Oregon Lighthouse Beach Protection

In April of 2014, the Coos Bay Chapter first identified a major threat to Lighthouse Beach from ongoing coastal erosion, exposing a home's foundation and creating a beach hazard to the public. At the time, the precariously dangling home had already lost it's westward fence to the cliff-side and the beach. Fearing a hardened shoreline structure application such as rip rap or a seawall, the chapter has been working to support the homowner's interest in protecting the home, while gently steering the project toward relocating the house away from the bluff's edge through a managed retreat strategy - to accomodate for expansion and remodel as well as protect the beach and public safety.

Victory!

In March of 2016, after very favorable consulting and design work from Soraci Designs, the decision was made to relocate the home. Balancing the needs of homeowner and environment can be extremely tricky in these coastal erosion situations, generally, somebody comes out losing. However, the managed retreat strategy in this case is a fantastic example of how adapting to a changing coastline can be done meeting both economic and environmental interests. While local ordinances and statewide goals were insufficient to protect the beaches pre-emptively in this case, working directly wiht the homeowner and designer to meet mutual goals was a key to success. Check out photos of the house being relocated and learn more about this project on the Oregon Regional Website.