144TH YEAR, NO. 82
ONE DOLLAR
DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2016
THE HOUSING CRUNCH
A PERVASIVE PROBLEM
WITH NO EASY SOLUTIONS
Lack of housing could limit
economic growth in county
C
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
latsop County has a housing crunch that touches
all income levels, from low-wage workers to
six-fi gure executives, from renters just starting
out to would-be homeowners looking to plant roots.
The shortage has no easy solu-
tions, in part because it arose from a
perfect storm of trends.
Production of new homes and
apartments stagnated during the
Great Recession. As industry recov-
ered and job creation picked up, con-
sumers had more money to spend on
housing. But pent-up demand ran
headlong into static supply.
The result is a low vacancy rate
and few properties on the market.
“We need more housing units.
There’s no question about that at this
point,” said Kent Easom, who serves
on the Astoria Planning Commission
and owns Easom Property Manage-
ment. “It is an odd situation, because
we went for many, many years with a
higher vacancy rate and taking longer
to rent things. And then, in the last two
years, something exploded.”
See HOUSING CRUNCH, Page 4A
ABOUT THIS SERIES
The housing
crunch is
everywhere in
Clatsop County
and impacts all
walks of life.
This week, The
FIVE-PART SERIES
Daily Astorian
will examine the
housing crunch through the eyes of elected
officials, economic experts, real-estate
professionals, developers, homeowners and
renters.
The series will explore the forces driving
the issue, along with what is — and is not
— possible for the North Coast to achieve.
And, the coverage does not end this week,
as the Astorian tracks the challenges and
solutions going forward.
Coming Tuesday
• Astoria’s response to housing has lacked
urgency
• Emerald Heights is one of few affordable
options
Wednesday
• Warrenton open to housing growth
Thursday
• Shortage in Seaside divides homeowners,
labor force
“WE NEED MORE HOUSING
UNITS. THERE’S NO QUESTION
ABOUT THAT AT THIS POINT.”
Kent Easom, owner of Easom Property Management
who also serves on the Astoria Planning Commission
• In Gearhart, vacation rentals and lack of
infrastructure
• Cannon Beach prioritizes workforce
housing
Friday:
• County sees barriers to housing solutions
Read the series and track the issue in
the future at DailyAstorian.com/da/
housing-crunch
Photos by Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Joyce Senior, a Warrenton resident and employee
at Oregon State University extension program, had
some initial difficulty finding a rental in the area
moving from the east coast. She is photographed
here outside her place in Warrenton .
Extension agent feels
lucky to get a spot,
knows others cannot
Clatsop County needs balance
between newbies and locals
P
reparing to move across the country from Clemson,
South Carolina, to Clatsop County, Joyce Senior
Googled and perused all the usual rental sites — Apart-
ments.com, ApartmentFinder.com, Zillow.com — look-
ing from Seaside to Hammond.
She would fi nd a place she liked, then it would be
gone in a week. Senior came close to putting a deposit
down on a more economical apartment complex in Ham-
mond, she said, before new co-workers came to her aid.
See SENIOR, Page 5A
The city of Astoria as seen from the air in July. Clatsop County’s housing shortage has no easy solutions with
a lack of buildable space and community opposition to changing the character of the towns and cities.
Prosecution rests case against State trooper Dyer
accused killer Randy Roden
hangs up his uniform
Defense case
to begin today
dead. Her two brothers, 2 and 7
years old at the time, were taken
into protective custody.
An autopsy found Evangelina
By EDWARD STRATTON
Wing had died of battered child
The Daily Astorian
syndrome and blunt force trauma
to the head. Her two brothers, 2
The prosecution rested its
and 7 years old at the time, were
case against accused killer Randy
found badly abused, taken into
Roden Friday after calling Dr. Car-
custody and placed with foster
ole Jenny, a pediatrician and child
and eventually adoptive parents in
Randy Roden
abuse expert, to support the argu-
California.
ment that abuse caused the death of 2-year-
Prosecutors have called the case of the
old Evangelina Wing nearly two years ago.
worst instances of child abuse in Clat-
The toddler was found unresponsive sop County’s history. They charged Roden
by her mother, Dorothy Wing, and Wing’s with aggravated murder, for which he
live-in boyfriend, Roden Dec. 20, 2014.
See RODEN, Page 9A
After a call to 911, the girl was pronounced
Aspiring offi cers should
know realities of the job
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — In 32 years with the Ore-
gon State Police, Tom Dyer, who retired this
month, has seen things few people will ever see
Tom Dyer
— and, he said, no one should have to see.
A Warrenton city commissioner running
unopposed for his second term, Dyer served with the state agency in
Beaverton for about six years, followed by more than 25 at the Asto-
ria Area Command, which now operates in Warrenton. He spent his
entire career as a patrol offi cer.
See DYER, Page 5A