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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JULY 11, 2016
Submitted Photo
Annotated maps include comments from Cannon
Beach residents.
Plan: Process will
Flavel: Couple believes they can restore the take about a year
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
A crack in the M&N Building is visible from Ninth Street.
‘beautiful building to its former greatness’
Continued from Page 1A
Named the M&N Build-
ing after Mary Christina Flavel
— Mary Louise’s great-grand-
mother and the wife of Capt.
George C. Flavel — and her
daughter, Nellie Flavel, the
dilapidated structure was built
in 1924 and covers 8,000
square feet, plus a basement of
equal size.
It is the latest Flavel prop-
erty to ind a new owner. Last
year, the family’s mansion at
15th Street and Franklin Ave-
nue was sold to Greg Newen-
hof, co-owner of City Lumber,
for $221,901.
Mary Louise Flavel owns
another property on the south
side of Commercial Street. Her
conservator, Caroline Evans,
could not immediately be
reached for comment.
Michelle Liotta, 39, said she
and her husband are excited to
own a Flavel property.
“We want to try to add to
Astoria without taking away
from its history and small-
town personality. We don’t
want to try to make huge
changes,” she said.
Though the couple con-
sidered purchasing differ-
ent properties, “we gravitated
toward this one even though
it needs work,” Marcus Liotta
said. “We’re not afraid of
work.”
In their letter to the city, the
Liottas said they are “aware
that there are several major
issues with the building in
its current condition, includ-
ing structural, roof, electrical,
siding etc. Our plan would be
to start by getting a structural
engineer for a professional
opinion on what would need
to be done to bring any major
foundation issues or structural
safety concerns up to code, per
the city of Astoria.”
The Liottas, who lived in
Portland for more than 15
years, also own a 116-year-
old triplex on Columbia Street.
They purchased that property
in May 2013 and renovated it.
Before moving to the North
Coast, the couple had visited
the area for about 10 years,
they said. In 2011, they got
engaged on the roof of the
Hotel Elliott.
“We love Astoria,” said
Michelle Liotta, who worked
the front desk at KOIN 6 in
Portland.
John Goodenberger, a local
historian, said, “This is a good
day for us — ‘us’ being Asto-
early February led to vacan-
cies, leading shifts of 12 hours
or longer.
Fourth of July coincided
with the week of the Miss
Oregon Scholarship Pageant,
bringing two parades to Sea-
side, Ham said, and addi-
tional enforcement needs,
complicated by a route
change due to construction
on North Holladay Drive.
The department received
Recreation. Others wrote
they do not want restrooms
on the beach by Haystack
Rock and that they want to
see wetlands and streams
restored in Tolovana Park.
A resident suggested a com-
munity garden by the Sunset
Boulevard loop.
Some ideas that came out
of three parks master plan citi-
zen advisory meetings include
a trail parallel to U.S. High-
way 101 with privacy screen-
ing when it veers near homes,
a new Ecola Park access and
locations for “pocket parks”
throughout Cannon Beach
that could serve as beach-ac-
cess parking and getaways.
The parks master plan is
still in its research phase.
Otak planners explored
Cannon Beach on bikes with
GPS to help identify public
lands and zoning. Some trails
are oficial and others were
formed over time by people
and elk, Bolen said.
The next citizen advi-
sory committee meeting is
in August and another open
house for the master plan will
be in September.
The planning process will
take about a year.
Hartley: He’s grateful
for Guide Dogs program
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Continued from Page 1A
Leftover debris litters the floor in the basement of the M&N Building.
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
A view of one of the storefronts in the M&N Building.
ria — because it means we
can move forward on that
building.”
Goodenberger briely met
the Liottas in May when he
and Community Develop-
ment Director Kevin Cronin
took them and other sightseers
on a guided tour of downtown
Astoria. The tour included the
M&N Building.
“(W)e believe we can
restore this beautiful building
to its former greatness,” the
Liottas wrote.
To inquire about leasing
a storefront, email marcus.
liotta@gmail.com.
“I’m my opinion, they’re
going to be great purchasers,”
City Attorney Blair Hennings-
gaard said.
assistance from eight Oregon
State Police troopers, who
helped patrol roads and city
streets. Cannon Beach Police
also lent an assist, part of an
arrangement where Seaside
provides oficers at Cannon
Beach’s Sandcastle Festival.
