 Seen a Rogue on the loose? Get in touch with our Roguemeister: JOHN SCHRAG jschrag@wweek.com (503) 243-2122 FAX: (503) 243-1115 As the saga of the Bea house in the Columbia Gorge continues, it's clear there are enough rogues here to fill an entire gallery. Skamania County willfully ignored many provisions of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area guidelines when issuing a building permit to Brian and Jody Bea. The Columbia Gorge Commission, for its part, didn't stay on top of the Bea's house plans. But it's the Beas who are particularly grating this week. On Monday the Columbia River Gorge Commission ruled that the 4,000-square-foot house needs to be moved--and quickly. The commission gave the Beas six months to put the building on a spot of their property where it can't be seen from the gorge. Brian Bea says he won't do it. He continues to play the little guy getting screwed by unreasonable government regulation, even though he habitually ignored the original permit and bullied bureaucrats who tried to slow construction of his dream house. For example, the plans called for a 25-foot, one-story house with a basement and loft. Instead, Bea built a 35-foot, three-story house. The permit required him to preserve certain trees and bushes on the site. Instead of leaving them where the county intended--in front of the house--he moved them to another location on his property. He also moved nine times more dirt away from the site than was permitted. This "landscaping" gave the Beas a better view of the gorge. Unfortunately, though, it gave everyone else a view of them. Recently, the Beas hired Bellevue lawyer John Groen of the Pacific Legal Foundation. We don't begrudge the Beas legal representation, but the PLF is a property-rights group that is not known for working out compromises. Instead, it has a reputation for scouring states looking for cases to weaken environmental laws. Groen says he intends to take the case to the Washington Supreme Court. As Michael Lang of the Friends of the Columbia Gorge says, "It's not
an issue anymore about a landowner and house--it's about dismantling
the Scenic Area Act."
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