Vehicles may be banned from Lincoln City beach

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is seeking comments on proposed restrictions of motorized vehicle usage on two sections of ocean shore in Lincoln City.

OPRD maintains that balance, fair and easy access remain the goals of the proposed administrative rule amendment.

“We’re proposing these changes in cooperation with the city as we both try to improve the quality of the beach experience and keep people and vehicles from mixing on a busy beach,” OPRD spokesperson Chris Havel said. “The tricky part is striking a balance between those concerns and easy, fair access to the tremendous gift that is the Oregon ocean shore.”

Currently, motorized vehicles are allowed within 150 feet of NW 34th Street and NW 15th Street along the ocean shore in the coastal town, according to OAR 736-024-0025.

One proposal would close vehicle access to the ocean beach on NW 15th Street from May 1 to Sept. 30 or whenever conditions are unsafe. The proposal seeks to extend a standing city ordinance, which closes that section of beach from May 26 to Sept. 5. Under the proposal, access for motorized vehicles on the beach would expand from 150 feet to 300 feet during the select season.

The second amendment is significantly more restrictive and would ban vehicles year-round at the NW 34th Street beach area. This seems part of a progression away from vehicle allowance, as the parking lot at this beach section is already closed to vehicle traffic by a city ordinance.

Comments can be made online or by attending the public hearing via Zoom or in person at 6 p.m. July 18. If attending in person, go to the Lincoln City Community Center at 2150 NE Oar Place in Lincoln City.

Charles Gearing is an outdoors journalism intern for the Statesman Journal. He can be reached at cgearing@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Vehicles may be banned from Lincoln City beach