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10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2016 Labyrinths: ‘Your journey through the Parks: Master plan is labyrinth will be as unique as you are’ ‘a dream come true’ Continued from Page 1A walking the path, which gives each person a unique experi- ence.“You ill it with your own meaning, which is the beauty,” said Temple. A few times, Temple has even taken the labyrinth to the Oregon Youth Correction Facility in Warrenton. She sets up in the basketball gym and inmates with good behav- ior can volunteer to come walk it. For those looking to mean- der a permanent ixture, an outdoor labyrinth is avail- able year-round at the Wil- lapa National Refuge. After branching off the art trail in the refuge, visitors can take the two-thirds mile walk along Cutthroat Climb Trail. At the end of the trail is a labyrinth, 40-feet in diame- ter, that was built in 2010 as an addition to the constantly growing art walk. Temple suggests those who don’t feel a spiritual epiphany after their irst labyrinth expe- rience shouldn’t be disheart- ened. “Your journey through the labyrinth will be as unique as you are,” she tells newcom- ers in her homemade pam- phlet. “Sometimes, you just can’t turn your monkey brain off.” for vice president of Parks Advisory Board Continued from Page 1A Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Sara Young takes a moment to herself while walking a lab- yrinth with her husband, Brett Young, on Sunday at Grace Episcopal Church in Astoria. development charges and increased user fees. “It’s our hope that this plan is heavily utilized in guiding the department into the future, and that it simply isn’t just a plan that sits on a shelf,” Angela Cosby, direc- tor of the Parks and Rec- reation Department, said. “We’re hoping that it will be very active.” Jim Holen, a member of the citizen advisory commit- tee, told the council to keep the plan handy: “It’s a tre- mendous amount of very usable, evidence-based infor- mation that will be useful to make decisions about com- munity parks-and-rec pro- grams,” he said. Tammy Loughran, vice president of the Parks Advi- sory Board, said the board has wanted such a plan for several years, and the end result is “a dream come true.” The council, and the room at large, gave Cosby, planner and project man- ager Ian Sisson and advi- sory committee members a round of applause for their achievement. Sisson thanked the com- munity, whose input “made my job really easy,” he said. “The community was so engaged throughout the process and excited to get involved.” Selling parks Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Astoria Vintage Hardware is located at 101 15th St. along the Astoria Riverwalk. Hardware: ‘It’s been in the family for many years’ Continued from Page 1A “They’ve done nothing wrong. They’re great people, always done what they said they would do. It is what it is. We came in knowing,” he said. “It’s just kind of scary ’cause we have no place to go now, and we have 90 days to do that.” Changes Englund Marine — which supplies boat parts and ish- ing gear to commercial and recreational ishermen, and sells industrial equipment — recently set up a new building at the Port of Astoria. The move was based, in part, on the prospect of selling the Vintage Hardware prop- erty. But Kurt Englund said he’ll miss the old building, which has been in the family since his grandfather built it in 1944. “It’s been in the family for many years, and a lot of us have spent a lot of years in there,” he said. “It’s a unique piece of property over the water.” He added that, if every- thing falls into place, Newport Paciic Corp. may take owner- ship of the building sometime this fall. Jolee Bancroft, president of Newport Paciic Corp, said, “We love to support our communities, and we are very excited about the opportunity to come into Astoria and be a part of that community as well. And I think it’s going to be a very good it.” The family-owned seafood business, which turns 70 this year, has set up one restaurant in the last 38 years. The sev- enth Mo’s outlet opened at the Portland International Airport in 2015. Carrol and Roy Hackett, who have known Johnson and Tuter for several years, expressed reservations about Mo’s arrival in an email. “The local restaurants, already challenged by the economy, will be hurt by additional competition from a chain operation. A new food service operation will require a large makeover of a historic waterfront building,” they wrote. “Vintage Hard- ware uses the building as it is.” The Hacketts also worry about the parking needs of Mo’s patrons. ‘We don’t want to be done’ Johnson and Tuter are aware of these concerns but aren’t taking a position on whether Mo’s belongs in Astoria, or what the restau- rant’s impact could be. “Vintage Hardware is pretty neutral on this,” John- son said. “It’s the Englunds’ business to do what they want with their building, and our responsibility to ind a new home, which we’re trying to do.” “It’s really important for us to stay in Astoria, and down- town,” she added. They are grateful, though, for the community’s passion- ate response to the displace- ment of their small busi- ness, which supporters have said helps preserve the his- toric character of downtown Astoria. “The remarks are looding in about ‘How can we help? What can we do?’ That kind of thing,” Tuter said. “It’s overwhelming to you to know that they care about you.” Their immediate goal is to ind a place that’s adequate for a workshop, warehouse and retail. “It’s just the time frame that’s the hardest,” he said, “because we don’t want to be done.” George Hague, an Astoria resident who said he really appreciates Sisson’s work, offered words of caution and concern. The master plan contains language that would allow the city to sell or repurpose underused parkland. But, as Hague pointed out, the pre- ponderance of feedback indi- cates the public would rather see those sites become green space rather than used for commercial or residential development. “I do not want, in the future, the document to be referred to as one in which the public was in favor of selling parks,” he said. Hague noted that, accord- ing to the plan, the money made from selling parks isn’t required to be reinvested in the other parks. He also dis- agreed with the notion that the city has an excess of parks, given that the local and visitor population will continue to increase. Cosby acknowledged that, by and large, residents preferred underused park- land to “go into a natural state.” But, she said, at least one advisory committee member raised an issue with that idea. “Unfortunately, for a lot of our park sites, if you just allow it go natural, and not have a heavy hand in that and really reinvent the site, it’s going to become, likely, a lot of invasive species that will start to take over the site,” Cosby said, “and that doesn’t present an ecological beneit.” The advisory committee decided it would be better to consider selling or repurpos- ing those sites. Councilor Cindy Price, said that, though she believes “it may become necessary in the future to dispose or real- locate parks land, I’m not calling for any wholesale doing of that at this time.” Councilor Drew Herzig loated the idea of making sure any prospective sale of parkland would have to be referred to the voters. “I don’t think any City Council should make that sort of decision without some sort of referendum with the citizens,” he said, adding: “I think almost every city resi- dent would breathe easier if they knew that no city park will ever be sold unless they have a direct vote in it.” City Manager Estes said the process for selling or otherwise disposing of city parks — which would involve the Public Works Department and require a City Council vote — could be reined later on, but is a separate issue from whether to add the parks master plan to the comprehensive plan. Quality of life Selling or repurposing parks took up very little dis- cussion time at citizen advi- sory committee meetings, said City Councilor Zetty Nemlowill, who sat on the committee. “It’s a possible option for an underutilized piece of property that parks is main- taining,” she said. However, “I don’t think there are any parks, per se, on the chop- ping block right now.” Putting the full master plan into perspective, she said the document solidly represents the perspectives of the committee and the com- munity, and said she sees no reason not to adopt it. “I think parks and rec is so important for quality of life for Astorians, and this master plan — I’m excited to see what we can do with it,” she said. Danny Miller / The Daily Astorian Danny Miller / The Daily Astorian Danny Miller / The Daily Astorian Mayor Dianne Widdop listens to community members during a public hearing about Gearhart short-term rentals Tuesday at the Gearhart Fire Station. Gearhart City Administrator Chad Sweet speaks during a public hearing about short-term rentals Tuesday at the Gearhart Fire Station. Gearhart City Attorney Peter Watts listens to community members voice their opinions about Gearhart short-term rentals Tuesday at the Gearhart Fire Station . Gearhart: Hearing on proposed amendments continues tonight Continued from Page 1A The zone code amendments address transient properties renting for 30 days or less in Gearhart, requiring property owners to license their prop- erties and observe health, safety and parking regula- tions, 24-hour contact infor- mation and neighbor notiica- tion, among other conditions. Two of the most conten- tious items debated at length Tuesday night were a pro- posal to limit one permit per resident and the length of time to apply. Council- ors altered the language to allow multiple licenses for an owner of multiple properties; they also requested an exten- sion of the 30-day applica- tion period to 60 days, with an additional 180-day period to allow short-term property owners to bring their proper- ties into compliance. Councilors also revised a Planning Commission pro- posal to limit the number of guests in a short-term prop- erty to 10. If other conditions are met, that number could be higher. Heated discussion The council discussion came after a heated comment period. “Hats off to everyone involved,” said Matt Brown. He said the rules would make more homes available for long-term rentals and afford- able housing. “I think this would be a good example of a responsible way to han- dle this that other communi- ties in Clatsop County could follow.” David Russell said short- term rentals represent a “sea change in our commu- nity, with a constant turn- over of short-term rentals.” He said transient lodging needs to be controlled and regulated “very strongly.” Opponents to the rules blamed a handful of bad owners for short-term rental abuses. “I think we are looking for a problem where there is none,” David Remer, who owns several properties in Gearhart, said. “I’m adamant about going after the issue, not the philosophy of ‘strang- ers’ coming to our town. We already have xenophobia. It’s a national issue. Where are we going with this? Hold me accountable. Make people behave. Fine me, toss me, do whatever you need to do, but give me a chance to do this properly.” Portland attorney Dean Alterman appeared on behalf of ive homeowners. He said the proposed rules have “no factual base,” and cannot be adopted by the city without one. If the rules are ratiied by councilors, voters would have a 30-day period to call for a referendum, City Attor- ney Peter Watts said, with an additional 90 days to collect petition signatures. If those signatures are col- lected, the referendum would be placed on the ballot. “If this were adopted quickly and you got signatures quickly, this could be on the ballot within the November period,” Watts said. “If not it would go to a special election in February.” “We’re not attempting to eliminate short-term rent- als,” Mayor Dianne Widdop said. “What we are attempt- ing to do is let everyone who has a short-term rental keep it and use it within the regulation.” The hearing on proposed amendments to the zoning ordinance continues tonight at 7 at Gearhart City Hall.