DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2016
144TH YEAR, NO. 4
ONE DOLLAR
Parks
RANQUILITY master
plan
passes
muster
T
WALKING THE PATH TO
City Council may
tackle ‘selling parks’
issue later on
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Brett Young, right, walks a labyrinth with his wife, Sara, center, and others on Sunday at Grace Episcopal Church in Astoria. The
church sets up the labyrinth on the first Sunday of every month.
With a portable labyrinth, local woman
shares the peace she inds in the journey
The irst-ever master plan for Astoria’s
parks and recreation sites met mostly with
critical acclaim Tuesday, when the Astoria
City Council held a irst reading on an ordi-
nance to adopt the document as part of the
larger comprehensive
plan.
INSIDE
The plan lays out
a
vision
for the Parks
More City
and Recreation Depart-
Council news
ment’s policies and
Page 3A
offerings — parks,
trails, facilities and pro-
grams — using input gathered over many
months from city departments, the Parks
Advisory Board, a citizen advisory commit-
tee and the public.
It also includes recommendations for the
coming decade. Among them: hiring more
full-time staff and looking into new rev-
enue streams, such as utility fees, system
See PARKS, Page 10A
By ELI STILLMAN
The Daily Astorian
n the irst Sunday
of every month,
Karin Temple lays
out a large mat at
the Grace Episco-
pal Church on Franklin Avenue.
Once completely unfolded,
the 24-by-24-foot mat depicts a
circular pattern of lines that wrap
around the entire space. From 3
p.m. to 6 p.m., the labyrinth is
open for anyone to walk it.
Labyrinths can be traced back
to various ancient civilizations
through mythology and artwork,
but have been adapted for mod-
ern nondenominational spiritual
purposes.
While appearing similar to
mazes, they differ in that there
are no dead ends. Instead, they
are comprised of a unicursal path,
meaning they will lead a traveler
around the mat and eventually
land them in the center.
Temple’s irst encounter with
the labyrinth came almost 15
years ago at the Trinity Episcopal
Cathedral in Portland. She had
returned from Spain in 2001 after
completing the Camino de Santi-
ago, a path nearly 500 miles long
that dates back to biblical times
and is considered a pilgrimage
for multiple religions. She cut her
trip short after the 9/11 terrorist
attacks on the World Trade Cen-
ter. “I was in turmoil that this had
O
Rental
owners
ready to
battle
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
A labyrinth can be seen along the trail at Willapa National Wildlife Refuge in Washington’s Long
Beach Peninsula.
interrupted my spiritual journey,”
she said.
After walking the labyrinth a
few times and researching spir-
ituality surrounding it, Tem-
ple found peace and a space for
relection in the ancient pattern.
That tranquility she found
when walking the path, lead her
to purchase a personal, portable
labyrinth. Since then, she’s taken
it to various establishments and
allowed people to try it out for
themselves. She says there are a
few people who come every Sun-
day, but often, new people walk-
ing by stop to try it.
“It’s deinitely a different
environment than the rest of your
day,” walker Brett Young said.
He and his wife, Sara, walked
the labyrinth for their irst time
on Sunday afternoon.“It’s great
to zone everything out and just
focus on the path in front of you,”
said Sara Young said.
Temple said priests, rabbis
and children have walked this
same labyrinth at the church.
There are no rules for how long to
take or what to think about while
See LABYRINTHS, Page 10A
Vintage Hardware needs a new home
Mo’s Restaurant
looking to buy
building from
Englund Marine
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
Astoria Vintage Hardware has
until the end of September to ind a
new home.
Last week, the business received
90 days’ notice to vacate the river-
front building on the north end of
15th Street to make way for a Mo’s
Restaurant.
The building’s owner, Englund
Marine & Industrial Supply, has inter-
mittently listed the property for about
10 years. Newport Paciic Corp.,
which owns and operates seven Mo’s
in six Oregon cities, is working on a
contract to purchase the building.
A Planning Commission hear-
ing on the seafood company’s condi-
tional use permit will likely be held
Aug. 2 at City Hall, Community
Development Director Kevin Cro-
nin said.
The hardware store, founded more
than eight years ago, salvages and sells
pieces of antique and vintage architec-
ture. It has leased the Englund Marine
building since May 2014.
“It’s month to month, so we knew
that perhaps this might be a situation
that could occur,” Becky Johnson,
co-owner of Astoria Vintage Hard-
ware, said.
She added there is “no animos-
ity or hard feelings between Vintage
Hardware and the Englund family, at
all.”
In fact, Kurt Englund — who
owns Englund Marine with his
father, Jon Englund — gave the store
a heads up Memorial Day weekend
that a notice might be coming, John-
son said.
Paul Tuter, Johnson’s business
partner, said he can’t blame Englund
Marine for accepting an offer.
“They’ve sat on the building for 10
years,” he said.
Though he recognizes many peo-
ple are upset by the eviction, Tuter said
he doesn’t want the Englund family to
get hammered by the community.
See HARDWARE, Page 10A
Vote, legal action
could result from
Gearhart decision
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
GEARHART — No matter what happens
at Gearhart City Council Wednesday night,
residents are likely to challenge it at the polls
or in the courts, or both.
“I implore you to sit back, relect and
engage forward thinking and clear vision
to avoid a prolonged battle which could
drain resources and further divide this com-
munity,” Jim Whittemore said in opposing
proposed rules regulating short-term rent-
als. “Working together to resolve this issue
will be far more productive than a prolonged
civic and possibly legal battle that could
have lasting effects on the future of this city.”
The council convened at the irehouse
Tuesday night to hear public comment on
short-term regulation in Gearhart, a pro-
cess initiated by the Planning Commission.
See GEARHART, Page 10A
Danny Miller / The Daily Astorian
Gearhart residents and community mem-
bers fill all the seats at the Gearhart Fire
Station during a public hearing about
Gearhart short-term rentals Tuesday.