Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2015)
10A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2015 How to spot a fake review By SARAH SKIDMORE SELL AP Business Writer The Daily Astorian/File Photo From left: Capt. Daniel Travers, Capt. John Healy, Mayor Arline LaMear, Lt. Cmdr. Christiane Weber, Jim Wilkins, Gabe Duus of Integrity Structures, Tony Ewing of Columbia River Excavations, and Mike Gabe, with Integrity Structures, stand for a portrait with ceremonial shovels during a groundbreaking ceremony for a Coast Guard housing expansion project in April. It is increasingly difficult for Coast Guard families to find places to rent. Housing: Many solutions were proposed Continued from Page 1A Cannon Beach is somewhat land-locked and the avail- able land is mostly considered oceanfront property, which in- Àates its value. Seaside has high system-development charges. Gearhart is facing an inÀux of short-term vacation rentals that appeal more to landowners than long-term rentals. Warren- ton is ¿lled with property clas- si¿ed as wetlands and Astoria presents some topographical and geological challenges to development. The housing shortfall Don Lee, the U.S. Coast Guard’s housing supervisor for Sector Columbia River, said it is increasingly dif¿cult for him to ¿nd places for Coast Guard families to rent, and that includes the of¿cers, which seems to indicate the housing shortfall “is pretty much across the board.” “There are just not enough multi-family rentals, or single rentals, in this area to accom- modate the need,” he said, add- ing if private and public part- nerships focused on the lower “end of the stick, it would give breathing room.” Some said once more af- fordable housing is available, people staying in cheaper plac- es, who could afford more, would be able to do so, and vice versa. “Our market is not breath- ing,” Lee said. “It’s going up like a rocket.” Ideally, occupancy rates should be at about 95 percent to allow landlords and manage- ment companies to do main- tenance on rentals, “You have two people waiting for every one that comes open,” Steve Olstedt, president of Olstedt Construction, said. Pinpointing the obstacles The commonly accepted standard for affordable housing is families who pay more than 30 percent of their income to- ward housing are considered cost burdened and may have dif¿culty paying for other ne- cessities, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Randy Stemper, a general contractor, said he is involved in a development underway in Seaside that will offer 26 two-bedroom units at a cost of about $1,000 to $1,150 per unit. That is what it takes for devel- opers to make a return on their investment — at least in Sea- side, he said. Developers won’t build new facilities at a loss, he said, which leads to the question, “How do we lower the costs to the investors?” Olstedt agreed there is land available to devel- op, particularly in Warrenton, but securing a good interest rate is key because costs are ulti- mately passed to the end users — the renters. Developers need to be able to “build cheaper, so we can offer (housing) for cheaper,” said Ben Johnson of Sunrise Homes. Solutions around the state Richard Krueger, of Krueger Property Management, shared viable solutions he has found in other Oregon cities. In Pend- leton, the state backed a loan for the developer to get a better interest rate and the city helped provide land. For the trade, 30 percent of the units had to be low-income housing, and the rest could be rented at market value, Krueger said. “That’s an example of the state and the city’s involvement with the private sector, which I think would be nice to have,” he said. In Tigard, he is working on a 118-unit apartment complex with a 19-year tax abatement that must provide 40 percent of the units for low-income hous- ing. Additionally, 1 percent of the development must be owned and operated by a non- pro¿t agency. A number of potential solu- tions were proposed at the meeting, including: • Identifying possible build- able lands on Clatsop Plains, between Seaside and Cannon Beach or Seaside and Warren- ton • Cities offering relief from system-development charges, tax abatement and incremental ¿nancing • Communities collecting funds to use for gap ¿nancing • Local governments leg- islating and enforcing control mechanisms to limit short-term vacation rentals • Helping homeowners utilize garages and basements or build tiny homes to offer for rent • Finding areas for potential accessory or in¿ll housing • Forming housing equity partnerships • Institutions and businesses helping to provide housing to their employees and • Increasing mix-use struc- tures, such as libraries or other public buildings that provide housing on upper stories, which might require cities to grant zoning variances. “There are lots of tools out there, you just