride. “We are fortunate to have held the Hood River Harvest Ride from 2009 until 2013…

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EIN: 93-0805882
Thrive Hood River
Formerly HRVRC

Thrive Hood River, PO Box 1544, Hood River, OR 97031 • PHONE: (541) 288-4706