Pistol River golf resort the focus of meetings

Curry County residents can learn about a proposed destination golfing resort planning ordinance – needed to establish the Crook Point Gold Resort at Pistol River – at special workshops in Gold Beach and Brookings on Saturday.

Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition will be teaming up with 1000 Friends of Oregon to present the workshops planned for 10 a.m. until noon at the Curry County Annex in Gold Beach and from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Chetco Activity Center in Brookings.

“The first process in establishing an area eligible for destination resorts, we have to draft an ordinance and a map,” said County Planning Director Dave Pratt.

“Destination resorts are permitted outright in the timber zone and are a conditional use in agriculture zones and EFU-exclusive farm use,” he said. “Areas for destination resorts have to be mapped. We also have to have an ordinance in place to govern development of destination resorts.”

Pratt said the County Planning Commission’s first public hearing for the proposed destination resorts ordinance will be held on Dec. 3, the commission’s combined November and December meeting.

The currently proposed destination resort is in the Pistol River watershed, adjacent to the Crook Point Unit of Oregon Islands Wildlife Refuge.

Under state law, before considering such an application, a county must have a resort ordinance in place as well as a countywide map showing all the areas where destination resorts may potentially be sited.

Oregon Shores officials said they are offering the Saturday workshops to help citizens understand and participate in the process before the public hearings.

 “It is extremely important because the map will determine which areas Curry County considers appropriate for destination resorts for years to come,” Oregon Shores officials said. “This is the first time Curry County is undertaking the resorts planning process, and people need to know about it and learn how to participate effectively.”

The workshops are free and open to the public. For more information visit Oregon Shores’ web site or contact Cameron La Follette, Land Use Director for Oregon Shores at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Crook Point Gold Resort Project manager Leroy Blodgett of Eagle 2 Development encouraged residents to attend the work shops on Saturday.

“It is very important that we have as many as possible attend these meetings,” Blodgett said. “Please come and show your support.”

On Friday night, the Crook family is holding a social in the Pistol River Friendship Hall on the resort.

Perry Dye of Dye Design and other members of the project team will be present to answer questions and explain the project, Blodgett said. 

“The Crook family has owned this property since the 1800s and have no intention of selling or moving,” he said. “Their goal is to build a family owned facility that will benefit all of Curry County.”

Blodgett told the Rotary Club of Brookings-Harbor Tuesday that the project is changing this month as crews clear some of the proposed development and discover new views. He also said the visitor cabins will become more centralized on the property than first envisioned.

Because he expects the county to follow state rules on destination resorts, and because the development will follow the same state rules, the Crook Point Resort application could be ready to hand in almost as soon as the county ordinance is in place.

While the plans still call for construction to begin in summer 2010 with a summer 2011 opening, Blodgett said the plans already are behind the original timeline by a month or six weeks.

He encouraged supporters of the project to attend the 1000 Friends of Oregon workshops on Saturday, to learn more about the process and possible objections.

Jackie Crook told the Rotary Club that her family came to Curry County in 1852 and has two goals in mind for the 2,800 acres they own in Pistol River.

“Our goal is to pass on the family ranch to the seventh generation,” she said. “And community is extremely important to us.”

To foster community involvement, she said the family will sponsor The First Tee golfing and character education program in all the elementary schools of the Wild Rivers Coast, including a clubhouse for The First Tee on the golf course.

“If we can get these kids buying in (to The First Tee program), the impact will be unimaginable,” she said. “So we’re not just talking golf, we’re talking community.”