have to agree as a community what those tools are and see if those work,” As- toria Community Development Director Kevin Cronin said. “If they don’t work, you go back to the drawing board and try something else.” . Next steps At the end of the meeting, participants were asked to sign up to participate on one of four unof¿cial committees. One committee will take inventory of buildable lands in the region and quantify the need, or determine the true sup- ply and demand. Another will research best practices or solu- tions being used in other cities, such as the examples Krueger provided. The third committee will craft a model budget of what it would take for a developer to build a multi-family dwelling. The fourth group will research and generate ideas for nontra- ditional solutions, such as tiny houses or accessory housing. Do you trust online re- views? Now that Amazon is suing more than 1,000 peo- ple who allegedly offered to write glowing product reviews for cash, you might reasonably be concerned. Turns out, deceptive reviews are commonplace online — and so are doubts about them. The research organization Mintel found that 57 percent of surveyed consumers are suspicious of companies or products that only have positive on- line reviews. And 49 per- cent believe companies probably give incentives for online reviews. Fortunately, there are a few good techniques that can help you tell truth from ¿ction. Don’t trust yourself A team of researchers at Cornell University cre- ated a computer algorithm for detecting fake hotel reviews by analyzing the language used in legitimate and phony write-ups. The computer program, Review Skeptic, is accurate about 90 percent of the time, but humans alone performed poorly at determining the truth teller. “People are terrible,” said professor Claire Car- die, who helped develop the system. “I was very sur- prised. We just cannot tell the difference much more than chance.” Listen to the language Beware of extremes — overly enthusiastic or neg- ative reviews are red Àags. False reviews tend to use more extreme language to get their message across. So if someone says “It is the most comfortable bed ever,” perhaps in all caps, take pause. Additionally, the Cor- nell researchers found that when it comes to hotels, fake reviewers tended not to talk about the spatial details — such as the Àoor or bathroom. Instead, they focused on the reason they were there, such as describ- ing a recent fake vacation or business trip. In practice, this makes sense because someone who has never been to a location might have a tough time describ- ing it accurately. Junk the jargon On the Àip side, beware of recommendations that read like product manuals. Reviews that repeat the full product name or model number may be an attempt to game the search engine system. And if they use excessive technical or mar- keting jargon, odds are they aren’t providing a genuine review — most real people don’t talk like that. Review the reviewer Check out the pro¿le of the person providing the re- view, said Louis Ramirez, senior features writer with online deal site DealNews. If they only write reviews for a particular company, that’s a huge warning sign they could have a vested interest in that business. Some sites let people up- load pictures of the item they bought, which can help add credibility. Amazon veri¿es some of its reviewers, indicating they actually bought the product (although some of the people it’s suing al- legedly found ways around that). Some other sites only allow posts from people who’ve made a purchase there. Look closely on the site for their review poli- cies. Pay attention to detail If you think about your own experiences with an unpleasant experience or product, you can probably explain exactly why it was bad. Ramirez suggests if you’re unsure about a re- view, put more stock in someone who provides de- tails of why they didn’t like a product (“Oh, the battery only lasted four hours”) that in someone who com- plains more generally (“I hated this laptop. It was horrible”). Marriott: Hotelier wants hotel on Port of Astoria property in Uniontown Continued from Page 1A The 20-year lease has four 20-year renewal options. Hol- lander will pay the Port $2,000 a month during a 120-day fea- sibility study period, which can be extended. After Hollander receives a certi¿cate of occu- pancy for a hotel, the lease says, he would annually pay the Port 7.5 percent of the fair market value of the land, which will be appraised every 10 years. The proposal by Hollander ran into opposition from Com- missioner Stephen Fulton, who said he was concerned over po- tentially tying up the property in- de¿nitely in the feasibility study, paying only $2,000 a month. Using Clatsop County’s property system, Fulton said he found the value of the prop- erty Holiday Inn is on to be $1 Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Hotelier