Community Meeting on North Jetty Park

Mouth of the Siuslaw River; North Jetty Park is north of the river behind the dunes.\Photo courtesy of ODFW.

A proposal is being considered for a change in the management of Florence’s North Jetty Park.  The land is owned by the state’s Department of State Lands (DSL) and managed by State Parks.  Lane County Parks proposes to take over management of the area on a long-term lease from DSL.

A “community meeting” (not an actual public hearing) to explain the proposal and accept feedback is being held by Lane County Parks on Monday, June 24, beginning at 6 p.m., at the Siuslaw Valley Fire & Rescue building (2625 Hwy 101) in Florence.

There is also a short online survey available.

North Jetty Park is an essentially triangular, 250-acre area abutting the county’s Harbor Vista Campground on N. Jetty Rd., running west from the campground along the Siuslaw River to the shore, and in a wedge angled north toward Heceta Beach.

The park is zoned “Park and Recreation” and “Beach/Dunes.” The largely undeveloped area includes beach access, an informal trail system, a dive dock, portable restrooms, ponds and stands of shore pine.  Lane County Parks offers more regular maintenance and park ranger presence; it is also considering parking charges to pay for such work, eliminating free public access to the area.

The Lane County Board of Commissioners would need to approve this.  There is no deadline for the decision. The commissioners are waiting for Lane County Parks to sound out the public, and will ostensibly consider the feedback from the meeting and survey.