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At quirky
crossings,
signs may
change
City of Astoria hopes
improvements will
end confusion
By '(55,&.'e3/('*(
The Daily Astorian
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
A crack in the M&N Building is visible from Ninth Street.
Going, going, gussy up!
Some Flavel properties downtown go up for bid
By (':$5'675$7721
The Daily Astorian
O
n a blustery Sunday morn-
ing, auctioneer Steve
Dwelle from Realty Mar-
keting/Northwest arrived to prop
open the door to the Mary and
Nellie (M&N) Building on the
northeast corner of Ninth and
Commercial streets, one of the
last vestiges of the Flavel family
in Astoria .
Potential buyers — after sign-
ing a liability release form — had
two hours to tour through the five
storefronts and equally expan-
sive basement of the dilapidated
8,100 -square -foot building.
Realty Marketing, chosen
by Mary Louise Flavel and her
conservator, Caroline Evans, to
auction off the property, is tak-
ing closed bids until Nov. 18,
with a minimum reserve price of
$180,000 needed , and an asking
price of $324,428, equal to the
assessed value of the land and
improvements.
“This is a great area, being
right on the strip,” Dwelle said,
adding Realty Marketing has re-
ceived 15 to 18 requests about the
property .
Flavel also owns a building on
the southeast corner of Ninth and
Commercial streets. John Good-
enberger, a historic buildings
consultant for the city, said Flavel
hopes to invest her earnings from
the M&N Building sale.
Many possibilities
The self-guided tours Sunday
started at 904 Commercial St. in
Stop! No, go ahead. Turn right.
Drivers, some who have lived in
Astoria for years, have complained
that the dual signs at several inter-
sections are confusing and poten-
tially dangerous.
Statistics show that most driv-
ers figure it out, if sometimes
haltingly. Intersections with signs
that read “Stop” and, underneath,
“Right Turn Permitted Without
Stopping,” have normal crash rates
for traffic volume.
But the city, sensitive to driver
concerns, is thinking about making
some improvements.
The Traffic Safety Advisory
Committee voted Tuesday night
to recommend the city go with
“Except Right Turn” under the
stop signs, instead of “Right Turn
Permitted Without Stopping,” and
to enhance signage and roadway
striping at quirky intersections
so drivers can better grasp traffic
movement.
At one of the city’s most con-
founding intersections — Eighth
Street and Irving Avenue, where
drivers on Irving have the right-of-
way as they wind left up Eighth,
and drivers going downhill on
Eighth are expected to yield —
dual signs are not the issue.
See SIGNS, Page 10A
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Leftover debris litters the floor in the basement of the M&N Building.
PROPERTY INSPECTION
The M&N Building at the corner of Ninth and Commercial streets will be
open again for inspection from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 8.
a former bank branch, complete
with Federal Deposit Insurance
Corp . placards along the hard-
wood teller counter and a holdup
alarm in a back room, near a rein-
forced concrete vault.
The building’s ground floor
stretches over five storefronts,
including three on Commercial
Street and two more on Ninth
Street, all connected by an equal-
ly expansive basement. The
building has housed many busi-
nesses, from a bank and Pacific
Power to Sears and Old Town
Framing. These days, the build-
ing is littered with detritus, the
remains of homeless sleepovers,
antique utilities and some mem-
ories of past tenants , including
fliers for a tanning salon.
Most of the trickle of visitors
on tour Sunday declined inter-
views, photos or any mention
they had been at the property.
One broker, Larry Bensel with
Popkin Real Estate in Seaside,
said he was trying to get a better
understanding of the building’s
condition. Bensel’s quest led him
to the back of the former bank
branch, down a wooden stair-
case into the dark recesses of the
building’s foundation.
See PROPERTIES, Page 10A
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Longtime
Seaside resident
H[HPSOL¿HV
volunteer spirit
By .$7+(5,1(/$&$=(
EO Media Group
SEASIDE — Fourth of
July Parade volunteer ex-
traordinaire.
Outstanding
“ticket-hawker” for weekly
Seaside Downtown Develop-
ment Association meetings.
Reliable Community Flower
Basket distributor. Ham radio
operator.
Now Seaside resident Fred
Loser can add “Byron Award
winner” to his lengthy re-
sume, replete with examples
that demonstrate how he em-
bodies the spirit of volunteer-
ism and community service.
The Seaside Chamber of
Commerce announced Los-
er, who has lived in Seaside
about 25 years, as this year’s
recipient during the organi-
zation’s annual banquet and
awards ceremony, held Tues-
day at the Best Western Ocean
View Resort in Seaside.
Several people nominated
Loser for the Byron Award,
which is given to a member of
the Seaside community who
has shown outstanding qual-
ities in community service.
See LOSER, Page 7A
Katherine Lacaze/EO Media Group
Longtime Seaside resident Fred Loser ac-
cepts the 2015 Byron Award during the Sea-
side Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet
and awards ceremony Tuesday night. The
award is given to a person who encapsulates
the spirit of community service.
Warrenton
relegates
pot biz to
eastside
Westside dispensary
to be grandfathered in
By (5,&.%(1*(/
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — Marijuana
enterprises in Warrenton will soon
be restricted from operating west
of U.S. Highway 101 — except
for the city’s sole medical mari-
juana dispensary-in-development,
planned for East Harbor Drive.
On Tuesday, the City Commis-
sion held a first reading on an or-
dinance limiting marijuana produc-
tion, processing, wholesale, retail
and medical dispensaries to the in-
dustrial and commercial zones east
of the highway.
In addition, marijuana busi-
nesses must occupy stand-alone
single-use buildings — rather than
take up residence in, say, a strip
mall or shopping center — because
of the product’s odor, and must have
at least a 1,000-foot buffer from any
school, church, public park or com-
mercial daycare center.
The reading comes several
months after the City Commission
and Planning Commission agreed to
amend the city code to prevent legal
marijuana from becoming a nuisance
to city neighborhoods.
But, to some residents’ dismay,
the ordinance also came several
weeks after the city granted CBDB
See POT, Page 10A