In One Ear: Seawall standoff

Published 5:00 am Thursday, March 5, 2026

A Goonies-type big guy vs. little guy battle is ongoing in Cannon Beach, over a seawall, pitting a family against a state agency, according to The Center Square.

The Niedermeyers want to remove sand that has buried an almost 100-year-old seawall, which was, fittingly enough, briefly shown during the opening scene of “The Goonies.” More importantly, the seawall marks the barrier and boundary between their private property and the public beach.

The family says they’ve been getting permits from the city to unearth the seawall by annually removing the sand from the seawall (“remedial grading”) “for decades.” Then the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department suddenly got involved, and questioned if the permit violates state law. Now the sand removal project is stuck in red tape limbo.

“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous,” Mack Niedermeyer told The Center Square. “We’ve been doing this for so long, and now the state is doing everything they can to stop us. I think there are way bigger battles (for them) … .” You’d think so, anyway. Yet the battle continues. (Screenshot: Warner Bros.)