2A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015
Party barn?
Court decision
stalls as state
ruling delays
resolution in
Gearhart spat
‘How do you feel
DEouW À u VKoWV"¶
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
“I think people should get them,
especially if they are over 50 or
under 5. I know they don’t always
work, Eut compared to the À u, they
are much better.”
Clay Robinson, Asheville, N.C.
“I don’t take them. I never have. I
don’t like shots, and everyone I’ve
known who’s taken one has gotten
sick. I am not going to do it.”
Jacque Pressly, Astoria
“I think they’re a necessary evil.”
Marilyn Burnam, Cathlamet,
Wash.
GEARHART — The Nea-
coxie Barn battle is still being
waged.
Marcia Harper of Seaside
was called as a witness to Gear-
hart Municipal Court Monday
night. She described a meet-
ing with Neacoxie Barn owner
Shannon Smith in which she
sought a location for her grand-
son’s wedding. Drawn by its
nearby local and wide range of
services, she contacted Smith.
Rental of the barn for the event
would cost a donation of $2,400,
she was told. As a North Coast
resident, Harper could receive
the “local rate” of $2,100.
“Suppose I wanted to make a
smaller donation, say, $50?’” Harp-
er said she told Smith. “She said,
‘That would not be acceptable.’”
The city presented Judge
John Orr with evidence this and
other recent events indicate the
barn is being used illegally as a
special event hall.
But complexities of a Land
Use Board of Appeals ruling in
April muddied the 4 1/2-hour
FRXUWVHVVLRQDQGOHIWD¿QDOGH
cision weeks aways.
®
ACCUWEATHER FORECAST FOR ASTORIA
Astoria 5-Day Forecast
Tonight
Oregon Weather
Shown is
tomorrow’s
weather.
Temperatures
are tonight’s
lows and
tomorrow’s
highs
Cloudy with
showers
54°
Thursday
The Dalles
53/70
Astoria
54/66
Portland
57/69
Corvallis
51/68
Eugene
53/68
Pendleton
51/66
Salem
55/69
Albany
54/68
Friday
Burns
36/59
Medford
48/71
Mostly cloudy with
a passing shower
66°
52°
Mostly cloudy
with a couple of
showers
69°
Saturday
55°
52°
Cloudy with a
little rain in the
afternoon
69°
54°
City
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Eugene
Ilwaco
Klamath Falls
Medford
Newport
North Bend
Hi
57
59
64
68
63
61
71
63
67
National Cities
City
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Denver
Des Moines
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Honolulu
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Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Memphis
Miami
Nashville
New Orleans
New York
Oklahoma City
Philadelphia
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Francisco
Seattle
Washington, DC
Hi
79
81
82
88
87
83
95
49
88
83
88
88
77
89
87
84
86
87
92
87
86
62
69
67
85
Today
Lo W
62 pc
64 s
63 s
52 pc
72 pc
57 s
72 s
39 sh
76 s
57 s
73 pc
65 pc
64 pc
68 pc
77 t
59 s
74
t
69 s
72 s
63 s
70 s
52 t
58 c
55 c
63 s
The Daily Astorian
Sun and Moon
Astoria through Tuesday.
Temperatures
High ........................................... 61°
Low ............................................ 48°
Normal high ............................... 68°
Normal low ................................. 50°
Precipitation
Yesterday ................................ 0.05"
Month to date .......................... 1.60"
Normal month to date ............. 0.91"
Year to date ........................... 30.71"
Normal year to date .............. 39.01"
Sunset tonight .................. 7:26 p.m.
Sunrise Thursday ............. 6:55 a.m.
Moonrise today ............... 10:11 a.m.
Moonset today ................. 9:05 p.m.
First
Full
Last
New
Sep 21
Sep 27
Oct 4
Oct 12
City
Olympia
Pendleton
Portland
Roseburg
Salem
Seaside
Spokane
Vancouver
Yakima
Today
Hi Lo W
67 52 sh
68 51 c
67 57 sh
65 54 r
65 55 sh
64 56 sh
62 44 c
65 56 sh
70 47 c
Hi
66
66
69
69
69
64
57
69
70
Thu.
Lo W
48 sh
47 c
55 sh
50 pc
51 sh
55 sh
44 sh
52 sh
42 c
Tonight's Sky: Low in the west, the waxing
crescent moon is above Spica.
