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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.
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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-
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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
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August, is scheduled for Nov.
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