NEWS

Commission approves land purchase for new state park near Pacific City

Zach Urness
Statesman Journal
The Beltz Property, near Pacific City on the southern end of Sand Lake Recreation Area, is planned to become a new "nature-based" state park on the northern Oregon Coast.

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Commission approved the purchase of a 357-acre property of wetlands and beachfront on the northern Oregon Coast for development into a low-impact "nature-based" park this afternoon.

Known as the Beltz Property and located on the southern end of the Sand Lake Recreation Area near Pacific City, the commission committed to spending not more than $1.8 million to purchase the formally private property.

The final price will be determined by the property's appraisal — which still needs to be completed — plus 10 percent, OPRD spokesperson Chris Havel said in a phone interview from the commission meeting in Klamath Falls.

"The Sand Lake estuary is one of the prime natural areas on the coast, and one of the few places that hasn't been subject to development," Havel said. "The type of park we envision is very low key — it would be a place where you could hike through wetlands lush in wildlife and plant life and end up on the beach."

The Beltz Property, near Pacific City on the southern end of Sand Lake Recreation Area, is planned to become a new "nature-based" state park on the northern Oregon Coast.

If everything goes smoothly, the purchase will be completed by the end of August, but the park would not open right away, Havel said.

"We will work with the nearby Tierra del Mar community and county to eventually open it very carefully," Havel said. "This is a natural area and we will work on trails and restoration, but will not add major facilities or other intense development."

The park would be near other destinations in the Sand Lake area, including Clay Myers State Natural Area at Whalen Island. Sand Beach Campground and an ATV trail also are nearby.

Havel said the new parcel would likely begin as it's own park and natural area, but added that that it could become part of a larger experience at some point.

The Portland nonprofit Ecotrust originally completed the purchase of the land in May with the idea of selling it to OPRD for a park.

"It takes months for a state agency to approve a purchase because there are a number of steps we have to go through," Havel said. "The problem is that often we have a seller who doesn't want to wait. In this case, Ecotrust was able to step in and buy the property right away — allowing us to get all our ducks in a row — so we could get approval."

Zach Urness has been an outdoors writer, photographer and videographer in Oregon for six years. He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. For more news, adventures and trips see Our Oregon Outdoors on Facebook or ZachsORoutdoors on Twitter.