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
Tomorrow’s Tides
Astoria / Port Docks
Time
High
4:26 a.m. 7.0 ft.
4:11 p.m. 8.0 ft.
Time
10:14 a.m.
10:50 p.m.
Low
1.3 ft.
0.3 ft.
Tomorrow’s National Weather
Hi
82
83
83
81
89
83
95
49
87
84
89
89
81
90
86
87
87
87
94
87
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73
65
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Thu.
Lo W
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67 s
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by Smith. “She said, ‘It’s nor-
mally $2,400, $2,100 for locals,’
and I was a local,” Harper said.
When Harper offered to give
Smith a check to book the facil-
ity, Smith insisted funds be de-
posited via PayPal.
Because of this and health
and safety concerns, Harper
chose another venue for her
grandson’s wedding, she said.
Land use decision could
have relevance
An April decision by the
state’s Land Use Board of Ap-
peals added a layer of confusion
to the citation hearing.
The city presented arguments
that Smith’s conditional use permit
had lapsed after several extensions
over a period of several years.
Smith claimed that the condi-
tional use permit is “what is called
alive and valid upon remand.”
Smith said a conditional use
permit was still pending, and she
could “trigger it” at any time by
appearing before the city’s Plan-
ning Commission. “LUBA has
not put a time frame for me to
do that,” she said.
Smith said she declined
further commission review be-
cause the political climate in
Gearhart was “not right” for
such a hearing.
“It’s my understanding that
I can wait to determine the po-
litical environment in my city,
and LUBA could sit there and
I could wait to trigger the actual
hearing,” Smith said.
Decision delayed
More than four hours after
the start of the court hearing,
Orr postponed a decision, but
not before laying out his thought
process.
“At the end of the day, I’m
looking at a properly admitted
document that discusses a pretty
active commercial event build-
ing and facility for weddings,
vow renewals, corporate picnics,
anniversaries, class reunions and
family reunions,” Orr said. “Not
exactly in my mind as having
a temperament of a residential
quality. I’m also persuaded this
is an ongoing commercial rather
than residential quality because
in the contract there was an evi-
dence of discussion and negotia-
tion between Marcia Harper and
the defendant.”
He said the landscaping trade
with Osterlund “sounded like
barter.”
“He had to pay his employ-
ees, I assume they didn’t do it
for free,” Orr said. “Just because
money doesn’t change hands,
there’s a trade. It does seem the
defendant was running a busi-
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Orr held the court record
open for two weeks so legal
arguments can be made regard-
ing how the land use opinion
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QL¿FDQFHLQWKHFRXUW¶VDFFXUDWH
ruling.”
“If the city didn’t rule be-
cause it was waiting for the
LUBA opinion to come back,
and that acted to slow down Ms.
Smith’s permit or occupancy
permit or request for a condi-
tional use permit, I would need
to know that,” Orr said. “I want
to make the right decision legal-
ly, as well as factually.”
Fronts
Cold
Warm
Stationary
Showers
T-Storms
-10s
-0s
0s
10s
20s
30s
40s
50s
60s
70s
80s
90s
100s
110s
Rain
Flurries
Snow
Ice
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands
are highs for the day. Forecast high/low temperatures are given for selected cities.
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms,
r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice.
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OLNEY — The Olney
Grange is holding its 56th an-
nual pit barbecued beef dinner
fundraiser from 12:30 to 5 p.m.
Sunday.
The menu also includes all
the trimmings: baked potato,
green beans, coleslaw, tomatoes,
roll, dessert and beverage. The
cost is $12 for adults and $7 for
children younger than 11. In ad-
dition, meat is available from the
pit for $8.50 a pound.
The Grange is located at
89342 Oregon Highway 202.
Proceeds from the barbecue
fundraiser go to hall mainte-
nance, donations to community
needs, and special projects. The
grange is also working towards
DQHZNLWFKHQRQWKHPDLQÀRRU
with plans for the kitchen to be
available for community mem-
bers to use for canning and other
food preparation needs.
WASHINGTON
Tuesday’s Daily Game:
9-8-9
Tuesday’s Keno: 03-08-
14-24-25-26-28-33-37-38-39-
40-44-50-53-56-63-75-78-80
Tuesday’s Match 4: 03-
10-12-17
Tuesday’s Mega Millions:
07-20-35-49-56, Mega Ball: 9
Estimated jackpot: $15
million.
