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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 28, 2016)
3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 Dune grading appeal denied Commission upholds sand removal permit By LYRA FONTAINE The Daily Astorian CANNON BEACH — The Cannon Beach Planning Com- mission rejected an appeal of an administrative decision to allow remedial sand removal at the Breakers Point condo- minium development. “I think there are a lot of erroneous information pieces in (Oregon Coast Alliance’s) request to modify the condi- tions of our permit,” Break- ers Point Homeowners Asso- ciation representative Bruce Francis said at last week’s public hearing. “I urge you to uphold it as written.” In July, the city approved the homeowners association’s request for remedial dune grading from the lawns and irrigation systems in between two units. In August, Oregon Coast Alliance contested the city’s The Daily Astorian/File Photo Bruce Francis, property manager of the Breakers Point Homeowners Association, tromps through European dune grass that has trapped windblown sand west of Breakers Point. decision to issue the permit. The nonproit organization stated that the permit lacked compliance with zoning code, sand-inundation proof, sand-volume estimates, a time frame and impact on the Ecola Creek estuary. Francis said the amount of sand to be removed is 10 to 20 cubic yards and that he marked the sand location in the appli- cation. “I don’t see why that’s not speciic enough,” he said. “This is all sand that’s within the property constraints of Breakers Point,” property owner Frank Patrick said. “It blew all over the lawn and we’re just trying to ix it.” According to the staff report, municipal code includes a time frame for the project: a development permit will be null and void if work has not started within 180 days of its issuance or if work is abandoned for more than 180 days after work has started. “I think some of the ideas (Oregon Coast Alliance) pre- sented are good but I don’t think they necessarily have to do with this permit,” Plan- ning Commissioner Lisa Kerr said. The remedial dune-grad- ing permit is a fairly com- mon permit that many in Can- non Beach have, City Planner Mark Barnes said. Some per- mits are renewed annually to take sand off porches or backyards. The remedial dune-grad- ing permit states that the sand will be disposed on an erod- ing section of the Ecola Creek shoreline near the southwest corner of the property. Con- ditions include that all areas left bare of vegetation should be stabilized and revegetated. The proposal is not expected to negatively affect adjacent properties. The commission could revisit the issue after the city’s ongoing sand-management plan is inished. State sued to block placement of children in hotels, ofices By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau SALEM — A federal law- suit iled Tuesday to stop the state Department of Human Services from placing foster children temporarily in hotels and ofices alleges the prac- tice inlicts emotional trauma on kids and violates their civil rights. The lawsuit, iled in U.S. District Court in Portland on behalf of two children repre- sented by a temporary court guardian, alleges the depart- ment denied them due process and violated both federal and state civil rights laws. The plaintiffs seek class action status for the lawsuit, which would extend the com- plaint to similarly placed foster children. The lawsuit also criticizes the evidently recent trend of the state placing more of its charges in hotels, and what plaintiffs characterize as the department’s broader history of “placement instability” for many children in its care. “The state has removed these children from their homes despite not having any home to move them to,” the law- suit states in an introduction. “As experts in the ield agree, the state’s practice of render- ing foster children functionally homeless is unconscionable. It is also unlawful.” A Department of Human Services spokeswoman, Andrea Cantu-Schomus, said in an email Tuesday that the department does not comment on pending litigation. Department oficials have previously said that the number of available beds for children and youth in the substitute care system has decreased in recent years. At least 63 children have been placed in hotels in 2016, with the vast majority of them — 60 — placed since June, according to the lawsuit. Obligation to children The lawsuit claims the department failed to meet its obligation to the two children, who are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act and Oregon’s anti-discrimination statute because of their respec- tive mental health diagnoses. Both Ed Johnson, an attor- ney for the Oregon Law Center, and Angela Sherbo, an attor- ney for Youth Rights Justice Partnership, referred inquiries about the lawsuit to Richard Vangelisti, the plaintiffs’ guard- ian ad litem. Vangelisti represents two children, ages 4 and 6, as a tem- porary guardian in the civil rights matters raised in the lawsuit. The 4-year-old, who has been diagnosed with adjust- ment disorder, was removed from a foster home after more than two years there, after she State of Oregon Director Clyde Saiki, Oregon Department of Human Services. had “very severe meltdowns” or “rages.” The 6-year-old, who, according to the lawsuit, entered state care after repeated reports of abuse by her mother, suffers from several disor- ders, including post-traumatic stress, anxiety and adjustment disorders. She was placed in at least eight different locations and had at least 20 caregivers in her irst two months of state cus- tody, according to the lawsuit. Reiterating the claims of the lawsuit, Vangelisti said Tues- day that the condition of the children was likely to be exac- erbated by the impermanency of their living arrangements. “Obviously, children in fos- ter care are some of the most vulnerable children in our society, and it’s likely that per- haps as much as 75 percent of children who are not placed are suffering from some kind of emotional, behavioral or cognitive problem,” Vange- listi said. “And so when DHS chooses not to put them in placement with a family mem- ber, relative, caregiver or cer- tiied foster home, and then, in turn, put them in a hotel or an ofice, it exacerbates those underlying problems that the children have.” Underreported Vangelisti said that it’s pos- sible that the number of Ore- gon children in these short-term placements is underreported, based on information the state has released publicly and on news reports this summer. The lawsuit states another child — not a plaintiff in the lawsuit — was placed in a juvenile detention facility in Deschutes County for almost a month, despite having no crim- inal charges, and that the Wash- ington County DHS branch converted part of its visita- tion center in the district ofice so children could stay there overnight. Further, the lawsuit claims that based on state data, chil- dren in DHS care have also stayed in hospitals longer than they needed to because the agency could not ind an appro- priate place for them to stay. Spaces such as hotels and DHS ofices are not certiied by the department, unlike foster homes, agencies or residential facilities, and in so doing the agency “is not holding itself to the standards it imposes upon others caring for children,” the lawsuit states. The lawsuit also claims that the plaintiffs approached the department about the issue and tried to avoid iling litigation. An attorney or attorneys for the children sent a letter to DHS on Aug. 16 about the issue, asking to meet to “dis- cuss possible solutions” before Aug. 25. Clyde Saiki, the agency’s director, responded, but it’s not clear from the lawsuit what he said. In turn, plaintiffs’ counsel wrote to Saiki again, “empha- sizing the urgency of the matter.” A meeting was proposed by Dr. Reginald Richardson, the deputy director of the depart- ment, for Aug. 24, but was can- celed, according to the lawsuit. Vangelisti said he was not present at meetings between the attorneys and department repre- sentatives, but that the agency has been “cooperative.” “I understand that DHS, in meeting with the lawyers who represent me, that DHS has been cooperative and that those meetings have been productive, but that at the end of the day, we didn’t reach any sort of agree- ment as to what should be done in terms of the practice,” Van- gelisti said. Intense scrutiny The department is trying to turn its child welfare program around after more than a year of intense scrutiny, after revela- tions of abuse in foster care and agency failures to adequately respond to allegations of abuse. Kids in Oregon’s substitute care systems are abused at rates higher than many other states, according to federal data. Pelican Brewing Company is Consult a Professional W ill I have to Roby’s Q: assem b le m y Furniture & Appliance Store H ours M on. - Fri. 9:30 to 5:30 Saturday 10:00 to 5:00 M ore Loca tions: Tillam ook • (503) 842-7111 1126 M ain Ave Lincoln C ity • (541) 996-2177 6255 SW H w y. 101 N ew port • (541) 265-9520 5111 N . C oast H w y. 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