DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016
144TH YEAR, NO. 83
ONE DOLLAR
Group
appeals
curbed
rentals
THE HOUSING CRUNCH: ASTORIA
Gearhart owners:
Rules cost ‘real money’
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
The city of Astoria photographed in June.
A SLOW SEARCH
FOR THE ‘RIGHT FIT’
CITY’S RESPONSE TO HOUSING HAS LACKED URGENCY
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
T
he goal was simple: Promote housing that Astorians can afford. Yet
nearly 18 months after the City Council embraced the goal, the city
has done little to achieve it. Instead, city councilors have discouraged
modest changes to the development code to spark more housing as too aggressive.
PART TWO OF FIVE
See HOUSING CRUNCH, Page 4A
MORE INSIDE: COUPLES, NEW CCC PRESIDENT AFFECTED BY HOUSING CRUNCH • PAGE 5A
A stable place
to stay while
searching for
a new home
Staff denies allegations
J
See EMERALD HEIGHTS, Page 5A
See GEARHART, Page 7A
Avakian
campaign
accused of
violations
Emerald Heights is one
of few affordable options
essica Jacobsen and Jesus Morales have
been looking for a house to rent, but they
feel fortunate to have a stable place to live
during their search.
The young couple and their 10-month-
old son, Daniel, who share a three-bedroom
apartment with Morales’ mom and partner,
are among the residents at the 375-unit Emer-
ald Heights Apartments, a World War II-era,
low-income housing complex in the hills just
east of Astoria.
GEARHART — Fourteen Gearhart prop-
erty owners provided notice that they intend
to appeal Gearhart’s short-term rental rules.
An intent to appeal was submitted to the
state Land Use Board of Appeals earlier
this month and signed by 14 parties, includ-
ing two limitedliability corporations. Those
seeking to appeal may do so by Thursday,
within 21 days of the ordinance’s passage.
“We have no choice, we have to appeal
it,” short-term rental property owner David
Townsend, one of those filing the appeal,
said Friday. “We’re
hoping we can set
down and get some
dialogue to make this
a win-win situation for
everybody.”
Townsend
said
he and others are not
against some aspects
of the rules, but oppose
what they say are plans
to eliminate short-term
Carole
rentals altogether.
Connell
“People are really
against nontransferance of the license to
be sold,” he said. “That costs people real
money.”
“We are just a group of homeowners who
sometimes rent our homes to other families
that want to experience Gearhart the way
we’re able to experience Gearhart when we
first came to visit years ago,” Jim Whitte-
more, one of those who signed the notice of
appeal, said. “It’s that simple.”
Gearhart City Planner Carole Connell
responded Monday the Planning Commis-
sion and City Council “listened to all the
By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian
Jesus Morales, fiancée Jessica Jacobsen and son Daniel Morales stand outside
their apartment in the Emerald Heights complex in Astoria. “No one wants to move,
so there are never any openings anywhere,” Jacobsen said.
Seaside OKs pot production places
Astoria warehouse
fire hits home
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
SEASIDE —A warehouse fire
in Astoria at a marijuana processing
site this week left an impression in
Seaside. At Monday’s City Council
meeting, councilors expressed con-
cern that recreational growing and
processing facilities would be prop-
erly monitored for safety, including
extracts, oils and ether.
“I do have a concern in light
of what happened in Astoria this
week,” Councilor Tita Montero said
prior to a vote amending administra-
tive rules for the production, whole-
city from levying a 3 per-
saling and processing of
cent tax on its sale.
recreational marijuana.
Before voting, coun-
The licensing of med-
cilors asked what over-
ical marijuana produc-
sight the city would have
tion facilities is already
over production facili-
included in city code.
ties to prevent incidents
But when Seaside’s City
like the explosion at High
Council voted to allow
Level Concentrates on
licensing of recreational
Astoria’s west end, which
marijuana retail shops
injured three and shut
a year ago, they left out
Tita
down nearby businesses.
three aspects of the Ore-
Montero
Cupples said a review
gon Liquor Control Com-
mission administrative rules: pro- with input from Seaside’s build-
ing official Bob Mitchell and fire
duction, wholesale and processing.
Without an amendment to department personnel could deter-
include recreational processing and mine if additional safeguards could
production, City Planner Kevin be rolled “into our own version of
Cupples said, Seaside would be inel- the code.”
igible for a share in state marijuana
tax revenues, and could preclude the
See SEASIDE, Page 7A
SALEM – Brad Avakian’s campaign
denied wrongdoing following accusations
made Monday that his campaign fund paid
government employ-
ees for campaign work,
and that the work may
have been done on
state time.
Avakian, the Dem-
ocratic candidate for
secretary of state, is the
head of the Bureau of
Labor and Industries.
In an opinion piece
Brad
Monday on Forbes.
Avakian
com, Adam Andrze-
jewski, of Open The
Books, a private transparency group, claimed
that three of Avakian’s employees were paid
money out of Avakian’s campaign fund and
that two of those employees also contributed
to Avakian’s campaign for secretary of state.
The piece alleges BOLI communica-
tions director Charlie Burr, legislative direc-
tor Paloma Sparks and Jesse Bontecou, Ava-
kians executive assistant, were paid a total
of $3,500 from Avakian’s campaign fund in
2014 and 2015.
Brad Pyle, Avakian’s campaign manager,
said payments from the campaign fund, the
Committee to Elect Brad Avakian, to three
Labor and Industries employees in 2014 and
2015 were “fairly routine” holiday bonuses.
See AVAKIAN, Page 7A