Coos Head Ordinance and Plan Updated (Phase II)
History: The project site was a Naval Facility Coos Head was commissioned 13 May 1958. The facility was situated on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean at the entrance to Coos Bay, Oregon, the finest natural harbor between San Francisco and Seattle. Naval Facility Coos Head had an allowance of twelve officers, ninety-five enlisted and 15 civilians until 1987. Decommissioned after twenty-nine years in a fully operational status. The facility was decommissioned in November 1987.
The property sets above the Urban Unincorporated Community of Charleston. The property was zoned Forest by Coos County. At the time the County did not address zoning on federally owned lands that were outside of the estuary or Coastal Shoreland Boundary.
Coos Head is currenlty under local Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians (CTCLUSI) ownership and management. However, throughout the years of military occupation, certain areas of the property became contaminated. The cleanup process took 12 years to complete, and now the Coos Head is no longer a brownfield. The potential for this property is vast for the Tribes, leaving nothing but an opportunity for growth and development.
The first phase of the to start the development was was to create a master plan. The CTCLUSI planning staff directed the consulting team, led by Cogan Owens Greene, to consider both the Bal’diyaka Plan and the Integrated Resources Management Plan for Coos Head as a basis for the Coos Head Area Master Plan (CHAMP). The concepts show a tremendous opportunity for a cultural interpretive and retreat center at Coos Head that showcases CTCLUSI culture and traditions. Chief Warren Brainard says, “We foresee an environmentally sensitive redevelopment of Coos Head as a benefit not only for Tribal members but also for the greater Charleston and Coos Bay area economy.”
In 2018, the Coos Head Area Master Plan (CHAMP) was finalized and was adopted by Tribal Council on August 12, 2018.
The Current phase of the project is, the partnership between the CTCLUSI Planning Staff and the Coos County’s Planning Department working toward adopting a new 1) Recreational Employment Lands (REL) Zone within the County’s Land Use Ordinance as well as 2) updating the County’s Comprehensive Plan to match the recommended development standards of CHAMP. Once these plans have been reviewed and addressed, the process of implementation will take place in the county level through the Planning Commission then to the County Commissioners for final approval.
