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THE DAILY ASTORIAN MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016
Gearhart market seeks to
make transition to brew pub
Seaside Chamber,
executive director
sever relationship
Market couldn’t
compete, but
owners hope café
will succeed
Technology skills drove
decision, president says
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE — Terry and Molly
Lowenberg, owners of the Gear-
hart Grocery and Sum Properties
in Seaside, want to expand on
their business with a restaurant,
brew pub and specialty market.
They say there is “not a pub-
lic need” for a grocery store in
the location, but there “may be a
need for an additional food ser-
vice option” for Gearhart resi-
dents and visitors.
Their application will undergo
public comment before the Plan-
ning Commission Thursday at 6
p.m. at Gearhart City Hall.
If the plans are approved,
the grocery store would close
and the interior space would be
remodeled for a brew pub and
deli business, according to ¿nd-
ings presented by city staff.
The grocery store has been
for sale for over two years and
has struggled to compete with
regional grocers north and south
of Gearhart, the report stated.
The 4,100-square-foot building
has two existing street entrances.
The applicant proposes interior
improvements to add a brew area
with four beer tanks, two restrooms,
nine dining tables seating 36 cus-
tomers plus four barstools at the
deli. The rear part of the build-
ing contains the stock area, a meat
smoker and a freezer unit.
“In addition to the competition,
demand for a local grocer in Gear-
hart is signi¿cantly diminished
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
The Gearhart Grocery presented plans to the Planning Commission for a brew pub and café.
in the winter months,” the city’s
staff report noted. “The reuse of
an existing building for a better
business opportunity could prove
to ensure a stable and healthy city
center business district.”
The brew pub proposes to serve
wine and locally brewed craft beer
and to provide a deli for customers
to either dine or to take out.
While there are other empty
storefronts in the neighboring
commercial zone, none have an
existing kitchen, septic capacity
and space for dining, restrooms
and brewing.
“Changing the use from a small
grocery store to a cafe will reduce
morning noise impacts and extend
evening noise impacts to 10 p.m.,”
the report stated.
There may be “odorous
impacts” from the meat smoker,
the report added.
In their review, city staff
sought to determine if the pro-
posed use is consistent with the
city’s comprehensive plan poli-
cies, some of which limit or dis-
courage development and seek to
prevent the city from becoming a
tourist destination.
Since this is an existing struc-
ture, it does not need to meet off-
street parking rules. “If a new
café wanted to come into town,
they would need parking,” City
Manager Chad Sweet said. “We
made an exception for existing
structures.”
After Thursday’s public hear-
ing, the Planning Commission will
make a decision on the conditional
use permit and add any conditions
they deem necessary, Sweet said.
If the decision is appealed, it could
go to the City Council for review,
he added.
SEASIDE — Executive Director Susan Hun-
tington and the Seaside Chamber of Commerce
have severed their relation-
ship, chamber President
Brian Owen announced
Friday.
Huntington
was
hired in March 2013.
“It was time for the cham-
ber to look for somebody
with more experience with
technical ¿elds,” Owen
said. “We would like to
see more technology for- Susan Huntington
ward interfacing with our
membership, more on the website, more Twit-
ter-type products, more Facebook connectivity.
It’s there, but it needs to be taken to the next
level.”
Owen said the board and Huntington “left on
good terms.”
“I truly appreciate where she brought us,
moving us into new events. She really ramped
where we were and I really hope to work on the
building blocks she helped create.”
Huntington could not immediately be
reached for comment.
Owen said the chamber would look for a new
executive director active in their community
who can bring in those skill sets, and “bringing
some energy, some enthusiasm to that techni-
cal side.” “We have a great connection with our
businesses. It’s time to do more things like the
visitors’ center is doing with their online appli-
cations, with their connectivity, client-based,
business or businesses.”
The board will meet to put together a time
frame for the hiring process.
