HOOD RIVER — A public hearing for the legalization of Post Canyon Drive kicked off the March Hood River County Commission meeting. This process began in June 2021 after a resident came to the county to ask them to stop recreators from using the road by his house as parking, which the county couldn’t enforce without going through the process of legalization, according to public records from that time, and Commissioner Arthur Babitz’s comments at the March meeting.
This legalization is bringing the public right of way as it appears in the record in alignment with the road “as traveled.” This will make the right of way a standard 60 feet wide with 30 feet wide on either side of the center dividing line, a number some residents said would encroach on their current properties, and would remove trees, privacy and utilities. These concerns, along with worries about bicycle lanes and traffic speed, which is outside the scope of this process, were the main focus of the testimony provided.
However, staff assured them that “this is a paper action. There’s no physical action happening on the ground,” in the words of Brad Cross, County Surveyor, and no property liens are moving and there are no plans to clear trees. The Commission decided individual site visits would be best to help residents understand how this will affect their property specifically. “We’re just correcting the record through this action,” said Cross.
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The commission also explained that the Dalles watershed would predominantly take winter water, and not the scarcer summer water to fill the reservoir and would therefore not affect the Hood River water supply.
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