Gearhart OR Citizens Vote No on Fire Station Bond, Again

May 18—GEARHART — Voters rejected a $14.5 million bond measure for a new firehouse on Tuesday, a stinging message to city leaders who had argued that the project was critical to replace the aging fire station on Pacific Way.

Measure 4-213 was failing 66% to 34%.

The new firehouse, at 13,000 square feet, would have been off Highlands Lane along U.S. Highway 101.

Jack Zimmerman, a critic of the project whose unsuccessful legal challenge kept the bond measure off last November's ballot, said city leaders ignored questions and concerns from residents.

" Gearhart will build a new fire station when they know their money will be well spent, and not wasted on something that they do not want, need or understand," he said. "The taxpayers who will have to tighten their belts to fund this project in this shaky economy deserve consideration, transparency and respect."

The vote came after months of fierce campaigning, social media blazes and neighbor-versus-neighbor duels in the small, beach community. The cost and size of the new firehouse and the distance from the city center, among other concerns, rallied opponents.

Volunteers in 1958 donated their time and efforts to build a cinder block fire station on Pacific Way. In the decades that followed, the fire station served the community through fires, medical emergencies and the Great Coastal Gale of 2007.

But with a crumbling infrastructure, lack of training facilities and more precise disaster scenarios, firefighters, city staff and some residents saw the urgency for a new firehouse at a higher elevation.

A 2006 campaign collapsed at the polls when voters objected to a new firehouse — along with a City Hall — at the current site. Residents voted on a $3.75 million general obligation bond measure. The proposal included plans for a 17,000-square-foot building that would have housed the fire and police departments and City Hall. Voters decisively rejected the measure, thought to be too ambitious a project.

A decade later, city leaders formed a committee to determine the safest sites in a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake and tsunami.

In 2018, after considering nine locations, the committee recommended three concepts and locations to the public to help guide the decision-making process.

The committee recommended part of the park at the end of Pacific Way as the optimal location, at a cost of about $5 million, of which $3.4 million would go to a 12,800-square-foot public safety building.

But after a public survey showed widespread opposition, the committee dropped the proposal and considered purchasing privately owned land along N. Marion referred to as High Point.

Legal concerns and rising costs made that site untenable and negotiations came to a stop.

With N. Marion and High Point out of consideration, the city turned to a property originally not considered because of its location outside of the city's urban growth boundary.

Officials signed a land purchase agreement with developers of The Cottages at Gearhart LLC, a 34-acre development on county land. The property offered elevation to withstand most tsunamis and better access for fire and emergency medical responders.

According to the agreement, the city would receive a portion of the property owners' development rights, with one portion of the property proposed for a future firehouse and a second 2-acre parcel used for city parkland. If approved by the state and county, developers of The Cottages at Gearhart would transfer two lots and benefit from rezoning of a planned residential subdivision at a higher density within city limits.

A proposed November vote on the Highlands Lane site was delayed after an unsuccessful ballot title challenge by Zimmerman and other resident.

In February, city councilors approved returning the proposal to the voters.

While financing scenarios had not been decided, the city estimated the bonds would have cost property owners $1.213 per $1,000 assessed value per year for up to 20 years.

The city also needed to obtain approval from the state Department of Land Conservation and Development to bring the land into the city's urban growth boundary.

Robert Morey, a co-owner of the former Gearhart Elementary School, said the land transfer agreement was "grossly undervalued" and the city's negotiating position had been hidden from public scrutiny.

"The 'no' vote has prevailed," Morey said. "Now is the time for the community and council to come together and support a new fire station with a realistic budget at the current location."

Mayor Paulina Cockrum said she was sad about the outcome.

"But the voters have spoken," the mayor said. "I envision that the City Council will want to reevaluate, survey our constituents and discuss next steps, as a new modern space for our police and fire department is still a top priority."

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