Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 9, 2015)
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2015 NORTH COAST 3A Gearhart seeks more public input on short-term rentals A boon for some, a nuisance to others By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian Dani Palmer/EO Media Group Tracy Abel models stormy weather wear for Maggie and Henry during the inaugural “Dancing in the Rain” fash- ion show at Coaster Theatre during the Stormy Weather Arts Festival. Fashion show enlivens Stormy Weather festival Art brightens wet weekend By DANI PALMER EO Media Group CANNON BEACH — If one forgot their rain gear for Stormy Weather, there was plenty to choose from during the 28th annual art festival’s “Dancing in the Rain” fash- ion show at Coaster Theatre. The inaugural event featured boots, hats, coats, umbrellas and more from Cannon Beach shops on Sat- urday. Kathy Kleczek, who de- signs much of what she has in La Luna Loca, said she appreciated the chance to showcase different forms of art this year. The typical Stormy Weather Arts Festi- val attendee is used to paint- ings and sculptures. “I thought it was just wonderful,” said Susan Scott, 66, of Portland. “There were some beautiful clothes on display and a few gift ideas that developed.” “I’m going to try and not go overboard,” she added with a chuckle. Scott’s granddaughter, Lindsay Harris, 14, was a fan of the painted umbrellas, also new this year. Nancy Norman, who shows her art at DragonFire Gallery, painted one with FORXGV GXPSLQJ UDLQ ¿VK and cats titled, “It’s Raining Cats,” inspired by her love for felines. She made one for herself ¿UVWDQGWHVWHGLWLQWKHUDLQ noting it took several coats of paint. “I’ve never painted on an umbrella before,” she said. She usually paints on canvas and has worked with furni- ture, but the umbrella pre- sented its own challenges. It had “a lot more give than canvas” and had to be bal- anced on an easel. But Norman added it was fun and that she was happy WR GR LW7KH ¿YH XPEUHOODV were painted by gallery art- ists like her and the Seaside High School art class. Throughout the weekend, local galleries showed those umbrellas, along with other Dani Palmer/EO Media Group Susan Buehler, model- ing for Maggie and Hen- ry, shows off her stormy weather gear during the inaugural “Dancing in the Rain” fashion show at Coaster Theatre. ‘I’ve never painted on an umbrella before.’ Nancy Norman, artist art mediums, and presented artist demonstrations. On Friday, Art in Action spot- lighted artists and offered original pieces for sale. The shops featured in the fashion show also welcomed Stormy Weather attendees. “Dancing in the Rain” ¿OOHGWKHVHDWWKHDWUHIRU LWV¿UVWVKRZLQJ “I was very impressed with attendance,” Kleczek said. “I thought it was a great showing of what could be considered a Cannon Beach early showing.” There weren’t just visual aesthetics to partake in, ei- ther. Blues musician Lloyd Jones performed with The Atlas Horns at Coaster The- atre on Saturday night. Appropriate considering the festival’s name, a dark, rainy and windy weekend did not stop the Stormy Weather Arts Festival from once again drawing a large crowd to the small coastal town. Kleczek said rain doesn’t VWRS 3DFL¿F 1RUWKZHVW UHV- idents from getting out and enjoying the weekend. HIGHLIGHTS FROM GEARHART’S SHORT-TERM RENTAL UPDATE GEARHART — Do noth- ing. Require a city business license. Registration. Building safety inspection. Not allow any rentals in Gearhart. Those are some of the pro- posed options from City Man- ager Chad Sweet shared at the Gearhart City Council meeting last week. City councilors reconsid- ered the merits of a poll to de- termine the city’s direction on the regulation of short-term rental properties in Gearhart and eventually approved one, but not before the public sound- ed off on both sides of the issue. The discussion was in re- sponse to a request from the Planning Commission and City Council to collect information on short-term rentals in Gear- hart. A determination by the council could begin the process of formulating a short-term rental policy. Nine Gearhart property owners cited what they said were “inaccuracies, dou- ble-counted data and specula- tion” in the city’s data so far. They said the numbers re- ceived on the issue were not included in the city’s count, and asked the council to “provide all its data for our review.” “Why were all letters re- FHLYHGVLQFHQRWLQFOXGHG in the materials distributed to the City Council members?” the property owners asked. “Unfor- tunately, we keep seeing a sig- QL¿FDQWDPRXQWRILQIRUPDWLRQ showing up that was not pro- duced for the dates previously requested. As a public body, there is a level of accountability to all your constituents, and we in turn support your efforts and time to serve our community.” “If you look at the homes that are on the list, the majority I have found have actually been rented as rentals for decades, LI QRW IRU DW OHDVW ¿YH \HDUV or more,” Kathy Schroeder, among the signatories of the R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian Vacasa rental sign on a Gearhart home. letter, told the council. In opposition to short-term rental regulation, Schroeder said this was not an “inunda- tion” of new homes that Gear- hart needed to “be afraid of and get control of, like a parent needs to get control of their child.” Jim Whittemore, who, with his wife Laurie also signed the letter, said there was not yet enough information for the council to form an opinion or a consensus on proposed regula- tion. Whittemore asked the coun- cil to “take a look at the existing ordinances on the books and seeing how you can strengthen those, enact those and enforce those.” “I do agree the numbers are not exact, but they give a pretty JRRGÀDYRU´6ZHHWVDLG “There has been an increase in homes, there has been an in- crease in numbers,” he added, estimating “very conservative- O\´ DERXW VKRUWWHUP UHQWDO properties in Gearhart. He said all data and submis- sions were available for public review. Noise, congestion and garbage Property owner Terry Graff said he sought city regulation because of noise, congestion and garbage from Simply the finest seafood to be found... WINTER SPECIALS November thru February ROLL BACK MENU - for everyone - Wednesdays Only! 1/2 PRICE FOR SENIORS 60 & over • All Food • All Day Tuesdays Only! Need for poll questioned A proposed short-term rental survey would be sent to homeowners either as an insert in water bills, as a postcard or online. Councilor Sue Lorain, who led the meeting in the absence Warrenton Police investigating GDPDJHWREDVHEDOO¿HOGDWSDUN The damaged baseball ¿HOG ZDV LQ WKH SURFHVV RI WARRENTON — Po- being refurbished. Loads of lice are investigating who dirt and a special clay were GDPDJHG D EDVHEDOO ¿HOG DW UHFHQWO\ DGGHG WR WKH ¿HOG Warrenton Community Park and it was seeded with grass. earlier this month by reck- The suspect or suspects lessly driving a vehicle onto repeatedly drove recklessly WKH¿HOG RYHU WKH HQWLUH ¿HOG FDXVLQJ The criminal mischief oc- damage to the new work, the curred sometime between the existing structure, and all the HYHQLQJRI2FWDQG1RY JUDGHZRUN GRQH RQ WKH ¿HOG 2. according to Warrenton Police. The Daily Astorian Clatsop Post 12 96th V eteran’s D ay C elebration W eds. N ov 11 th Seafoo d & Grill nearby short-term rental prop- erties. “One day we had four pickups, a boat, and a car in our driveway because of a short-term rental,” Graff said. “And those were not people ZKR ZHUH UHQWLQJ ¿YH \HDUV ago. Those were people who were renting last summer.” Cottage Avenue resident Wilson Mark said he was against a poll, preferring to rely on the city’s already-ex- isting comprehensive plan. “If we’re going to take a poll, why do we have a comprehen- sive plan?” Mark asked, refer- ring to goals in the document to “preserve the low density, semi-rural character of Gear- hart,” and “to ensure that de- velopment occurs in a manner that is in harmony with the sensitive coastal environment WKDWGH¿QHV*HDUKDUW´ “Let’s work with the plan and get it going,” Mark said. Cost of a poll is estimated DERXW SOXV VWDII WLPH for mailing and result tally, Sweet said. 8 Break fast am ‘til gone Lunch N oon ‘til gone Biscu its ‘N ’ G ravy, Scram bled E ggs, Potatoes, Sau sage, O ran ge Ju ice an d C offee Sou p an d San dw ich Sponsored by Squadron 12 1 pm The clay is a unique color and consistency and would be readily visible on a vehi- cle. If anyone has information about who may have caused the damage or were at the park at the time, contact Se- QLRU 2I¿FHU 5LFK .UD\QDN at rkraynak@ci.warrenton. RUXVRU More than 10,000 people come through Gearhart through rentals, according to City Manager Chad Sweet. Of the city’s 1,200 homes with water connections, more than 80 are used for short-term rentals. Thirty-five of those allow occupancy of 10 or more, he said, adding that those may be the same homes listed on different online sites. Homes known to Gearhart January 2015 — 65 March 2015 — 65 July 2015 — 75 October 2015 — 82 Net 17-home increase in 10 months Seven homes removed for various reasons One home under con- struction for potential short- term rental Approximately 35 homes allow 10 or more occupants. of Mayor Dianne Widdop, asked council members to by- pass the poll and work with information delivered. “We obviously need regulation, so I think we should start on a plan,” Lorain said. “I’m not in favor of a poll. I think it’s an exercise in futility.” Other councilors preferred further public input. “I feel it’s necessary to get a feeling what the people in Gearhart want,” Councilor Kerry Smith said. “If they don’t want regulation on short-term rentals, then they’ll put it in a poll. Then we won’t have wasted all this time if we’d started making regula- tions. I’ve personally stated we need short-term rental restric- tions. But I’m willing to let people put their money where their mouth is and tell us what they want. If we get a majority saying we don’t want regula- tion, I will back down.” Councilors Paulina Cock- rum and Dan Jesse agreed the poll would be the best step, with poll content to be developed over the next several weeks. www. dailyastorian .com M E D IC ARE OP EN EN R OLLM EN T Q u estion s or w an t to E n roll? W e ca n h elp! S teve P u tm a n Lo ca l In su ra n ce Agen t O ffice: 503-738-7181 Cell/ Text: 503-440-1076 C a ll now - End of Enrollm ent Dec 7th W A NTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500 2nd annual B e an AS OC Angel “Fu n- R aise r ” TH U RSDAY N OVEM B ER 12 TH Sponsored by Michael Foster DOORS OPEN AT 5:00 PM | DINNER SERVED AT 5:45 PM AT ASTO RIA EVEN TS C EN TER TICKETS: $40 Includes dinner, drink, coupons, entertainment and auction SPACE IS LIMITED and can only be reserved by calling our ticket hotline: 503-325-6104 or Holly McHone Jewelry: 503-325-8029 Astoria Events Center 255 - 9TH STREET www.astorstreetoprycompany.com V eteran’s D ay P rogram Sponsored by Unit 12(Auxilliary) 4 pm ‘til gone H am an d Scalloped Potatoes D in n er Not valid with other coupons or promotions-Excludes holidays WARRENTON 103 Hwy. 101 (503) 861-2839 Mon. - Fri. Open at 11 AM Sat. 7 AM, Sun. 8 AM SEASIDE 505 Broadway (503) 738-3773 Open at 11:00 AM for lunch & dinner www.doogersseafood.com Free To A ll Veteran’s and Fam ilies D onations G ladly A ccepted!!!! NEWS TALK FOR THE COAST Providing live a nd loca l new s covera ge every da y ASTORIA AMERICAN LEGION Clatsop Post 12 1132 Exchange Street 325-5771 Y ou could see it ton igh t, rea d a bout it tom orrow or h ea r it live N O W !
