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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 2015)
7A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2015 The Daily Astorian/Submitted Photo Gearhart resident Shannon Smith has been trying for several years to renovate her his- toric livery for use as an events center. Gearhart:1H[WFRXUWGDWH LVVFKHGXOHGIRU1RY Continued from Page 1A Dani Palmer/EO Media Group Hannah Moore with the Oregon Beach Monitoring Program looks out over the ocean after testing water at the Gower Street outfall in Cannon Beach during this summer’s season. Standards: Four health advisories along the Oregon Coast were issued this year they are currently doing,” he said. Chetock said partnerships A matter of with local communities, such public safety The beach monitoring pro- DV&DQQRQ%HDFKFRXOGKHOS gram tracks Oregon beaches ¿OOJDSV 7KH%OXH:DWHU7DVN)RUFH from Memorial Day to Labor Day and issues public health tests beaches from Seaside to advisories on its website and in- Port Orford. Cruse said they’ll serts beach warning signs when “continue to monitor with the same frequency when the new bacteria readings are high. People who ingest water %$9 WDNHV SODFH´ DQG DGGHG with high bacteria levels may “it would be great if the state H[SHULHQFH JDVWURLQWHVWLQDO RU utilized our monitoring pro- ÀXOLNH V\PSWRPV DFFRUGLQJ gram results.” The task force uses the to the EPA. An Oregon State University study found that same EPA testing method the SHUFHQWRIVXUIHUVVXU- monitoring program does. YH\HGIURPWKH3DFL¿F1RUWK- 9ROXQWHHUVDQGVL[ODEVZRXOG west reported ear infections or ³HDVLO\ ¿OO DQ\ JDSV´ FUHDW- discharge at some point during ed by the new guidelines and VXU¿QJ SHUFHQW D VRUH funding constraints, he said. WKURDWRUFRXJKSHUFHQWGL- DUUKHDSHUFHQWDIHYHUDQG Finding the source SHUFHQWYRPLWLQJ In addition to the possi- The monitoring program ble decrease in testing sites, works with the Surfrider residents and environmen- Foundation on providing WDO JURXSV OLNH 6XUIULGHU H[- swimmers and surfers with pressed concern about public the opportunity to report water QRWL¿FDWLRQ RI KLJK UHDGLQJV contact-related illnesses. and freshwater results. This year, the program is- The monitoring program sued four health advisories tests freshwater runoff, but along the Oregon Coast, in- unlike saltwater, will not is- FOXGLQJRQHLQ&DQQRQ%HDFK sue an advisory if high levels ,QWKHUHZHUH,QWKH of contamination are detected. ODVW ¿YH \HDUV &KHWRFN VDLG This could put beachgoers at WKHUHKDYHEHHQDGYLVRULHV risk, particularly at the Gow- along the North Coast alone. er Street outfall in Cannon That number would have %HDFK&UXVHVDLG Although they are limit- MXPSHGWRLIWKHQHZVWDQ- ed in actions they can take, dards had been applied. )URP WR WKH Chetock noted that program monitoring program conduct- staff do test freshwater run- HGVDPSOLQJVDORQJWKH off so they may identify the Oregon Coast, 88 of which source of contamination. The program isn’t able to H[FHHGHG WKH FXUUHQW JXLGH- lines. That number would rise lead investigations into the WR LI WKH QHZ JXLGHOLQHV cause of high readings, but it can provide data, technical were used. Program staff anticipate an support and guidance if a city LQFUHDVHLQDGYLVRULHVLQ chooses to address the issue. which could place a strain on 6WDIIDUH¿QDOL]LQJWKLV\HDU¶V their limited funds if they have monitoring data and searching for trends. DEDG\HDUOLNH In its blog about the bac- More demand on staff could mean fewer beaches teria action level change, Sur- monitored. Currently, the pro- frider acknowledged the pro- JUDPPRQLWRUVRI2UHJRQ¶V gram’s limited authority and PRUH WKDQ EHDFKHV GXULQJ encouraged residents to ask its summer season. Chetock the Department of Environ- said they plan to use historical mental Quality to investigate data and public input to decide an advisory system for con- ZKLFKVLWHVWRVDPSOHLQ taminated freshwater. Some, like Oregon’s state parks, have taken steps to rec- Limited funding 5\DQ &UXVH %OXH :DWHU tify problems. “There are other commu- 7DVN )RUFH ¿HOG FRRUGLQDWRU for the Surfrider Foundation, nities that just don’t want to attended Newport’s informa- acknowledge it because of the tional meeting. According to tourism aspect,” Chetock said. Cruse, Surfrider is working “They don’t want to scare peo- at the national level to