Jay Raskin, FAIA
AIAO LAC Resiliency Subcommittee Chair
Tsunami Inundation Zone Development

As an architect whose practice has been centered on the Oregon coast, I became very active in issues dealing with a Cascadia earthquake and tsunami. This started with helping Cannon Beach, where I lived, as a volunteer with emergency planning. As I realized the impacts such an event would have on the built environment of not only the coast, but the entire state, my focus shifted to pre-disaster mitigation and resilience efforts. I have done this as an elected official and as a member of various city, state and national committees, including the Oregon Seismic Safety Policy Advisory Commission and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Community Resilience Panel. I helped initiate and create the Oregon Resilience Plan (ORP). I have been active with AIA Oregon’s legislative efforts to create a State Resilience Officer position (which was a key recommendation of the ORP) and passage of HB 2206 in 2019, which created OrSAP the post-disaster building Safety Assessment Program.

The beauty of the Oregon Coast is partially defined by the Coastal Range and the steep hillsides that meet the Pacific Ocean. The result is relatively narrow swathes of land for development. Most of the coastal communities were developed close to the ocean because that is where the developable land is. A lot of this developable land is located with the tsunami inundation zone.

Laws were enacted in the 1990’s that restrict the placement of schools, hospitals, police and fire stations, and assembly spaces with more than 500 occupants (i.e. larger hotels) within the tsunami inundation zone. This was a fundamental part of the resiliency planning in Oregon.

In 2019, the Oregon legislature passed a bill that loosened the restriction on development in the tsunami inundation zone. This was a result of a bipartisan effort of the coastal delegation within the legislature and motivated by economic development concerns. After passage, the bill has come under attack because it didn’t adequately address safety standards. However, it is important to stress that the legislature passed the bill.

The response from the coastal delegation is HB 4119, which incorporates design and engineering standards from ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) 716, chapter 6. This chapter is relatively new, and significant as it is the first nationally recognized standard to guide the design and engineering of buildings within the tsunami inundation zone.

Incorporating a safety standard to govern the design and engineering of buildings located within the tsunami inundation zone improves the legislation passed in 2019, however the broader question remains: how to balance safety and development in Oregon’s coastal communities within the tsunami inundation zone? I, along with many of my colleagues, believe this bill is flawed on a number of levels. However, this bill is part of a package of resiliency related bills, and the politics of one is related to the politics of others. AIA Oregon is neutral on the HB 4119 due to our overall support for the resiliency package, but even the bill’s sponsors are expecting further legislation on this issue next session.

For architects to make a difference on this issue, and any issue we care about, we need more actively engaged members. If you want to get involved, please contact me, AIAO Legislative Affairs Committee (LAC) co-chair Kim Olson, or AIAO EVP/CEO Curt Wilson (cwilson@aiaoregon.org).