10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2016
Cannon Beach nixes development again
Commission
votes project
down, but
expects reversal
By ANDREW TONRY
For EO Media Group
CANNON BEACH —
“After dealing with this project
for God knows how long,
anybody around this, I don’t
think anybody at this table, has
a clue what it’s going to look
like,” Cannon Beach Planning
Commissioner Joe Bernt said.
His comment drew the
second-largest
round
of
applause at the commission’s
Thursday meeting.
The loudest came after the
body voted 6-0 against recom-
mending approval of prop-
erty owner Jeff Nicholson’s
proposed four-unit plan.
Despite the decision,
commissioners anticipate their
recommendation will again
be disregarded by the City
Council.
After the city’s Planning
Commission denied Nichol-
son’s application in December
2014, the Cannon Beach City
Council reviewed the appli-
cation and gave temporary
approval in February.
In early March, councilors
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a 4-1 vote.
phase, and after successfully
fending off the challenge
in the Land Use Board of
Appeals court, the application
was reopened by the Planning
Commission in December.
That hearing was carried
over to allow further public
comment, as the Planning
Commission claimed jurisdic-
tion to approve or deny Nich-
olson’s application on the basis
it was incomplete.
Nicholson said any resi-
dences erected on the property
would be subject to compli-
Challenges to plan
ance with Cannon Beach’s
Nicholson seeks to convert existing building codes.
his half-acre North Laurel
“I have the followed the
Street lot and 100-year-old rules to a T on this,” Nicholson
cottage into four family-sized said. “I kind of expect everyone
homes.
else to follow the rules to a T,
A fourth home on the so it’s disappointing to me
property will be rebuilt with when they don’t.”
a condition that the home’s
Commissioners
unan-
wood, beams and windows be imously voted against the
salvaged.
proposal.
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“There were too many
problems with it,” Kerr said.
“If you have 10 things that
bother you, you just have
no frame to even start with.
There’s not even a skeleton to
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Council reversal likely
Despite the commission’s
decision, the project will
move forward unless the City
Council does an about-face.
“Maybe the City Council
will look at things a little more
closely this time,” Commis-
sioner Lisa Kerr said.
The City Council is
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approval at their March
meeting.
“For the Planning Commis-
sion to completely disregard
the Land Use Board of Appeals
and City Council decisions is
just mind-boggling,” Nich-
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City Council will judge the
application for its merits.”
Cell tower:
‘I don’t know
where else we’ll
put that pole’
Continued from Page 1A
Verizon was willing
to redesign the project
at Shively Park and go
back before the Plan-
ning Commission, the city
attorney said, a potentially
less -complicated
process
than starting over with a
new application after being
formally turned down.
“This does seem unorth-
odox,” Councilor Zetty
Nemlowill said. “I feel
uncomfortable even having
this conversation after the
public hearing has closed.”
The City Council, in a
string of 3-2 votes , agreed
with Ron Zilli, a local
forester who argued that a
new 150-foot monopole is
incompatible with historic
Shively Park. Zilli, who
had shown that the mono-
pole would be more visible
than Verizon and the city
initially described, appealed
Planning
Commission
and Historic Landmarks
Commission approvals for
the project.
Nemlowill, Price and
Councilor Drew Herzig
voted to grant Zilli’s appeals.
Mayor Arline LaMear and
Councilor Russ Warr voted
against the appeals.
Verizon can challenge the
City Council’s votes before
the state Land Use Board of
Appeals.
The company could also
come back to the city with
a new application for a
communications tower.
The city and Verizon
had agreed to move an
aging
communications
tower off Coxcomb Hill
near the Astoria Column
and share a new tower at
Reservoir Ridge that would
improve the city’s emer-
gency communications. But
Verizon also wanted the new
monopole at Shively Park to
ensure wireless coverage on
the South Slope and other
neighborhoods.
“I don’t know where else
we’ll put that pole,” LaMear
said, adding that she agrees
it would be better not to
have the tower in Shively
Park.
But the mayor said there
may be no other practical
“way to give our citizens
their cellphone service.”
Zilli, who lives near
Shively Park, believed the
city was biased in favor of
the new monopole because
of the broader agreement
with Verizon. He thought
it was inappropriate for
Henningsgaard to make the
late request for the company
after a majority of councilors
indicated in January they
would grant his appeals.
“I have alleged they have
acted as an agent for the
applicant for a long time,
and this is a continuation,”
Zilli said of city staff.
Katheryn Houghton/EO Media Group
Sheila Holden accepts the Chamber of Commerce 2015 President’s Award after 12 years of working as a contact
between Pacific Power and the hamber. Holden recently announced she will move out of her role as Pacific Power’s
regional business manager.
Chamber: ‘We are no longer
the county at the end of the line’
Continued from Page 1A
the Chamber of Commerce’s
2015 award winners.