ensure ple off beaches because they continued funding for the want the business.” %XW VROXWLRQV QHHG WR EH %HDFK $FW ZKLFK SURYLGHV funding for the monitoring IRXQG EHFDXVH QRWL¿FDWLRQ program. “Our ultimate goal alone is “not working right here in Oregon is to help se- now.” cure additional state funding for the monitoring program, The next step so that they’ll have the capac- Now that the monitoring LW\ WR H[SDQG WKH JUHDW ZRUN program’s public meetings Continued from Page 1A are done for the time being, Chetock said they will review comments and reach out to FRDVWDODUHDVLQWKHQH[WFRX- ple of months for discussions. The Department of En- vironmental Quality is also developing rules to revise Oregon’s water quality standards for bacteria. Aron %RURNZLWKGHSDUWPHQW¶VZD- ter quality division said the state will hold hearings early QH[W\HDUWRUHYLHZSURSRVHG revisions. Locally, the Surfrider Foundation and Ecola Creek Watershed Council have of- IHUHG&DQQRQ%HDFKRI¿FLDOV assistance in notifying the public faster of high bacteria readings, and in reviewing the city’s wastewater and VHZHULQIUDVWUXFWXUHWR¿QGD solution to the issue. According to Kearns, lo- cal standards were not clear enough to determine if Smith had “violated the standard.” With 82 short-term rental properties in Gearhart, Kearns said Smith is “renting” her property to guests, an activi- ty unregulated by the city. A conditional use permit to hold weddings was not necessary, he said, because numerous other commercial activi- ties are allowed in Gearhart, without a special use permit, among them, short-term rent- al of residential property. “She’s renting her property for short-term use for people who want to have their wed- ding there, their gathering there,” Kearns said in Octo- ber. The city is considering adoption of new regulations of properties offering short-term property rentals. “My client is the only person in Gearhart ZKRQHHGVDFHUWL¿FDWHRIRF- cupancy and a conditional use permit,” Kearns said during the October hearing. ,Q KLV ¿QGLQJ 2UU VDLG the city ordinance failed to provide adequate guidance to sustain the charges against Smith. “It appears clear that the or- dinance drafters failed to enu- merate the numbers of attend- ees or quality of disruptions to the neighborhood ambiance to convert a permitted use into a conditional use,” Orr wrote in his decision. “This lack of a FOHDUOLQHRUGH¿QLWLRQLVDYH[- R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian Shannon Smith after winning a verdict in Gearhart court Monday. She will face more charges for running what city officials say is a com- mercial business in a resi- dential zone later this month. ing question for the court.” Gearhart’s zoning ordi- nance spells out only seven permitted uses by a property RZQHUEXW¿QGV³QRUHIHUHQFH permission, restriction nor reg- ulation whatsoever for parties, wedding parties, large group gatherings, family reunions, class reunions and the like,” Orr said. “The conclusion this court must reach is that the city drafters had not consid- ered the use when writing the Gearhart zoning ordinance, and therefore had not intended to prohibit wedding parties at residences for future gain.” In his decision, Orr recom- mended the city draft an ordi- nance with “greater clarity.” He urged the City Council to ³UH¿QHDQGUHYLVH´LWVUHVLGHQ- tial zoning ordinance in a time- ly fashion. Smith faces further vio- lations for unauthorized use from events in August and September, and administrative ¿QHV WRWDOLQJ DGPLQ- LVWHUHGVLQFH 7KHQH[WFRXUWGDWHWRFRQ- VLGHU DGGLWLRQDO ]RQLQJ YLRODWLRQVDW1HDFR[LH%DUQLQ August, is scheduled for Nov. ACCE P T IN G N E W P AT IE N T S As to ria Ch iro p ra ct i c B ARRY SE ARS, D .C. AU TO ACCIDEN TS W ORK -RELATED IN JU RIES D on ’t dela y! Ca ll toda y! W e bill m ost in su ra n ce com pa n ies in clu din g M edica re 5 03 -3 25 -3 3 11 2935 M ARIN E DR • AS TORIA W in a free $200 Gift Ca rd Sh a re yo u r o p in io n a b o u t Th e D a ily Asto ria n a n d D a ilyAsto ria n .co m a n d yo u ’ll a u to m a tica lly b e en tered in to a d ra w in g to receive a $200 VISA g ift ca rd T h e D a ily Astoria n is dedica ted to brin gin g you th e best in n ew s, en terta in m en t a n d a dvertisin g fea tures from a cross th e Colum bia -P a cific region . 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