Lotteries
Under the Sky
Thu.
Lo W
33 c
37 pc
51 sh
48 sh
55 c
31 pc
46 pc
51 sh
51 sh
EO Media Group/File Photo
Gearhart resident Shannon Smith has been trying for
several years to renovate her historic livery for use as an
events center.
Olney Grange barbecue this weekend
Almanac
Regional Cities
Today
Hi Lo W
62 39 c
59 44 c
61 53 r
65 53 sh
63 56 sh
52 36 r
63 48 r
61 54 r
64 54 r
Klamath Falls
36/61
For years, Smith and the city
have been at odds over what the
city says is the nonpermitted com-
mercial use of the barn. Monday’s
hearing was only the latest in a
round of court dates and council
meetings roiling the city.
&LW\RI¿FLDOVVD\6PLWKFRQ
tinues to host special events and
gatherings despite a lack of an
active conditional use permit
allowing commercial activities.
After Smith was ticketed for
using her barn for two weddings
held this summer, she contested
the $500 citations — pleading
not guilty to the charges — and
brought the case to municipal
court for hearing.
City M anager Chad Sweet
WHVWL¿HG WKH ZHEVLWH ZZZQHD
coxiebarn.org listed the barn as
“a place for your events,” in-
cluding corporate events, cater-
ing, and more , advertising about
six events per month, with a
photo gallery of past events.
Police Chief Jeff Bowman
DQG 2I¿FHU ,DQ %URZQ VKDUHG
observations before the court
on the nights in question, June
20 and Aug. 7. Brown estimat-
ed he saw at least 50 people at
the Neacoxie Barn, although a
beach use permit from the same
wedding party indicated the
number of guests could have
been as high as 150.
Bowman said he had received
similar reports of violations or
activities at the barn at least six
times within the past year.
Steve Osterlund, owner of
Coastal Landscape in Gearhart
and Seaside, described a wed-
ding-for-landscape
services
barter deal at Neacoxie Barn.
There was no cash fee, he said,
but he provided several days of
work and at least “one or two”
employees at $60 per hour in ex-
change for the wedding fee.
Seaside’s Harper described
her encounter with Smith when
making preparations for her
grandson’s wedding. “I did an
,QWHUQHWVHDUFKWR¿QGDEXVLQHVV
that had wedding venues in the
area,” Harper said.
Harper submitted a copy of
an unsigned contract provided
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2015
Sunday
Intervals of clouds
and sunshine
70°
Ontario
47/64
Bend
44/59
Internet site, barter deals
OBITUARY
POLICY
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For more information, call
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OREGON
Tuesday’s Pick 4:
1 p.m.: 5-5-8-5
4 p.m.: 4-1-5-6
7 p.m.: 3-2-7-7
10 p.m.: 3-6-5-7
Public meetings
WEDNESDAY
Seaside Tourist Advisory Committee, 3
p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway, Seaside.
Sunset Empire Park & Recreation Dis-
trict Board, 5:15 p.m., Bob Chisholm Com-
munity Center, 1225 Ave. A, Seaside.
Astoria Planning Commission, 6:30
p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St.
THURSDAY
Seaside City Tree Board, 4 p.m., City
Hall, 989 Broadway, Seaside.
Cannon Beach Design Review Board, 6
p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St., Cannon Beach.
Birth
Sept. 1, 2015
TRUCKE, Elaine and Richard, of Sea-
side, a boy, Franklin Wolfgang Trucke,
born at Columbia Memorial Hospital in
Astoria. Grandmother is Jean Jardin of
San Diego.
Death
Sept. 10, 2015
VAN BEEK, Thomas Jef-
frey “Tom,” 58, of Seaside,
died in Seaside. Hughes-Ran-
som Mortuary in Seaside is in
charge of the arrangements.
CLARIFICATION
Zoning reference — An
editorial Monday on the As-
toria City Council’s review
of the potential rezoning
of the Josie Peper Build-
ing improperly referred to
a bed and breakfast. Bed
The Daily Astorian
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printed in this newspaper.
and breakfasts are condi-
tional uses in high-density
residential zones, which the
building is now classified.
Clatsop Community Col-
lege had sought to change
the zoning of the building to
general commercial, which
would have allowed a pro-
spective buyer to use the
property as a second home
and vacation rental. The
City Council rejected the
request.
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