March 2007: Around the state
REAL ESTATE
Sandbar sucks the wind out of Hood River
HOOD RIVER — Hood River has a new “island”
— an impudent, sprawling 30 acres of sand, debris and
anxiety smack dab in the middle of things at the mouth of the
city’s namesake river.
Born suddenly in November from torrential storms, this nascent
delta has surprised, confounded and even bemused developers,
city leaders, port officials and curious onlookers. It could
kill a multi-million waterfront hotel development, wreak havoc
with Hood River’s multitudes of windsurfers and
kiteboarders, and keep cruise ships from ever pulling into the
city again.
The new land mass has completely blocked access to the vacant
Nichols Boat Basin, where cruise ships have docked, and where
Bob Naito has his development plans. Naito, of Portland-based
Naito Development, says his project, worth $10 million to $12
million, called for 60-75 hotel rooms, 50-60 condos and a
recreational marina — until the new delta clogged the
basin.
“We’ve had no positive feedback on dredging”
from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, says Naito. “If
the Corps won’t dredge, then I’m trying to figure
out what else to do.” Without the marina, Naito says he
is not sure the project would be unique enough to make it
financially viable.
The island is such new real estate that ownership is still
being sorted out, but “it looks like the Department of
State Lands; and the port owns some of it,” according to
Port of Hood River executive director Michael McElwee. He says
the cost to dredge this massive amount of debris would be
“extremely high and the net benefits low compared to
other dredging needs in the Northwest.” He adds that
federal assistance to dredge the channel to the Nichols Boat
Basin “will not be forthcoming. Therefore, it is highly
unlikely that dredging will occur in the immediate
future.”
McElwee says the boat basin will be unusable for at least a
year, “maybe forever.” That also means that cruise
businesses such as Cruise West, Fantasy Cruises and American
Safari Cruises can no longer make a Hood River port of call.
But the loss of the cruise stops, up to 35 per year, is not a
significant economic impact because cruise customers
didn’t spend any time (i.e., money) in port, he
notes.
What could be significant is how the delta has changed the
launch areas for kiteboarders and the 10,000 windsurfers who
visit Hood River every year and help fuel its $70 million
tourism economy. Until the storm, the port-owned spit, used by
kiteboarders, and the event site, used by windsurfers, were
separate areas. But the delta now connects the two sites,
according to McElwee, and has blocked off more than half of the
immediate water access from the event site.
Kiteboarders are used to nature constantly changing the spit,
but this is a bit beyond. “I was shocked to see the huge
size of the sandbar,” wrote one blogger on ikitesurf.com.
“What will the conditions be like this summer? It was
difficult for me as a beginner last year to try to keep out of
the way of the more advanced people. Now will we be forced to
merge with the windsurfers at the event site?”
Hood River City Councilman Arthur Babitz, a windsurfer, says
that the arrival of the new island (he suggests naming it
Kiteland) has left everyone scratching their heads. “No
one is sure what to worry about,” Babitz says, referring
to the safety questions surrounding the launch sites.
McElwee says all parties are working to figure out solutions
before the recreation season is in full swing in May.
There’s a lot of uncertainty about what to do because
“we won’t know the final configuration [of the
delta] until the high water comes this spring. Stay tuned.
It’s a dynamic environment.” He says funding is
being sought for an environmental study of the lower areas of
the Hood River. But in the end, “it’s a natural
river doing its thing.”
Whether you call it Kiteland, or as Bob Naito suggests,
Nichols Island, the new real estate arrived at a time when Hood
River’s waterfront is undergoing more changes than just
those planned by Mother Nature, including using the expo center
for commercial use and the creation of a six-acre family park,
to break ground this fall.
McElwee says the future of Hood River’s waterfront is
finally beginning to unfold, and for the moment, that includes
Anxiety Island. Undaunted by the sudden appearance of more
waterfront acreage, he sees a silver lining in the cloudy
water. Says McElwee enthusiastically, “This could create
a whole new venue for recreational use on the
waterfront.”
— Robin Doussard
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