Riverfront Revenue: St. Helens Missed Money Generator

To St. Helens residents, the riverfront is more than just a breathtaking piece of land; it’s a reflection of our local values of tradition, independence, and connection to nature. It’s where we gather with family and friends, marvel at Oregon’s stunning landscapes, and enjoy the tranquility of the Columbia River.

There’s an equally important, though less discussed, reason why the riverfront matters deeply to our community: its economic advantages. In a real sense, we owe this riverfront everything we love about our community. Historically, St. Helens’ strategic location on the Columbia River positioned it as a major hub for the booming shipping industry, particularly in the transportation of lumber and other natural resources.   Sand Island protects the shoreline from waves from shipping.  As a result, St. Helens has one of the largest and nicest riverfronts on the Columbia.  St. Helens is a mecca for water sports.  St. Helens is a mecca for world class fishing.  Pleasure boating is awesome in watercraft from jet skis to yachts.  With the housing shortage, there is demand for housing on the waterfront that will bring in people with good jobs and tax revenue.  Many old time St. Helens residents want to sell the old homestead to move into a condominium on the waterfront.  That will free up housing supply for working families.

The administration and the current mayor have failed for eight years to attract a developer to the most valuable land on the river.  We the taxpayers are now saddled with the burden of $17.5 million to build roads and sidewalks, and have endured endless meandering construction.  But why have we been unable to attract a developer?  Lack of credibility and lack of a plan.   The waterfront has no parking plan and no architectural standards.  Our government has done a lot of illegal things over the years:  we unlawfully sold land to the pot farm (which interfered with the business operations of our number one taxpayer, Cascades, prompting a lawsuit the City lost), we tried to illegally build a police station in a flood zone, we unlawfully traded our land for dirt, and more.  If you watch City Council meetings, they are a joke. No honest business would want to invest tens of millions in St. Helens.  Our building regulations are too cumbersome, taking years to cut through red tape, and enduring needless increased costs due to delays from our understaffed building department. 

In my career I’ve done business with successful businesspeople and I have had many developer clients.  We need a professional mayor that can bring a credible presence.  We need to get this done.  We need a government that developers can trust.  We must create a parking plan for downtown, and update our architectural standards immediately.  None of this is being worked on by our current mayor. 

The riverfront is the cornerstone of my economic vision. Its prime location and development potential make it an ideal space for attracting business investment and good neighbors.   This approach would increase the city’s tax base without raising taxes on local families or small businesses – the ideal balance between keeping living expenses down while promoting growth.

St. Helens is at a pivotal moment. Every year, more and more people flee from bigger cities to enjoy what we hold sacred about this community. We need to implement economic policies that allow for slow, smart growth that can absorb and profit from this increase in population.  We need to elect a mayor that has the skill set to get the waterfront built, and built in a way that retains the small town character of St. Helens.  Vote for Steve Toschi for Mayor of St. Helens.