He said the Seaside Downtown Develop-
ment Association, which is also in the process
of looking for a new director, has found a “good
group” of candidates and anticipates success in
¿lling the role. Salary details were not available,
he said.
Lawmakers want special session to avoid corporate tax ballot
By KRISTENA HANSEN
Associated Press
SALEM — An aggres-
sive proposal by labor unions
to raise taxes on the biggest
corporations doing business
in Oregon is headed for the
November ballot, and some
lawmakers are talking about
calling a special session to
¿nd an alternative.
With the legislative ses-
sion over, a special session is
the only viable way to hash
out a compromise in lieu of
the ballot proposal. Some
lawmakers say they’re will-
ing to do that, but they hav-
en’t been able to get both
sides — the proposal’s labor
union-backers and the big
corporations it would affect
— to come to the negotiating
table.
State Sen. Mark Hass,
D-Beaverton, introduced an
alternative plan at the begin-
ning of the session as a con-
versation-starter, but it never
went anywhere. He said some
businesses and private-sec-
tor unions recently expressed
interest in compromise but
not nearly enough to justify a
special session.
“It’s now an appropriate
time to focus on the potential
for World War III in this cam-
paign, unless people can come
together and lay down the
sword,” Hass told The Associ-
ated Press. “Business brands
are going to be damaged, the
brands of public unions are
going to be damaged, regard-
less of who wins.”
The ballot proposal, Initia-
tive Petition 28, would require
big businesses with $25 mil-
lion in sales to pay a minimum
$30,000 tax, plus 2.5 percent
on anything above that sales
threshold. It poses a signi¿-
cant boon for the state bud-
get, with revenue expected to
jump by $5.2 billion during
the upcoming 2017-19 cycle.
Republicans and busi-
nesses strongly oppose the
petition, but sentiments are
somewhat mixed among
Democrats, who control both
chambers and often lean with
unions on certain issues.
State House Speaker Tina
Kotek, D-Portland, said she’s
“personally supportive” of
the measure because the rev-
enue- boost could help meet
the needs of many public
agencies and services.
Hass and other Dem-
ocrats worry a bitter and
costly ¿ght between unions
and businesses would only
deepen the cultural and
political divides that shape
many policy decisions at the
Legislature.
“That’ll be a bloodbath,”
Senate President Peter Court-
ney, D-Salem, told report-
ers Thursday. “That could
be another very bad battle, a
brutal, brutal battle that will
divide us. And whoever wins
doesn’t win for long because
the wounds will take us years
and years to get over.”
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have eliminated the size and
daily catch limits on Colum-
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walleye.
State ¿shery of¿cials made
the decision last week for the
portion of the Columbia River
shared with Oregon. Oregon’s
rule deregulating the ¿shery
went into place on Jan. 1.
Washington state has also
eliminated limits for bass,
channel cat¿sh and walleye on
nearly two dozen Washington
tributaries as well.
)ish and Wildlife of¿cials
say the goal of deregulation is
to increase the harvest of those
non-native ¿sh species.
FREE
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CITY OF ASTORIA
HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMISSION
DR. EDWARD HARVEY HISTORIC PRESERVATION
AWARD
The City of Astoria Historic Landmarks Commission is
seeking nominations for the Dr. Edward Harvey Historic
Preservation Award. The award is presented each year to
recognize a property owner who has completed exterior
restoration or beautification of a building which exemplifies
the historical attributes of the building or the architectural
heritage of Astoria. The work must have been completed
within the last two years. Nominations may include
residential, commercial, public, and other types of
buildings.
The awards will be presented by the Mayor to celebrate
National Historic Preservation Week in May.
Anyone wishing to submit a nomination should contact
Sherri Williams at the City of Astoria,
mailto:swilliams@astoria.or.us / 338-5183, or send a
nomination (no form required) to the Community
Development Department, City of Astoria, 1095 Duane
Street, Astoria OR 97103. Nominations must be received
no later than 5:00 pm on April 15, 2016.