New nonprofit vows to fight LandWatch, Lane County

Presenter: Kathleen Jones-McCann makes the case for a two-story six-bay shop building on her McKenzie River property, and launches a nonprofit to help others fight for their property rights too.  Before the Lane County commissioners July 7, her attorney, Mike Reeder:

Mike Reeder: My name, for the record, is Mike Reeder. I’m going to turn over a couple of minutes to my client, the applicant, Kathleen Jones-McCann, who would like to say a few words. 

Kathleen Jones-McCann: I am so glad to see you gentlemen here and finally meet you. And I appreciate this opportunity to talk to you, because I think that what is going on at Lane County with staff and with LandWatch is abhorrent and we need representation. The people of Lane County need representation from people that care about the people.

And so, I—there’s a few things I’d like to clear up. It’s absolutely horrific to read lies and fabrications from people who have just seemed to want to wage a vendetta and apparently especially against me because I can afford to fight. Most people can’t.

And this wonderful man that is typically representing people with all kinds of land use problems costs a freaking fortune. And most people cannot afford to stay the fight that Lane County wages and lets it go on and on and on. We are two years in this battle and I don’t personally, I don’t know anyone who could afford to keep this up.

And people are upset with me, maybe a few, because, ‘Oh, she’s wealthy and so she’s just going to get her way.’ Oh, no, please give me a break.

First of all, I’d like to say that when I started building this building, which is about 50 yards from my home and a one-room cabin that I built, it was a wood storage shed, cement floor, 12 x 20 with four posts and a roof.

And I decided, ‘Oh my God, I’ll put walls around this and be able to sleep in it while I redo my home, remodel my home,’ which is a two-bedroom home. It’s the size of a double-wide manufactured home up on stilts. 

I’ve read all kinds of things that say, ‘Oh, she lives in a great big, huge mansion and she’s got all this money and she comes from a timber family.’

And all of this is just, to me, to violate my sense of self and to put out, perpetrate this incredible biased smokescreen. I’m just a person that happens to own some property that wanted to build a shop on it.

But when I started this, got this idea to do it, it was the beginning of COVID and we went down to the permitting offices—closed to the public. We went back two weeks later—closed to the public. I gave up.

I had a friend there who was in construction and he said, ‘You know what? Take pictures of everything inside this construction. Take pictures as we go. You can turn it over to inspectors. They can approve it. Everything will be to code.’

I said, ‘Perfect, let’s do it.’

It took forever to build this building. It’s 40 feet wide and 90 feet long. It’s a six-bay shop. It’s got big garage doors. It had to be two stories because I wanted my motorhome to be able to fit in the end slot, which is a 16-foot-high door.

So we built this monstrosity, which is virtually twice as big as my home, and we’re getting into COVID. And I started realizing that if this doesn’t end or there’s other government calamities, I could be housing my kids and my grandkids.

My granddaughter gave me a sign: ‘My biggest fans call me Nana.’ I am a recluse, absolutely, from the word go, I have been my whole life, to my own detriment at times.

My children and my grandchildren are the love of my life. So I’m thinking, how can I bring them all here? How can I keep them here and keep them safe? 

And I put in a new well with, actually, a hand pump on it. And I put in solar panels in case all the electricity went out. And I designed that shop to be basically bulletproof, where I could house my kids and my grandkids and keep them fed.

And we went and we gathered food stores. I’ve got enough food to feed half of Eugene stored in that shop.

So, what happened then is very strange because a neighbor wanted me to buy a lot that he had nothing on that comes up against my property, and is next to the lot that his house is on, and I did not want to buy it.

And he came into the county and found out that he could not get a permit to build on that lot as he had wanted to. He wanted me to buy it so I could eventually build or keep it as a buffer. I didn’t want it, but he didn’t find out that he couldn’t build on it because of some kind of wetlands or whatever else he found out.

