In response to requests for more time for review and comment, the staff of Coos County, the City of North Bend, and the City of Coos Bay have delayed submitting applications to adopt Coos Bay Estuary Management Plan (CBEMP) revisions. The delay will give community members several more months to review and comment upon the draft products. The Coos Bay Estuary Management Plan (CBEMP) Phase 1 revision represents Coos County’s first step towards improving the plan’s ability to meet the needs of the communities and local governments encompassed by the plan. CBEMP Phase 1 revisions are intended to: 1) improve plan usability, 2) update some maps and inventory data, 3) improve coordination between jurisdictions, and 4) update the 40-year-old plan with current agency names, laws and regulations. CBEMP Phase 1 revisions do not include any changes to zoning or management unit designations—those will be addressed in subsequent phases. To review the current draft CBEMP Phase 1 updates, go to: https://www.co.coos.or.us/community-dev/page/am-22-005-coos-bay-estuary-management-plan. Comments can be sent to Jill Rolfe, Coos County Community Development Director, at jrolfe@co.coos.or.us. Comments are DUE by May 26th, 2023. A link to revised maps and near-final Plan documents will be on the Coos County website by late April. This will include a link to a user-friendly online map, where map layers can be used to align management units on top of current and revised resource inventories. On May 10, a Public Open House will be held at the Coos Bay City Hall (500 Central Avenue, Coos Bay) from 3:30pm-7:00pm. Representative from Coos County, the City of North Bend, the City of Coos Bay, the Partnership for Coastal Watersheds, and the University of Oregon Institute for Policy Research and Education will be on hand to answer questions about the background of the plan update, explain current recommendations, and outline next steps. Presentations on background information and plan update content will be held at 3:30pm and 5:15pm during this Open House. Recordings of presentations will be made available for remote viewing following the event. If you have questions, please contact Coos County Community Development at 541-396-7770 or email planning@co.coos.or.us.
