An ordinance to prohibit public access to a patch of City of Aberdeen-owned property along the south side of the Chehalis River was amended by the City Council Monday to allow for public access during daylight hours, which would allow fishing and other activities.
The land is waterward of the South Side Levee and the city said it wanted to restrict access for safety reasons since emergency vehicles can’t access it. The area has also been used by homeless campers.
The property runs along the south bank of the Chehalis River and Southwest Front Street from just west of the Chehalis River Bridge south and west to West Schley Street. The trails are used by hikers, fishermen access the river bank there, and since the homeless camp across the river was cleared in July some homeless encampments have sprung up on the property.
Ward 3 Councilman Tim Alstrom offered the amendment to limit access to daylight hours only. He said the argument to prohibit public access completely due to lack of accessibility by emergency vehicles didn’t seem adequate, as access is allowed on other city properties that also do not have roads that could accommodate emergency vehicles.
One public commenter said that he spoke on the closure at the Sept. 11 meeting, at which time he argued that fishermen use the property to access the Chehalis River. He said at that meeting, Mayor Erik Larson told him if anyone fished that section of muddy river bank Larson would “eat his hat.” The commenter said he saw six people fishing it and asked Larson if he’d like “salt and pepper or ketchup.” Larson replied, “I’ll just boil it.” The commenter stressed he didn’t understand closing the property for safety reasons when people had been fishing from it for years.
Alstrom also said he didn’t believe any damage was being done to the dike on the property, another reason given for the original ordinance. Council President Tawni Andrews said erosion of the dike was a concern for her in regard to the amendment. Councilman Jeff Cook said the degradation of the levee and the “non-existent or barely existent” access to the property by police and fire vehicles would have him voting against Alstrom’s amendment.
Fire Chief Tom Hubbard was asked to comment on the safety issue.
“Our challenges for that area are the access and conditions encountered if there was to be a fire. The trees, the wildland, we are not adequately equipped for initial response to that,” he said. He said it’s also a challenge, at any time, for emergency personnel to safely find people who may need aid in the unmarked area. “So it was just an overall public safety, health safety issue we were facing.”
The vote on the amendment to make the restrictions in night-time hours only ended up tied at 5-5. Voting yes were Alstrom, James Cook, Frank Gordon, Pete Schave and Margo Shortt. No votes came from Tawni Andrews, Jeff Cook, John Maki, Karen Rowe and Dee Anne Shaw. Absent were Councilman Jerrick Rodgers and Councilwoman Kathi Prieto.
That put Larson as the tie-breaker, and he voted in favor of the amendment.
“It seems like a good compromise at this time,” said Larson, adding if there were issues with allowing daylight access they could be addressed at a later time.
The ordinance, as amended, was unanimously passed by the City Council.