He couldn’t build on it because this small little clutch of a handful of people had decided behind closed doors that they were going to disallow permits on any parcel in the McKenzie River corridor that hadn’t previously been permitted.

And unfortunately, as close as my house is to my shop, my land goes like a big fan, and my three buildings on my property are back on this tiny narrow point back here, which is also the highest point. And that front part of the fan is where the McKenzie River runs.

I’m over a quarter of a mile from the river, and I’m in a higher plain area. So I’ve got my small house, my one-room cabin, and my 40 x 90-foot shop there.

Now it goes, drops downhill right behind these buildings. It drops downhill probably 12 feet, and there is some water that pools back in there. It used to come from the river, but the river used to come way downstream. Come up and come in. It does not any longer. And I’ve lived there for 20 years and it never has.

And one of the main reasons is because if you continue east on Heather, which runs east and west, you pass my driveway and go to the end. The house down at the end had— apparently the Corps of Engineers put four huge eight- to 10-foot-high slabs of rock on the embankment in front of their house and cause that river to ricochet south.

We’re on the north bank. It ricocheted south so much it took out a farmhouse on the south bank right across from my property. So we had, you know, white PVC pipe sticking out of that. The front porch, the bank, the front porch went downstream, and they ended up having to demolish that house. That’s how much that river’s moved.

And whereas when I first moved in, there was just a thread of river rock. And then I accessed about a quarter of a mile by foot of the McKenzie River, which I absolutely love. It is why I bought the property. It is my absolute joy and passion and they tell me that I have the longest stretch of accessible river frontage on the river, and I cherish it and I cherish all of my property.

So, back here in this area, back on this little point, they have now decided that this puddle and this gentleman is here to attest to this is some kind of Class 1 stream. And they absolutely refused to listen to (Kathleen Jones-McCann’s attorney) Mike (Reeder) when he tells them, ‘No, it isn’t.’ So I hope that you can trust what has been said.

Also, I’ve just recently received a letter from (Lane County Land Management Division Manager) Keir Miller saying, ‘We have it by reputable sources that this dwelling, this shop is unsafe. We need you to get everything out of it.’

I do tend to believe that those reputable sources are the neighbors. 

And the fact is that two years ago, Mike (Reeder) had a structural engineer come in and go through that entire shop—as if I would build anything that was not to code or structurally sound—and testified that and signed off that it is permittable and structurally sound.

So there is no reason to issue these permits, not environmentally—which is the hammer they love to use—and not structurally.

But this is a game of control. Lane County is into massive control of people’s property. And I didn’t realize it. No one realizes it because you’re just living your life, especially rural property owners, we’re just out in the country somewhere, and we enjoy our peace and quiet.

I’ve got more animals and birds and everything from foxes, that we’ve just now, Peter was telling me, my son was telling me we’ve got a muskrat in our pond.

Now, these are man-made ponds, by the way, that were made before I came. So this whole thing of environmental, ‘Oh, there’s a stream. Oh, there’s something natural. Oh, you’ve got to say 75 feet away’—I could list right now more animals and birds that come back and back and stay on my property because of those man-made ponds, the pastures, the woods, everything that I love about this property.

There is no environmental instability because of anything that I’m doing there. But this idea that they can hit you over the head with environmental issue and say you can’t get your permits. Well, I think that they’re really scared at this point. I think Sean Malone (of LandWatch Lane County) and the county staff are scared because you people are listening.

And I will tell you that we formed now a 501(c)(3) to combat LandWatch, and it is to help the people of Lane County reach their goals and have the support they need, legally and otherwise, to surmount all of these property issues. And that’s called ROPA—Rural Oregon Property Advocates.

And I will tell you the simple story, and then I will step down, of what got me deciding to do this was a couple whose attorney called Mike Reeder when I had just begun this two-year gauntlet and said, ‘I hear what you’re doing for a client of yours, and she has the means to see this through. And I want to explain to you, I have a client and I’m hoping you can help them, and maybe she would be willing to help them.’