“That paid off at the witching
hour when the ireworks took
off,” Ham said.
Over the holiday weekend,
the department was “busy, but
not overwhelmed,” Ham said.
“We didn’t really see the calls
Hartley, who walks him at
least 4 miles almost every
day.
“As long as you know
the basic route of where you
want to go, he can take you
there,” Hartley said.
Sometimes they walk to
Fred Meyer and catch the
bus to downtown Warren-
ton, then trek around War-
renton Grade School or take
a trail to Hammond. Heading
home, they always stop by
the Mini Mart for a tea- and
water-break.
“George grew up in War-
renton, so he kind of knows
the area, which helps him,”
Roxanne said. “You’ve lived
here all your life, so you kind
of know where the streets
(are) and where your loca-
tion is. But when you lose
your sight — if you closed
your eyes yourself — do you
really know where you’re
at?”
‘A great companion’
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
The main floor of the storefront of the M&N Building.
Oficers: With lingering vacancies at the
department, oficers are ‘a little bit tired’
Continued from Page 1A
Continued from Page 1A
for service we have in the past,
possibly because the Fourth
fell on a Monday.”
The department received
more than 400 service-related
calls, including nine arrests,
three DUIs, and 112 traf-
ic stops. Police responded to
reports of illegal camping, dis-
orderly conduct, noise, ire-
works and issued one citation
for marijuana use in public.
“There was a little bit of every-
thing,” Ham said.
Four people were reported
lost over the course of the
weekend — and all returned
without incident. Beach clean-
ups turned up wallets, cell-
phones and keys, Ham said,
which can be reclaimed by
their owners at the police
station.
With lingering vacancies
at the department, oficers are
“a little bit tired,” Ham said.
“It was a very long weekend
for our staff. There were some
tired faces looking forward to
some days off.”
Since his mid-20s, Hart-
ley has suffered from a
form of glaucoma that, over
the last 15 years or so, has
“just been getting worse and
worse,” he said.
He’s completely blind in
his left eye; his right recently
sustained a retinal vein
occlusion that has blurred
his vision. Hartley’s condi-
tion forced him to give up his
career as a commercial house
painter.
“It’s been pretty hard
for me to get used to this,”
he said. “Of course, I’ve
always known that there’s
people a lot worse off than
I am in this world, but that
doesn’t make things any bet-
ter for you.”
As his vision worsened,
Hartley had to give up driv-
ing his prized hot rod. Now
he can’t even work on it.
“Those things are all
gone. Can’t do ’em any-
more,” he said. “I still try
doing things that I used to
do. And you know you could
do ’em, and you can’t do ’em
anymore.
“So Roxanne’s the one
that catches all the (brunt) of
that stuff, which isn’t right,”
he admitted. “And you say
you’re sorry, but it’s too late
to say you’re sorry when you
already took your bad times
out on her.”
But Roxanne, a school
bus driver, is tremendously
Erick Bengel/The Daily Astorian
George Hartley, a War-
renton resident, gives his
new guide dog, Grover,
some affection on their
back porch.
supportive. Long before a
guide dog became necessary,
she pushed Hartley to get a
white cane.
“I fought that, too,” Hart-
ley said, adding that he was
“too macho to want peo-
ple to know that (blindness)
was my problem, I guess.
But people probably did
anyway.”
Since Grover entered his
life, though, Hartley hasn’t
needed his cane as often.
Grover makes Hartley’s
environment navigable, and
has given him his freedom
back.
And people have noticed.
“The community out here
in Warrenton has just been
awesome,” Roxanne said.
“People see him walk, they
stop and talk with him, and
they give him a help-out.”
‘Just marvelous’
During his interview with
The Daily Astorian, Hart-
ley kept coming back to
one thing: his gratitude for
the Guide Dogs program. A
legally blind person, he said,
“couldn’t ask for anything
better.”
He wanted to give a spe-
cial shout-out to the pro-
gram’s instructor Keith
Laber and trainers Rachel
Sutton and Michael Mont-
gomery; and to Jane and
Gary Meyer, who raised
Grover until he was a year-
and-a-half old.
“It’s just marvelous, to
think of all the great things
that they’ve brought to my
life,” Hartley said.
— Erick Bengel