Sheila Holden received
the President’s Award for her
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regional business manager.
Holden announced at the
ceremony she would be tran-
sitioning out of her role this
year.
“We are no longer the
county at the end of the line,”
Holden said. “Any bridge
could lead anywhere, I’m glad
that the bridge led me here.”
As regional business
manager, Holden reached out
to local economic develop-
ment organizations, balanced
communication with media
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connected the company to the
hamber.
Alisa Dunlap — a Portland
AWARD WINNERS
Chamber Member of the Year Award: Lucy’s Books (owned
by Lisa Reid)
George Award: Dan Arnoth
George Award: Norma Hernandez
Richard Ford Distinguished Service Award: Judy and Gary
Sivley
President’s Award: Sheila Holden with Pacific Power
transplant — will step into the
gap Holden will leave behind.
Dunlap said she attached
herself to Holden three years
ago so she could learn what it
took to be a regional manager.
She didn’t know it would lead
her to Astoria.
“I have absolutely huge
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“And I’m excited to have
Sheila continue as my mentor.”
The room was a mix of
cocktail attire and people
dressed as runners or construc-
tion workers to represent the
bridge.
Chamber
Executive
Director Skip Hauke wore a
toolbelt and a fake ponytail
attached to a hard hat. Along
with the award recipients, he
honored long time volunteers,
John and Marilyn Jensen.
“Anybody who has ever
dropped by the welcom center
over the years has likely been
greeted by one -half or the
other half of this volunteering
couple,” Hauke said. “With
56 collective years of service
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decided to retire from the
visitor service.”
Marilyn Jensen began
volunteering in 1980 and
her husband followed in
1994. Both had long careers
in education, Marilyn as an
elementary school teacher
and John as the principal of
Astoria Middle School.
“I was employed in Astoria
for over 35 years,” John said.
“I felt this was a good way to
pay back the businesses that
had supported me for so many
years.”
The chamber also gave
special
recognition
to
retiring staff members Sheila
Johnson, for her role as
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and Suzanne Cannon, who
acted as the visitor services
manager.
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
The Astoria City Council has rejected a new 150-foot
Verizon monopole at historic Shively Park.
Square: A new library there could cost up to $13.3 million
Continued from Page 1A
A new library at Heritage
Square would cost between
$10.2 million and $13.3 million,
city staff and consultants have
estimated. A housing feature —
50 to 55 apartment units on top
of the library — would cost $8.2
million to $10.6 million.
City
Councilor
Zetty
Nemlowill asked Cronin
whether the project is possible
without additional taxpayer
money, likely through a
voter-approved bond issue.
“It would take longer,”
Cronin said. “It really depends
on the patience of the council.”
Nemlowill and other coun-
cilors would like to see the costs
drop lower. “I like that you cut
the numbers in half, essentially,”
Nemlowill said. “But I wonder
if you could do another magic
trick and cut it in half again,
because the numbers still seem
very high.”
The City Council agreed
Monday night to spend an addi-
tional $20,000 to $25,000 for
consultants to perform a more
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options.
Astoria advances
local marijuana tax
The Daily Astorian
The
Astoria
City
Council voted unanimously
Monday night to advance
a local tax on recreational
marijuana.
If the council follows
through as expected, voters
would decide in November
whether to add a 3 percent
local tax on top of the 17
percent state tax on recre-
ational marijuana.
Astoria Police Chief
Brad Johnston has esti-
mated that the local tax
could bring in roughly
$100,000 in new revenue
annually.
Consumers are paying
a temporary 25 percent tax
on recreational marijuana
sold at medical marijuana
dispensaries through the
end of the year.
The new tax scheme
will be imposed once the
state licenses recreational
marijuana retailers.
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Crews are removing contaminated soil from Heritage Square so the land can be eventu-
ally redeveloped. The Astoria City Council is struggling over the potential cost of a new
library and housing project.
Consultants will look at the
pared-down library and housing
project at Heritage Square; reno-
vating the existing public library
on 10th Street by using space in
the parking lot; renovating the
library by making better use of
the basement; expanding the
library and tearing down the
vacant Waldorf Hotel next door;
and expanding the library into a
renovated Waldorf.
Last year, Mayor Arline
LaMear backed away from a
previous city plan to expand
the library and demolish the
Waldorf — also known as the
Merwyn — after preservation-
ists fought to save the old hotel.
But the mayor now questions
how long the city should try to
preserve the privately owned
building when many developers
have said renovation does not
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“It’s why I don’t think it’s
worth looking into,” LaMear
said.
But City Councilor Cindy
Price said the consultant’s
analysis could answer ques-
tions about the Waldorf’s
potential.
“I kind of agree with you.
I think it is going to be very
expensive,” Price said. “But
we have this opportunity now
to put it in, to put it to rest.”