Housing Addressed Again at Evening Meeting
There is a crunch for housing around the pacific northwest and the effects are certainly being felt here in Florence. To combat the growing number of people moving into this part of the country and still wanting to maintain the beauty that brings them here the state of Oregon has created a law that will force communities to allow changes in housing on smaller tracts of land. Senate bill 1051 was created to allow property owners to build what are called Accessory Dwelling Units or ADU’s. These secondary housing units are prohibited by some current regulations of land use around the state. Florence’s planning commission is going to detail the bill this evening during it’s 7pm meeting at city hall. City Manager Erin Reynolds says the law requires municipalities to allow certain additions to property including free standing builds.
“The layman’s term is maybe a mother in law cottage, or rental income property on your existing single family dwelling property.”
This evening’s meeting will outline what the existing rules are and what this law could potentially mean for Florence. Reynolds says after the presentation the information will be available on the city’s website.
Public Offering Raises Capital
Oregon Pacific Bank has recently made a public offering of over two and a half million shares of stock. The sale, along with a secondary sale of 500,000 shares by current shareholders rose close to 14 million dollars for the bank. OPB President Ron Green says this money raised by the sale of shares will be used as bank capital and provide local businesses with 130 million dollars in new loans. It will also put the bank in a position to continue growing in Lane, Douglas, Coos, and Jackson Counties. Green sees this as an opportunity to increase service, allow for growth, while continuing to be committed to the local communities that it now serves. Green also says that with bank consolidations becoming the norm over the past several years, customers want services to be provided by decision makers on a local level and OPB, according to Green, will continue to be that entity while also staying committed and active locally.
Empty Bowls
The Florence Event Center will once again feature the Empty Bowls event for the benefit of the Florence Food Share. This year marks the 22nd annual event that raises money for food for needy families in our community. Throughout the year artists create unique bowls as a symbol of hunger and the bowls are then sold for $10 each to raise money for food. The event will be this Friday through Sunday at the FEC. Friday evening, from 5-7, prior to the Holly Jolly Follies the event will open and then on Saturday from 10-4 and Sunday noon to 3. This year in addition to the bowls there will also be a table exclusively dedicated to wood. Sushi boards, trivets, coasters and other items will be available at auction.