A couple going to retire, 10 years before retirement—they lived here in Eugene, always had lived in town, and they had decided that they wanted to retire in the country someday. This was their dream. So they found 10 acres just outside of Creswell, and this filled them with a passion.

So the clock ticks by. They save up their money, they get ready to sell their house in Eugene. They retire and they go to come to Lane County to get their permit to build. ‘No, no, we’re not giving it to you.’ Can you imagine being in that position? Retired couple, your dream just vanquished. Not to mention, your property is now worthless.

So I looked at Mike. He looked at me. I said, ‘Do anything you can for them. This is atrocious.’

This is why I’m up here speaking right now. And I’m so grateful that you are here listening, because what is happening to me is an affront, and it’s a battle.

And they want to see me cave, but I won’t. And I am going to go right on and help people in this county every way I possibly can. And this man is dedicated to it. And so thank you.  Thank you for listening to me, I appreciate it, thank you. 

Presenter: Her children also spoke in support. Casey Roscoe:

Casey Roscoe: My name is Casey Roscoe. I am so thankful to be here and be heard today. This is so exciting to me. 

I didn’t even know what I was going to say coming in here. But after listening to all of this and really listening to my mom, who is Kathy Jones-McCann, I realized that something was missing, although they covered a lot, they covered the technical aspects of it, which were phenomenal, and Mom’s intent during COVID to create something for her family. 

I would love to take us back there at that time and explain even a little bit more because in the press she has largely been vilified and it’s been suggested she was trying to sidestep something.

And my experience of my mother is the opposite., During that time, 2020, COVID was coming on, and I’m sure you guys remember we had some wildfires. And I was working for our family company. Mom and my two aunts were our bosses.

And what’s interesting was I have never seen them sidestep anything. My job was to take care of not only our employees, but the community during COVID. My job was for almost 500 employees, when COVID was coming, we needed to telegraph to them: ‘We got you, no matter what. We’ve got you.’

I worked with restaurant supply companies and so forth. And we had a thing where all 500 of our employees got sacks and sacks of groceries when the shelves were empty. Everything from toilet paper to soup. And that was Mom and her sisters.

When the fires came, my job was to make sure that we could help anybody that needed it. The first thing we did is see if any of our employees had space for livestock, and then put out there that if anybody had livestock that needed to come, we knew where we could take it. 

The second was we housed anybody that was our employee or a friend or family of that needed the house during housing, during the fires.

But then after the fires, I got thousands of dollars of gift certificates from every single restaurant between about Waltersville up to Black Butte. And the reason was, is because our family knows that those restaurants were the heartbeat of those small communities. They’re what make people stop there, what give people jobs. 

And they’re what people think of when they’re going through there, because otherwise they weren’t going to stop. It was just all black. And why would you? And so not only did we infuse—

Commissioner Ryan Ceniga: Your time is up, Ms. Roscoe.

Casey Roscoe: Oh, shoot. I’m so sorry. Thank you.

Commissioner Ryan Ceniga: That’s all right. No problem. Thank you. Next up, we have Peter Gibney. 

Peter Gibney: Hi, I’m Peter Gibney. I’m here on behalf of my mother, I guess, on this whole thing. 

But I’ve been part of that property since she purchased it back in early 2000. And it’s frustrating to hear this, for me personally to go through this with her from the emotional side of it, knowing that I’ve been on that property myself and helped her with that property and seen it change drastically due to the river leaving going to the south side of the McKenzie as far as it has.

There used to be a waterway that came up near the body of the house when I first moved out there, and it hasn’t done that in 18 years, and that’s the time period that I’ve watched it year over year, you know, come to the highest point during the winter and go to the lowest point during the summer.

And never once is that area where that shop is near had water that’s come up to it or near it. So that’s one aspect. 

