WESTPORT — River Ranch, a subdivision of more than 30 homes fronting the Columbia River just north of the Oregon terminus of the Westport ferry, has been around since at least the 1960s.

But Coyote Point, a new nine-lot subdivision ready to go in next door, is facing an issue River Ranch residents have avoided for decades — there is no public road to the site.

Access to River Ranch and Coyote Point, on the eastern edge of Clatsop County, is through Carver Road, which winds westward from Columbia County on top of a dike along Westport Slough for several miles, with gated access to the private community. Several property owners along the road own the dike, providing easements to local diking districts for maintenance.

Those property owners could block access to River Ranch and Coyote Point, said Robin McIntyre, legal counsel for Columbia County. The county has recommended the road be made public before the subdivision is approved, she said.

“Apparently a lot of the legal access back 70 years ago was pretty loose,” said William Parker, a representative of Coyote Point.

The 20-acre development originally received a preliminary plat approval from Clatsop County in 2013, conditioned on improvements to the land. At the time, the development had easements from the diking districts, later learning they cannot pass those on, Parker said.

Now the development is trying to get permission of the property owners to bring Carver Road under county control, he said.

Gail Henrikson, Clatsop County’s community development director, said nobody has spoken out in opposition to the Coyote Point development. But a hearing scheduled for July before the Planning Commission for a final plat approval, which would allow the development to start selling lots, has been canceled until the access issue is resolved, Henrikson said.