Rockaway Beach Must Pay in Fight With Beachfront Owner

ROCKAWAY BEACH, Ore. (AP) – A judge has ruled that the Oregon coast town of Rockaway Beach must pay $213,000 to a beachfront property owner who has fought for years to stop his vacation home from getting washed away by winter storms.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports in an order Wednesday, Tillamook County Circuit Judge Jonathan Hill cited a state law that allows him to award legal costs to homeowner Tai Dang if the city acted in ways that were reckless or illegal.

Hill cited problems with how Rockaway Beach handled Dang’s case. The first was by granting Dang permits to build the house on the beachfront property in 2008, then flipping its position and saying Dang couldn’t repair damage to the home from storms because the city now believed he built too close to the ocean.

Attorneys representing Rockaway Beach didn’t respond Thursday to a request for comment.
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Information from: The Oregonian/OregonLive, http://www.oregonlive.com