And then the other one is that pond behind our house has never been an active water body since I’ve been there. It’s always been more of a still pond until you hit the winter, it’ll of course fill up and then it digresses back down to very minimal during the summer months.

Well, that being said, it seemed like the most logical place to put that dwelling when it started, and the intent was solely for a shop, to help store items and occasionally people, if needed, to be a part of our family during that COVID session.

And that’s how this whole thing began.

And I know that there’s not been one time that she has wanted to deviate from getting this done correctly or going through all the process with it, 100% above  board. And I know that that’s been our heartfelt desire to do for this process and get that shop permitted.

And so I really appreciate you guys taking the time to look at this. And I hope you get to see all the evidence that shows where the water bodies were and where they are now from 20 years ago, because I think it will help you make that decision. And thank you.

Sean Malone (LandWatch Lane County): Sean Malone on behalf of LandWatch Lane County. I see that I’m limited to three minutes, despite the fact that both Mr. Reeder and Ms. Jones-McCann were unlimited in their time. 

It’s virtually impossible to address any of what was said substantively in such a short amount of time. So I’ll do my best, but it’s impossible.

I guess the first thing to address is that Ms. Jones-McCann named me by name and said that I was scared. I’m not scared at all because I have on my side the law and the truth, and you don’t have to be scared in those instances.

The next issue is Chapter 15. The way Lane County deals with amendments is, it repeals and re-adopts the entirety of the entire chapter. That’s a technical means by which to do it. And essentially if you have a substantive amendment, then that’s what is effectively changed. And Mr. Reader hasn’t identified any substantive amendments that from that Chapter 15 wholesale repeal and adoption.

And so only those provisions that were amended in that code are potentially no longer land use regulations. It’s not the entire code. It’s kind of a ridiculous allegation. And the board would do a great disservice to the entire county if it were to go along with Mr. Reeder’s interpretation.

You know, this one feels like Orwell’s Animal Farm. We have photographs of continuous flow. We have allegations that people have taken kayaks into this area. We have found fish that would be going upstream and downstream in this alleged pond. So there’s a lot of this, ‘Don’t trust your eyes, trust what the applicant’s experts are telling you.’

And so I think, let’s listen to our statewide experts, not our paid consultants. Let’s listen to staff. Let’s look at the photographs and use our eyes to do so and come to the conclusion that’s contrary to what the applicant is saying here.

As far as Policy 11 goes, the county’s interpretation of statewide planning goals must be consistent with Goal 5. And the county is not going to get deference to their interpretation of something that implements state law.

So you’ve all been sold a bill of goods if you think that you’re going to get deference in this interpretation of Policy 11, it’s just not the case. 

And the simple fact is the density standard is enshrined in your comprehensive plan as well as referred to in the working papers. And that density standard is what implements Goal 5 and ensures compliance with Goal 5. If you get rid of that, you’ll be overturned at LUBA and beyond that.

And with that, please affirm the hearings official’s decision.

Presenter: From the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, biologist Joe Stack.

Joe Stack (South Willamette, regional habitat biologist): Joe Stack, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, I am the regional habitat biologist for the South Willamette. So not only Lane County, but I cover Marion County, Lane County, Benton County, and Polk County.

I’m here today to talk on several resource concerns. Here you have the applicant kind of stating this thing as a pond. Tere’s flowing water in the system. That’s why I thought it was important for DFW to get out there for the question here.

With that, we took an electric shocker like we do with most water bodies to test this. And we found fish and those fish exist in that system. They go upstream. Those juveniles, it’s very important for them.

It’s not a pond because you have flowing water, you have connection. You have fish that are moving into that system.  

The applicants representatives claim that the channel dissipates into shallower features, ponds and wetlands, and therefore is not subject to the riparian setback area. However, when you look at Oregon Administrative Rules, that’s going to define a stream as ‘any channel that carries flowing surface water during any portion of the year.’

So as noted in that email that I sent to you all this morning, wild spring Chinook were observed, which are a state and federally listed species. The presence of that fish at any time of year confirms the fish use and supports the Class 1 designation.

