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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2016
Labyrinths: ‘Your journey through the Parks: Master plan is
labyrinth will be as unique as you are’ ‘a dream come true’
Continued from Page 1A
walking the path, which gives
each person a unique experi-
ence.“You ill it with your own
meaning, which is the beauty,”
said Temple.
A few times, Temple has
even taken the labyrinth to
the Oregon Youth Correction
Facility in Warrenton. She
sets up in the basketball gym
and inmates with good behav-
ior can volunteer to come
walk it.
For those looking to mean-
der a permanent ixture, an
outdoor labyrinth is avail-
able year-round at the Wil-
lapa National Refuge. After
branching off the art trail in
the refuge, visitors can take
the two-thirds mile walk
along Cutthroat Climb Trail.
At the end of the trail is a
labyrinth, 40-feet in diame-
ter, that was built in 2010 as
an addition to the constantly
growing art walk.
Temple suggests those who
don’t feel a spiritual epiphany
after their irst labyrinth expe-
rience shouldn’t be disheart-
ened. “Your journey through
the labyrinth will be as unique
as you are,” she tells newcom-
ers in her homemade pam-
phlet. “Sometimes, you just
can’t turn your monkey brain
off.”
for vice president of
Parks Advisory Board
Continued from Page 1A
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Sara Young takes a moment to herself while walking a lab-
yrinth with her husband, Brett Young, on Sunday at Grace
Episcopal Church in Astoria.
development charges and
increased user fees.
“It’s our hope that this
plan is heavily utilized in
guiding the department into
the future, and that it simply
isn’t just a plan that sits on a
shelf,” Angela Cosby, direc-
tor of the Parks and Rec-
reation Department, said.
“We’re hoping that it will be
very active.”
Jim Holen, a member of
the citizen advisory commit-
tee, told the council to keep
the plan handy: “It’s a tre-
mendous amount of very
usable, evidence-based infor-
mation that will be useful to
make decisions about com-
munity parks-and-rec pro-
grams,” he said.
Tammy Loughran, vice
president of the Parks Advi-
sory Board, said the board
has wanted such a plan for
several years, and the end
result is “a dream come true.”
The council, and the
room at large, gave Cosby,
planner and project man-
ager Ian Sisson and advi-
sory committee members a
round of applause for their
achievement.
Sisson thanked the com-
munity, whose input “made
my job really easy,” he
said. “The community was
so engaged throughout the
process and excited to get
involved.”
Selling parks
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Astoria Vintage Hardware is located at 101 15th St. along the Astoria Riverwalk.
Hardware: ‘It’s been in the family for many years’
Continued from Page 1A
“They’ve done nothing
wrong. They’re great people,
always done what they said
they would do. It is what it
is. We came in knowing,” he
said. “It’s just kind of scary
’cause we have no place to go
now, and we have 90 days to
do that.”
Changes
Englund Marine — which
supplies boat parts and ish-
ing gear to commercial and
recreational ishermen, and
sells industrial equipment —
recently set up a new building
at the Port of Astoria.
The move was based, in
part, on the prospect of selling
the Vintage Hardware prop-
erty. But Kurt Englund said
he’ll miss the old building,
which has been in the family
since his grandfather built it
in 1944.
“It’s been in the family for
many years, and a lot of us
have spent a lot of years in
there,” he said. “It’s a unique
piece of property over the
water.”
He added that, if every-
thing falls into place, Newport
Paciic Corp. may take owner-
ship of the building sometime
this fall.
Jolee Bancroft, president
of Newport Paciic Corp,
said, “We love to support our
communities, and we are very
excited about the opportunity
to come into Astoria and be
a part of that community as
well. And I think it’s going to
be a very good it.”
The family-owned seafood
business, which turns 70 this
year, has set up one restaurant
in the last 38 years. The sev-
enth Mo’s outlet opened at the
Portland International Airport
in 2015.
Carrol and Roy Hackett,
who have known Johnson
and Tuter for several years,
expressed reservations about
Mo’s arrival in an email.
“The local restaurants,
already challenged by the
economy, will be hurt by
additional competition from
a chain operation. A new
food service operation will
require a large makeover of a
historic waterfront building,”
they wrote. “Vintage Hard-
ware uses the building as it
is.”
The Hacketts also worry
about the parking needs of
Mo’s patrons.
‘We don’t want
to be done’
Johnson and Tuter are
aware of these concerns but
aren’t taking a position on
whether Mo’s belongs in
Astoria, or what the restau-
rant’s impact could be.
“Vintage Hardware is
pretty neutral on this,” John-
son said. “It’s the Englunds’
business to do what they want
with their building, and our
responsibility to ind a new
home, which we’re trying to
do.”
“It’s really important for us
to stay in Astoria, and down-
town,” she added.
They are grateful, though,
for the community’s passion-
ate response to the displace-
ment of their small busi-
ness, which supporters have
said helps preserve the his-
toric character of downtown
Astoria.
“The remarks are looding
in about ‘How can we help?
What can we do?’ That kind
of thing,” Tuter said. “It’s
overwhelming to you to know
that they care about you.”
Their immediate goal is to
ind a place that’s adequate
for a workshop, warehouse
and retail.
“It’s just the time frame
that’s the hardest,” he said,
“because we don’t want to be
done.”
George Hague, an Astoria
resident who said he really
appreciates Sisson’s work,
offered words of caution and
concern.
The master plan contains
language that would allow
the city to sell or repurpose
underused parkland. But, as
Hague pointed out, the pre-
ponderance of feedback indi-
cates the public would rather
see those sites become green
space rather than used for
commercial or residential
development.
