March 23, 2020

Fellow Surf Pines Association Homeowners,

The following statement was released by Clatsop County that is effective today. Surf Pines Association falls under the jurisdiction of Clatsop County and we need to comply.

For those in our community who may be at higher risk to the COVID-19 coronavirus, I understand there are posts on our Facebook page of individuals offering to pick up groceries and necessities at stores offering drive thru. Please utilize those offeres.

Additionally, Clatsop County Public Health Department announced today, March 23, that it has been informed of the first presumptive case of COVID-19 coronavirus in the county.

These are times like we have never experienced. Let’s all heed the advice of the experts to get beyond this.

Best Regards,

John Yerke President BOD’s

County issues order closing hotels, campgrounds.

Posted: March 22, 2020

UPDATE: March 23 – Over the weekend of March 21st and March 22nd, the County and a number of cities adopted orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic related to camping, short-terms rentals and hotels. Please check your local jurisdictions for details impacting Transient Lodging.

The intention of these orders is not to impact those individuals currently living and/or working within Clatsop County and residing at these facilities for shelter. These orders are to discourage the spread of Covid-19 by encouraging all those visiting our beautiful communities to please return to their own county of residence.

In response to a heavy influx of visitors, Clatsop County is moving to temporarily close all short- term lodging businesses and campgrounds to most outside visitors to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

The order, approved by the Board of Commissioners at a special meeting Sunday, orders the closure of hotels, short-term rentals and homestay lodges, and campgrounds for a 14-day period beginning noon Monday, March 23.

Exceptions are allowed for current campground visitors who have longer-term reservations dating from March 11, as well as campground staff, hosts and people employed in Clatsop County on a temporary basis; current hotel guests registered for longer than 30 days; and short- stay guests employed in the county.

Pools, spas and other public bathing facilities are also ordered closed.

The order covers the unincorporated county as well as any incorporated areas not currently covered by an emergency declaration. The order is issued under the emergency declaration approved March 16 by the Board of Commissioners. The complete order is attached below.

The bans come in response to the large numbers of visitors from outside the county that descended on local towns and destinations on over the weekend. Large crowds and traffic jams were reported in Seaside and Cannon Beach, as well as Fort Stevens and Oswald West state parks. In many areas numbers were so large as to make social distancing – maintaining a six-foot buffer between individuals as recommended by health officials – difficult or impossible.

On Thursday the State of Oregon announced the closure of state campgrounds, but the closure was not slated to take effect until April 2.

“Clatsop County is a rural community possessed with limited emergency medical and healthcare capability, and is determined to follow medical guidance and do everything in our collective power to protect these vital community assets,” the county order reads.

On Saturday the Warrenton City Commission approved an emergency order enacting similar restrictions on lodging businesses. The Astoria City Council was scheduled to meet at noon Sunday, March 22 to consider a similar order.

As of Sunday, March 22, there were no presumptive or confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Clatsop County, but health officials believe the relatively low numbers of reported cases in Oregon overall is in large part due to the limited scope of testing up to this point.

On Saturday, David Reid, executive director of the Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce, released a statement to the organization’s lodging members urging them to consider cancelling reservations from visitors outside the community, stop advertising for business for the immediate future, and consider offering their establishments for the use of local healthcare workers.

“Visitors will not only increase the number of people potentially infected but speed the rate of infection, quite possibly beyond the ability of our (healthcare) system to cope,” Reid wrote.