Mark Hollander wants to build a Marriott Hotel on Port of Astoria property in Uniontown between the Red Building and Astoria Bridge. million, comparing it to what Hollander might erect. Using that value and the 7.5 percent ¿gure from the lease, Fulton es- timated the Port stands to make $75,000 a year once a hotel is built. Fulton said $75,000 a year is not much revenue, and add- ed the Port should advertise the property, just like it is doing with theRiverwalk Inn, which is being operated by Fulton’s brother-in-law William Orr and Chester Trabucco while Port staff develop a request for pro- posals for a long-term operator. Cliff Fick, an Astorian who worked in the hospitality indus- try and is consulting on the Riv- erwalk Inn for Orr and Trabuc- co, spoke against the lease. He said leasing the land to Holland- er could negatively impact the Riverwalk Inn and fragment the Port’s ability to create a master plan for its Uniontown property. Before the commission vot- ed to accept the lease with Hol- lander, Fulton made a motion to table the issue so staff could bring back comparable data on the value of other hotels. He and Bill Hunsinger, phoning in from Salt Lake City, voted yes, while commissioners Robert Mushen, James Campbell and John Raichl voted no. “Here we are once again with ‘hot paper,’” Hunsinger said, using a term for documents he feels he did not have enough time to review. He said Hol- lander’s proposal lacked public input, could impact the nearby Maritime Memorial and that the proposal came out of nowhere. “Didn’t I say three months ago I was going to build a hotel in Astoria?” asked Hollander, who previously said he was interested in both operating the Riverwalk Inn and build- ing a new hotel. Hollander was at times visibly perturbed by Hunsinger’s and Fulton’s comments against his proposed lease. Hunsinger had also op- posed Hollander’s attempts to lease the Riverwalk Inn on a short-term basis, even though Hunsinger was part of a con- sensus reached in a closed ses- sion to go with Hollander. Gearhart: Verdict expected in November Continued from Page 1A After two violations this summer, one in June and one in August, she was ticketed under the city’s zone code for operating as a business with- out a conditional use permit, and pleaded not guilty to the charge last month. Two more $500 zone code violations were delivered in September. Since 2012, Smith has racked up an additional $30,000 in civil administra- tive ¿nes issued by the city’s %uilding 2f¿cial Jim %rien for using the barn without a permit. At the continuation of the trial hearing Monday, Watts said Smith failed to meet con- ditions needed to use the barn, primarily a certi¿cate of oc- cupancy issued by a building of¿cial. If she did have an active conditional use permit, it would have expired anyway, Watts said. One of her 13 conditions ² certi¿cate of occupancy — has not been met and is re- quired for her to “rent the barn for remuneration,” Watts said. Complicating Orr’s deci- sion is a Land Use Board of Appeals ruling earlier this year. The board sent Smith’s request for an extension of her expired conditional use permit for construction at the barn back to the city for “remand.” Lawyers disagreed over the meaning of remand, and whether the lack of a condi- tional use permit even mat- ters. “In order to have a con- ditional use permit, it requires a certi¿cate of occupancy, and she doesn’t have one,” Watts said. “How can she have com- mercial events? She can’t.” “If an occupancy is re- quired for weddings in Gear- hart, I’d say that everybody who holds weddings at their house in Gearhart is in vio- lation of that,” Kearns said. “I think, at the minimum, it’s highly unfair how many peo- ple advertise their homes as wedding venues as Gearhart. “My client is the only per- son in Gearhart who needs a certi¿cate of occupancy and a conditional use permit,” he added. Orr closed the proceedings after asking for both parties to address legal issues. Respons- es are due by end of day Mon- day. Orr said he expects to render a verdict in November. Entry-level Customer Service Representative for The Daily Astorian’s circulation department. A can-do attitude and willingness to learn are necessary. You will help customers in person, by phone and through email, plus do data-entry and create reports. This position is also a back-up driver, delivering products as needed. Must be able to lift up to 40 pounds and be willing to learn to drive a delivery van. Driving and criminal background checks will be completed pre-hire. Hours are generally 9 am to 6 pm, Monday through Friday. Benefits include paid time off (PTO), insurances and a 401(k)/Roth 401(k) retirement plan. Send resume and letter of interest to EO Media Group, PO Box 2048, Salem, OR 97308-2048, by fax to 503-371-2935 or e-mail to:hr@eomediagroup.com