Big Island Brouhaha Changing Tides On Sauvie Island 2009: D V

Big island brouhaha changing tides on Sauvie Island

A D V E R T I S E M E N T ANCHOR&8200USE — Big Island Marina owner Mike Hashem is seeking a
conditional-use permit that would allow weddings at a private kayak club on Sauvie Island. Some residents argue the club would open the gates for expanded commercial activity on the island, compromising its character. Plans for a new kayak club on Sauvie Island have stirred a wave of protests among some island residents who view the club as a Trojan horse that would open the gates for big — and noisy — weddings, parties and even concerts. Others say the concept for the club is only the latest in a string of landowner indiscretions and nonresident events, such as bicycling and charity walks, which increasingly clash with the quality of resident life on the 26,000-acre island. Mike Hashem, the owner of Big Island Marina on the banks of the Multnomah Channel where the kayak club would be located, says opponents of the club and his plans to rent out a garden at the site for weddings are overreacting. “We’re not talking about rock and roll concerts,” Hashem says. “It’s a conditional use for a kayak club, a private club, and the use of the garden on a limited basis.” So far, Hashem has only participated in a pre-application process in anticipation of filing for the conditional-use permit this summer. Hashem is also the owner Bella Organic Farms, also on the island, and says he plans to move from his current home in Oregon City to Sauvie Island in the near future.
Hashem’s history as a landowner off the island is working against him. Last year he made headlines following a dispute with Portland officials and a neighborhood association that opposed his plans for a 25-acre property he owns in southeast Portland, across from Madison High School on 82nd Avenue.

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