After reviewing the May 11, 2026 letter submitted by the applicant’s consultant, Wetlands and Wildlife, Inc., ODFW found several key assertions to be inconsistent with site conditions and with the regulatory water classifications outlined in Oregon Administrative Rule.

Under the correct regulatory framework, the feature remains a Class 1 stream, not a wetland, and staff’s measurement of riparian setbacks is accurate. I think, you know, real quick, ODF is not opposed to development in the county. We’re looking for responsibly sited development where people can coexist with wildlife, with fish, with natural resources. 

Gwen Farnsworth:  I’m Gwen Farnsworth. Every time I go to California, I’m shocked by how many million-dollar homes are built on the wrong side of the levees and wonder who pays when they are inevitably flooded.

Thankfully, Lane County does not fence off our rivers in that way, but it sure does allow a lot of building and the riparian zones.

The original house on the border of the subject property was supposedly built on pilings four feet above the maximum flood elevation, so probably wasn’t damaged in the two major floods and several minor ones since 1985. 

However, now there are two other large buildings and a few sheds on the same complex, some of which are on the subject property. Are they also on pilings so they don’t interfere with the water flow? And what is in those buildings?

A lot of the damage from floods is caused by debris and harmful chemicals washed out of human habitations.

Do the unpermitted buildings have legal inspected electrical service? I think they covered that, it probably has been inspected and it’s probably okay. But I was curious about that. Electric lines can cause wildfires if not properly installed and maintained.

What about septic connections? The original 1984 septic permit was for one 1,440-square-foot house. Can it handle whatever has been added to it?

The purpose of a riparian area is to allow a river to spread naturally. Testimony was given in the 1980s that vegetation would be removed and kept clear to permit faster water flow and prevent backflow.

But vegetation, unlike buildings, slows water and collects debris, which protects downriver land without causing backflow damage to upriver.

Please confirm the hearing officials decision affirming the planning director’s denial of a non-dwelling on a non-high-value soils in the EFU (exclusive farm use).

Presenter: Jim Neu:

Jim Neu: Although it has been six years since the Holiday Farm fire, for those affected, it still feels like yesterday. The devastation, the loss of life and property, and the perseverance to rebuild property and lives continues.

Many had to wait years to rebuild, requiring a great amount of patience with insurance companies, process coordination and building plan check and permitting. But they persisted and were successful.

Rules, procedures and regulations were followed and adhered to. Some grandfathering and system change, but they all followed county law and procedures.

Today’s hearing is about not following county law, ignoring procedure and regulations, dismissing the process, and violating state fishery habitat.

Planning and building codes are in place and enforced to protect the public for health, safety and environmental reasons. Without these protections, society would function in a chaotic and disruptive order.

Lane County commissioners are tasked with ensuring these processes are followed, enforced, and that nobody is above the law or that there are no conflicts of interest or favoritism.

In today’s case, where the county permitting processes were not applied for and building procedures were ignored, commissioners have a sworn responsibility to require county laws are enforced with penalty for disregard of these laws.

To not administer a penalty and dismantle what was illegally constructed would send a message to all the people in the county that building permits, legally, that they do not have to follow the law or rules and regulations adopted by the county.

Commissioners, absolvement of the illegal construction would not only be a slap in the face to those residents who follow the law, but an example of the commissioners failing to protect the public.

This also sends a message to county staff that rules and regulations that they are hired to follow and uphold does not have to be adhered to and their duties are unenforceable.

I hope you all understand the gravity of your decision regarding the egregious violation of the county building codes and required dismantling of the structural violation, and a resubmittal for permitting. 

Presenter: Kathleen Jones McCann announces a new nonprofit: ROPA, Rural Oregon Property Advocates, that plans to take on Lane County and LandWatch, in court. 

You heard it in their own words, on KEPW 97.3 Whole Community News.