“I do not want, in the
future, the document to be
referred to as one in which
the public was in favor of
selling parks,” he said.
Hague noted that, accord-
ing to the plan, the money
made from selling parks isn’t
required to be reinvested in
the other parks. He also dis-
agreed with the notion that
the city has an excess of
parks, given that the local
and visitor population will
continue to increase.
Cosby
acknowledged
that, by and large, residents
preferred underused park-
land to “go into a natural
state.” But, she said, at least
one advisory committee
member raised an issue with
that idea.
“Unfortunately, for a lot
of our park sites, if you just
allow it go natural, and not
have a heavy hand in that
and really reinvent the site,
it’s going to become, likely,
a lot of invasive species that
will start to take over the
site,” Cosby said, “and that
doesn’t present an ecological
beneit.”
The advisory committee
decided it would be better to
consider selling or repurpos-
ing those sites.
Councilor Cindy Price,
said that, though she believes
“it may become necessary in
the future to dispose or real-
locate parks land, I’m not
calling for any wholesale
doing of that at this time.”
Councilor Drew Herzig
loated the idea of making
sure any prospective sale of
parkland would have to be
referred to the voters.
“I don’t think any City
Council should make that
sort of decision without some
sort of referendum with the
citizens,” he said, adding: “I
think almost every city resi-
dent would breathe easier if
they knew that no city park
will ever be sold unless they
have a direct vote in it.”
City Manager Estes
said the process for selling
or otherwise disposing of
city parks — which would
involve the Public Works
Department and require a
City Council vote — could
be reined later on, but is a
separate issue from whether
to add the parks master plan
to the comprehensive plan.
Quality of life
Selling or repurposing
parks took up very little dis-
cussion time at citizen advi-
sory committee meetings,
said City Councilor Zetty
Nemlowill, who sat on the
committee.
“It’s a possible option
for an underutilized piece of
property that parks is main-
taining,” she said. However,
“I don’t think there are any
parks, per se, on the chop-
ping block right now.”
Putting the full master
plan into perspective, she
said the document solidly
represents the perspectives of
the committee and the com-
munity, and said she sees no
reason not to adopt it.
“I think parks and rec is
so important for quality of
life for Astorians, and this
master plan — I’m excited to
see what we can do with it,”
she said.
Danny Miller / The Daily Astorian
Danny Miller / The Daily Astorian
Danny Miller / The Daily Astorian
Mayor Dianne Widdop listens to community members
during a public hearing about Gearhart short-term rentals
Tuesday at the Gearhart Fire Station.
Gearhart City Administrator Chad Sweet speaks during
a public hearing about short-term rentals Tuesday at the
Gearhart Fire Station.
Gearhart City Attorney Peter Watts listens to community
members voice their opinions about Gearhart short-term
rentals Tuesday at the Gearhart Fire Station .
Gearhart: Hearing on proposed amendments continues tonight
Continued from Page 1A
The zone code amendments
address transient properties
renting for 30 days or less in
Gearhart, requiring property
owners to license their prop-
erties and observe health,
safety and parking regula-
tions, 24-hour contact infor-
mation and neighbor notiica-
tion, among other conditions.
Two of the most conten-
tious items debated at length
Tuesday night were a pro-
posal to limit one permit
per resident and the length
of time to apply. Council-
ors altered the language to
allow multiple licenses for an
owner of multiple properties;
they also requested an exten-
sion of the 30-day applica-
tion period to 60 days, with
an additional 180-day period
to allow short-term property
owners to bring their proper-
ties into compliance.
Councilors also revised a
Planning Commission pro-
posal to limit the number of
guests in a short-term prop-
erty to 10. If other conditions
are met, that number could be
higher.
Heated discussion
The council discussion
came after a heated comment
period. “Hats off to everyone
involved,” said Matt Brown.
He said the rules would make
more homes available for
long-term rentals and afford-
able housing. “I think this
would be a good example
of a responsible way to han-
dle this that other communi-
ties in Clatsop County could
follow.”
David Russell said short-
term rentals represent a
“sea change in our commu-
nity, with a constant turn-
over of short-term rentals.”
He said transient lodging
needs to be controlled and
regulated “very strongly.”
Opponents to the rules
blamed a handful of bad
owners for short-term rental
abuses.
“I think we are looking
for a problem where there
is none,” David Remer, who
owns several properties in
Gearhart, said. “I’m adamant
about going after the issue,
not the philosophy of ‘strang-
ers’ coming to our town. We
already have xenophobia. It’s
a national issue. Where are
we going with this? Hold me
accountable. Make people
behave. Fine me, toss me, do
whatever you need to do, but
give me a chance to do this
properly.”
Portland attorney Dean
Alterman appeared on behalf
of ive homeowners. He said
the proposed rules have “no
factual base,” and cannot be
adopted by the city without
one.
If the rules are ratiied
by councilors, voters would
have a 30-day period to call
for a referendum, City Attor-
ney Peter Watts said, with an
additional 90 days to collect
petition signatures.
If those signatures are col-
lected, the referendum would
be placed on the ballot. “If
this were adopted quickly
and you got signatures
quickly, this could be on the
ballot within the November
period,” Watts said. “If not it
would go to a special election
in February.”
“We’re not attempting to
eliminate short-term rent-
als,” Mayor Dianne Widdop
said. “What we are attempt-
ing to do is let everyone
who has a short-term rental
keep it and use it within the
regulation.”
The hearing on proposed
amendments to the zoning
ordinance continues tonight
at 7 at Gearhart City Hall.