12A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2016
LNG:&ROXPELD5LYHUNHHSHU¿OHGDVKRUWHUDSSHDO
Continued from Page 1A
Oregon LNG
In Oregon LNG’s appeal,
Mike Connors, the attorney
representing the company, said
that Kearns wrongly deter-
mined the project doesn’t
comply with, among other
city provisions, the Warrenton
development code’s shoreland
and aquatic area development
standards.
He also argued that Kearns
failed to properly weigh the
City Commission’s compre-
hensive plan amendments from
2006 that rezoned the East
Skipanon Peninsula to allow
for Oregon LNG-type marine
industrial development. The
City Commission decided a
decade ago that the area where
the company’s dredging would
occur has minimal biological
VLJQL¿FDQFHDQGWKDWWKHDUHD
is uniquely suited for an LNG
terminal, Connors said.
³7KHKHDULQJVRI¿FHUHUUHG
in concluding that he was not
bound by these City Commis-
VLRQ¿QGLQJVDQGFRQFOXVLRQV
and his conclusion renders the
2006 amendments meaning-
less by making any marine
industrial development virtu-
ally impossible,” the appeal
stated.
In addition, Connors argued
WKDW WKH KHDULQJV RI¿FHU JDYH
unreasonable weight to the
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife’s comments and
Columbia Riverkeeper’s two
consultant reports while ignor-
ing the company’s “substantial
expert testimony and reports
demonstrating that the terminal
impacts have been adequately
analyzed and will be mitigated
to acceptable levels.”
³2UHJRQ /1* VSHFL¿-
cally responded to and refuted
ODFW’s letters and River-
keeper’s consultant reports,
ZKLFK WKH KHDULQJV RI¿FHU
ignored in his decision,” Con-
nors wrote.
He points out that Urling
and the city’s own expert con-
sultants reviewed the compa-
ny’s reports and agreed with
Oregon LNG’s conclusions.
What’s more, he said, the
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission’s draft environ-
mental review of the proj-
ect supports the company’s
conclusions.
Connors also said Kearns
misconstrued the city’s devel-
opment code and mistakenly
determined that the termi-
nal will “unreasonably inter-
fere” with the public‘s abil-
HUNHHSHU KDV ¿OHG DQ DSSHDO
albeit a much shorter one.
Though
the
appeal
requests that the City Com-
PLVVLRQ DI¿UP .HDUQV¶ UHMHF-
tion of the terminal, Lauren
Goldberg, the staff attorney
representing the Hood Riv-
er-based
environmental
Oregon LNG
group, asked that the com-
and Columbia
mission amend the decision
Riverkeeper
to read that Oregon LNG has
have appealed
not demonstrated a “substan-
a city ruling
WLDOSXEOLFEHQH¿W´WRWKH/1*
against a
terminal as required by the
terminal on
Warrenton development code.
the Skipanon
She also argued, contrary
Peninsula. The
to Kearns, that Oregon LNG’s
City Commis-
development on the shore-
sion will hear
line would exclude the public
the appeals in
from shoreline access to areas
early May.
WUDGLWLRQDOO\ XVHG IRU ¿VKLQJ
hunting and other activities, in
violation of the city code.
Finally, Goldberg said
Joshua Bessex
The Daily Astorian
that Oregon LNG’s gas
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LW\WRDFFHVVWUDGLWLRQDO¿VKLQJ be enclosed in a building as
grounds.
required by the comprehen-
³7KH KHDULQJV RI¿FHU¶V sive plan. In his decision,
interpretation of these code pro- Kearns said that this problem
visions is erroneous,” Connors could be solved by making
said, “and would impose sig- WKHHQFORVXUHRIWKHJDVÀDUH
QL¿FDQW UHVWULFWLRQV RQ IXWXUH a condition of approving the
marine development along the terminal; Goldberg said that
Lower Columbia River.”
Kearns was wrong to sug-
gest that compliance could
Columbia Riverkeeper be achieved by imposing this
Meanwhile, Columbia Riv- condition.
Theater: It hopes to sponsor an indie-folk concert series
Continued from Page 1A
Baker-Monaghan and Steve
Forrester, the editor and pub-
lisher of The Daily Astorian,
who serves on the theater’s
board, outlined the Liberty’s
¿QDQFLDOFKDOOHQJHVIRUWKH$VWR-
ria City Council in December.
The city, which put up an
early $1.3 million toward the
Liberty’s restoration through the
Astor East Urban Renewal Dis-
trict, could take ownership of the
Liberty if the theater were to fail
¿QDQFLDOO\
Baker-Monaghan told the
City Council that the estimated
shortfall is about $60,000 a year,
a gap driven by maintenance
demands that eat into the abil-
ity of the theater to invest in
programming.
New board members,
including Jennifer Canessa, a
retail relationship manager at
Columbia Bank, Israel Nebeker,
a musician in Blind Pilot, and
Darren Orange, an artist, have
brought some fresh ideas.
The Liberty Theater wants
to sponsor an indie-folk con-
cert series aimed at attract-
ing younger people, including
millennials from Portland and
Seattle.
The theater applied for a
$20,000 grant from the city’s
arts and cultural fund, which is
meant to help promote tourism.
On Monday, an Astoria Bud-
get Committee panel review-
ing the grant applications rec-
ommended $8,000 for the
concert series. The subcommit-
tee — made up of City Coun-
cilors Cindy Price and Drew
Herzig and Richard Hurley,
a licensed tax consultant —
praised the idea, but raised con-
cern about the Liberty’s man-
agement and whether it was
appropriate for the theater to
get such a large share of the
$50,000 in grant money avail-
able citywide.
“We just feel like we don’t
have enough data,” Price said
about the Liberty’s overall
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certain amount of skepticism.”
The historic Liberty
Theater celebrated its 90th
anniversary last year and
the 10th year since a grand
reopening after renovation.
Edward Stratton
The Daily Astorian
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