Some oppose development near luxury homes

WALLOWA LAKE — Despite opposition from some West Moraine residents, plans continue to be underway for an emergency egress access road from the west side to the south end of the lake.

Currently, the only highway access to the south end is Highway 351 below the East Moraine. If a fire, flooding or other emergency should break out, 351 would be the only access to the south end of the lake.

In spring 2023, the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office gave Wallowa County a one-time grant of $50,000 to design an egress road that would run from an old, now-overgrown logging road that connect with Marina Lane at the Wallow State Park and run along the shoreline to Lake Shore Drive.

The road

Kirk Barham, eastern district manager for the Parks Department, said the road would be gated at both ends and not open for regular usage.

He said a design for the road has recently come through.

“It will not be designed nor built as a road that allows vehicular traffic in or out of the area,” Barham said. “Its purpose is to provide emergency vehicles the ability to access Wallowa Lake State Park and  the community to the south, should there be an active evacuation of the area or an event where the Wallowa Lake Highway is impassable. The emergency access/egress road will also allow the residents a way to evacuate their homes and properties to the south through the park should Lake Shore Drive become impassable. Due to the sloped nature of the hillside, the road will only be accessible by four-wheel-drive vehicles and equipment used for emergency response.”

No work has started on the egress road, nor is a timeline known for when it will.

“We do not have a current timeline for construction as we are still in the planning and design phase and working to ensure the selected path meets the needs of our firefighting partners in Oregon Department of Forestry as well as emergency response vehicles.

Barham said the road is expected to be 2,120 feet long from gate to gate.

Objections

One west-side resident, Janet Groat, sent a letter to the Chieftain wondering if the paper is still covering this issue. Groat, who with her husband, Tom, owns a home in the area, said she and her neighbors “reject any development of their road, which is actually a largely unmaintained county road.”

But county Commissioner Lisa Collier said area residents she’s talked to are in favor of the egress road.

“I haven’t heard direct opposition to it,” she said.

Commissioner John Hillock agreed, saying he understood people not wanting traffic on their country lane, but emergency access is needed.

Barham, too, has talked with local residents.

“Residents that I spoke with … were mostly at the northern end of Lakeshore Drive and were in support of the project as a way for them to evacuate to the south if needed in emergencies,” he said. “I have also spoken with residents to the south of Wallowa Lake State park who are part of the Firewise Community. They support the effort and see the need not just in fires but also with a potential flood of the Upper Wallowa River as in years past. The park and neighborhood access roads are dependent on bridges remaining open in high-water events. Closures or failures of the bridges in the area would result in potentially hundreds to thousands of people needing an alternative evacuation egress route.”

“We’re trying to make sure we can keep everybody safe,” Collier added.

Insurance

In addition to the need for emergency access is homeowners insurance. Because access is limited, many insurance companies won’t write policies on homes in the area.

Groat said, “new fire insurance policies are no longer being written for homes at the lake. This has resulted in four or five homes on the market that cannot be sold, because there is only one highway in and out.”

She was referring to homes at the head of the lake — the south end. She said State Farm told her no private insurance companies will write policies for homes on the west side or the south end of the lake because of the limited access.

“The only insurance people can get is the nonprofit Oregon FAIR Plan,” she said.

The Oregon FAIR Plan Association is a non-profit association dedicated to providing an insurance market for owners of property in Oregon. But it’s limited beyond what private companies provide, according to its website.

A spokeswoman at the Hillock Insurance Agency in Enterprise provided mixed answers.

“For the most part, at the head of the lake no, there aren’t any carriers who will write a policy there,” she said. “But on the west side, we have more carriers, so there’s a greater chance you’ll find one there.”

Nate Conklin, a State Farm agent in La Grande, said having multiple access roads is becoming critical throughout the insurance industry.

“Every home is looked at individually. If they’re in a wildfire area, there has to be two access points year around. That’s pretty much an industry standard at this point,” Conklin said. “We’re looking for a public road with through access.”

He said the plan to have a locked, gated road as the secondary access could prove problematic.

“With the amount of wildfire loss, there’s not enough access … without changes being made,” he said.

Fish

Groat said she’s been told that the Nez Perce and Umatilla tribes have been urged by their attorney to oppose the egress road plan.

“One objection is that spawning creeks may be impacted by the road, which seems very odd to a nonscientist such as myself,” Groat said, “since the grade is quite steep, resulting in no fish choosing this route to spawn when they can go up the Wallowa River.”

Groat said the tribes’ attorney lives in the West Moraine area, but no contact from the tribes on the issue has been made.

Collier said that in addition to fish, the county wants to make sure no cultural disturbance would result from the egress road.

“They’re making sure it doesn’t have cultural significance before they push through,” the commissioner said.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this report erred in stating Janet and Tom Groat reject development of an emergency egress access road. The Groats endorse the development of the road but contend other residents do not.