Joce Johnson

Statesman Journal

Since at least the end of July, a floating house has made a home of a slough near Salem's Riverfront Park.

The odd structure, though small and tucked away, has attracted the attention of kayakers as they paddle through the area, and park visitors can see it from the riverbank.

Industrial blue barrels and wooden boards make up the foundation, multicolored plywood walls hold up a standard gable roof covered with asphalt shingles and fitted with three solar panels.

At the front of the vessel is a propane tank on a small porch that leads to a door with a small window. A deflated raft or tube and a tangle of wires hang near the door. The whole thing is floating in the Willamette River slough and is secured by ropes to a couple trees on the northern tip of Minto Island.

Some consider it an eyesore and have taken the steps to complain to authorities.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office river patrol unit, for instance, has received inquiries about the boat almost daily since the house boat arrived in the Salem area, said Dean Bender, Polk County's emergency manager. He estimates about a half dozen complaints have been called in since it's been in its current location.

Apparently the boat — deemed "transient" in nature because it does not pay the state for a space on the river — represents a growing concern on Oregon's waterways.

"This is an issue that is really growing. We haven't seen it much in Salem, we've seen it in Portland," said Lori Warner-Dickason, operations manager at the Land Management Division for the Oregon Department of State Lands.

The Department of State Lands manages space and waterways that are state owned, which includes the Willamete River.

"Our interest is in the use of the waterways," she said. "When people use the waterway for certain purposes, they have to have authorization to do that. If somebody has a dock or someone has a marina, they lease or register that space."

Transient use, she explained, does not require authorization, so whoever has moored this thing in Salem has done so legally — at least for now.

People use the waterways for all sorts of things, including recreation and fishing. But usually if they live on a waterway, they are on a house boat at a marina or some other authorized location.

The Statesman Journal made multiple attempts to talk to the owner of the vessel, first by walking through heavily forested land through Minto-Brown Island Park and again from a raft on the river. In both instances no one responded.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office has made contact with the owner of the vessel, which apparently floated down stream from areas further south.

"This particular individual has been anchored for almost 30 days," Warner-Dickason said. "Our first complaint came in about July 28."

Complainants have called and asked whether the owner has a right to be there.

"The concerns they have range from safety concerns, aesthetics, concerns about sanitation," she said.

Randy Henry, boating safety program manager with the Oregon Marine Board, said that what is required of a vessel depends on whether it is technically a boat or a floating house. Sometimes that line is fuzzy.

"If they decided he was a boat, he would need to register it," Henry said.

In order to be deemed a boat, the vessel must be primarily used for transportation and have a way to steer, operate and propel it.

"I don't know that it would fit this definition," Henry said. "If it's a floating home, there are other requirements and we license that."

A floating home means a moored structure that is secured to a pier or pilings and used primarily as a domicile and not as a boat, Henry said.

If it is in fact a home, he said, it must be licensed.

But until the 30 day cut-off, he is anchored legally, the Department of State Lands said.

"He's not trespassing at this point," Warner-Dickason said Thursday.

Once the 30 days are up, he is required to move his vessel five miles.

"It's a serious human services issue. It's one where we're reluctant to use any enforcement because it is a human services issues," Warner-Dickason said.

jdewitt@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6714 or follow on Twitter.com @Joce_DeWitt