Distraught family say their historic $1.4m oceanside cabin is at risk of being swallowed by SAND after Oregon lawmakers suddenly banned them from clearing it away

By LAURA PARNABY, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 16:36, 17 July 2026 | Updated: 16:46, 17 July 2026 An Oregon family has said they have been left in dire straits after lawmakers banned them from clearing away a growing mountain of sand which is threatening to engulf their $1.4 million home. The Niedermeyer family's oceanside property has been standing on Cannon Beach for nine decades, and clearing windblown sand from the yard is a constant battle.  According to the family's website 'Save Our Cannon Beach Home,' they have been removing tons of excess sediment from their yard for decades - with the city's permission.  But that changed last year, when an updated city code made it illegal for homeowners to conduct sand removal maintenance. A 10-foot dune has already swallowed about 30 feet of the Niedermeyer's backyard since then, according to the family.  'Every year, tens of tons of wind-blown sand pile against our home in Cannon Beach,' the family wrote on their website.  'For more than 50 years, our family has paid - out of our own pocket, with a city permit - to push it back onto the beach with an excavation crew.  'The same routine work kept the public beach-access path beside us walkable for everyone, including visitors with limited mobility.  'Last year, that changed. The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department went around our city and refused to let us continue. Nothing about the sand changed - only the permission did.  An Oregon family has said they have been left in dire straits after lawmakers banned them from clearing away a growing mountain of sand which is threatening to engulf their home. The $1.4 million oceanside property is pictured above before the law came into effect  The home is pictured above more recently after the law prevented the family from removing the sand, allowing a 10-foot dune to accumulate in front of the property close to Cannon Beach 'In effect, it is now illegal for us to do basic maintenance on our own property.  'Month by month, the dune climbs the walls of a house that's stood here for generations. We aren't asking for special treatment - only to maintain our own home.' The Niedermeyer's have appealed the ruling. They shared photographs of their home before and after the law came into effect.  Their backyard previously stretched a level below the two-story oceanside home, but the sand has piled all the way to their front porch.  'I'm very scared our house will be destroyed this winter,' Stacy Niedermeyer told Oregon Live. 'I don't know how to protect it.' 'It's petrifying. It's scary, honestly, but it's also super frustrating,' she added. 'It's consumed my life. If you had told me in the beginning it would be this long, I never would have thought so.  'We should have been able to wrap this up in a way shorter amount of time.'  The Niedermeyer family's oceanside property has been standing on Cannon Beach for nine decades, and clearing windblown sand from the yard is a constant battle The shoreline beside Cannon Beach in Oregon, located 80 miles west of Portland, is pictured One of Cannon Beach's original cabins, the property was built in 1936, and purchased by the Niedermeyers in the 1960s.  Their ability to maintain the property was suddenly impeded in 2024, when the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department requested additional information after the homeowners submitted their annual permit application.  They resubmitted the application, but the permit was denied for the first time in 2025, due to apparent noncompliance with an updated city code.  The family has hired an attorney to challenge the decision in a desperate attempt to save their home.  The Daily Mail has reached out to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department for comment.