COQUILLE — The Coos County commissioners Tuesday tentatively approved an application to permit construction of a marine terminal on Coos Bay’s North Spit.

The unanimous decision was made despite the Coos County hearings officer’s recommendation to deny the land use application.

Instead of Anne Corcoran Briggs, the commissioners chose to rely on the analysis provided by Planning Director Patty Evernden.

Evernden originally supported the application, submitted by the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay in April. But last week, Corcoran Briggs argued that fishermen and recreational users would be unjustly impacted by the terminal. She also suggested the port failed to provide sufficient evidence that the terminal would benefit the public to warrant its construction.

At the meeting Tuesday, Evernden said Corcoran Briggs had misinterpreted the county’s estuary management plan.

“Our estuary plan is very complicated. She may not have understood how to apply it,” she said.

The policy in question deals with estuary dredging, which is allowed if “a need (i.e., a substantial public benefit) is demonstrated and the use or alteration does not unreasonably interfere with the public trust rights.”

Evernden said Corcoran Briggs was too strict in her reading of this policy.

“The Hearings Officer has interpreted this provision to require a lower threshold than the policy language otherwise provides, apparently concluding that the application can be denied simply if the impacts are greater to any degree than the benefits,” she wrote in a memo to commissioners.

Chairman John Griffith agreed with Evernden’s assessment. He noted the board was charged with weighing the benefits against the diminution of public trust rights. In his opinion, the terminal siting is appropriate because the property is rarely used by the public, compared to places like Hungryman Cove and Clam Island.

“I wouldn’t (approve it) if it affected a lot of the North Spit or an area that’s used a lot,” he said. “There’s not a lot of actual use there compared to other spaces.”

Corcoran Briggs noted in her report that a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal that would use the terminal has yet to receive authorization from the federal government.

“I find that the Port has not demonstrated that the overall benefits of the dredging of over 5.6 million cubic yards of sand and sediment, and the creation of a terminal that will be targeted for LNG facilities that are not yet approved by FERC, are too ephemeral when offset by the impacts of the proposal,” she wrote.

Evernden noted in her memo that Corcoran Briggs erroneously stated 5.6 million cubic yards of material will be dredged. Only about 25 percent  of material will be dredged, with the remaining 75 percent being excavated from upland shore land.

“The Hearings Officer’s calculations assumed that all 5.6 mcy would be dredged from the bay, which would result in far greater impacts to the estuary than will actually occur,” she wrote.

Commissioner Nikki Whitty said the terminal would be beneficial even if neither the LNG terminal nor a container terminal garners approval. During deliberations, she noted that the North Spit has been identified as one of the prime marine industrial areas in the county. Had Corcoran Briggs known the history of the area, Whitty said she thought the hearings officer might have had a different perspective.

“I was surprised (at her recommendation) because the opportunity to have that kind of terminal has been a dream for so many years,” she said.

The other issue that raised Corcoran Briggs’ concerns was whether the project damages major marshes in the area. But Evernden found no cause for concern and speculated the hearings officer was swayed by opponents’ speculation that the terminal will be expanded to the west, into Henderson Marsh.

“The applicant has not submitted any proposal to expand the berth and this application cannot be evaluated based on unsubstantiated speculation that such development may occur or be proposed sometime in the future,” Evernden wrote.

The commissioners all expressed satisfaction with the planning director’s analysis and said they would accept her report in place of the hearings officer’s on those two issues.

“I agree with staff opinion,” said Griffith. “I think Patty’s work on that was well-reasoned.”

Commissioner Kevin Stufflebean requested a continuation of discussion of the application, as his duties as interim roadmaster were increased during the recent storms.

He said he wanted to further study issues regarding an effluent pipe, stormwater stations and erosion stabilization procedures.

The commissioners scheduled a follow-up meeting to be held at 2 p.m. on Dec. 12 in the commissioners’ courtroom in Coos County Courthouse in Coquille.

Earlier in the day, the commissioners agreed on 17 conditions to include with the land use application submitted by Jordan Cove Energy Project. The commissioners were scheduled to vote on the matter at their regularly scheduled meeting this morning.

Tuesday’s afternoon hearing was sparsely attended, though a couple of opponents were in attendance, including Barview resident Camby Collier. She said she couldn’t understand how the commissioners could determine if the public trust were being interfered with when they don’t know what impacts arriving LNG tankers will have.

“I think they really don’t know all the adverse effects we are going to have from this,” she said. “They are going to make a decision without all the answers.”