The daily Astorian., October 26, 2016, Page 4A, Image 4

4A
THE HOUSING CRUNCH
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2016
Warrenton: City doesn’t have much land ready to develop
Continued from Page 1A
Most of Clatsop County, Ackley
said, has a seller’s market now —
that is, one with less than six months’
worth of inventory .
But even for people making good
money it is a tight market, according
to Community Development Direc-
tor Skip Urling.
“The lack of vacancies is across
the economic spectrum,” he said.
Paul Mitchell, the vice chair-
man of the Planning Commission,
remarked at a recent meeting: “I
worry about where people are going
to go to live in Warrenton after a
while. I mean, you’re not going to be
able to fi nd a place. If you’re a young
family just starting out, you can’t fi nd
a house that’s affordable.”
City of Warrenton
census and
housing data
101
PACIFIC
103
Long
Beach
4
30
Warrenton
Area of focus
Seaside
CLATSOP
Cannon
Beach
202
26
Relief methods
After gathering information from
the building community, Urling —
with the consent of the City Commis-
sion — has begun working on devel-
opment code amendments that could
create more housing supply and bring
down prices.
One method would be to allow
apartments in the general commer-
cial zone, an area typically reserved
for businesses.
Developers would need to obtain a
conditional use permit, which means
the Planning Commission would
have to determine that proposed proj-
ects benefi t the city “if their number,
area, location, design, and relation
to the surrounding property are con-
trolled,” the city code reads.
Another method — one that Url-
ing said would be an extreme but
effective course of action — would
be to allow only high-density res-
idential development in districts
zoned for high-density housing.
This would represent a serious
tightening up of Warrenton’s fl exible
development code.
In most cases, developers are per-
mitted to build low-density housing
even in areas zoned for high-density
housing. But it results in single-fam-
ily homes sitting on large lots.
Limiting development in these
zones to high-density housing — to,
say, triplexes, fourplexes and above
— would force developers to build
more units per acre, allowing more
families to live in the same area.
TILLAMOOK
N
101
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Item
Warrenton
Oregon
Population, 2015 est.
Population, 2010 est.
Population per square mile (2010)
Land area in square miles (2010)
Under age 18, 2015
Under age 18, 2010
65 years and over, 2015
65 years and over, 2010
High school graduate or higher, age 25 or older*
Bachelor’s degree or higher, age 25 or older*
In civilian labor force, age 16 or older*
Median household income (2014 dollars)*
Per capita income (2014 dollars)*
Housing units, 2015
Housing units, 2010
Owner-occupied housing units*
Median value, owner-occupied housing units*
Median selected monthly mortgage costs*
Median gross rent*
5,282
4,989
390.6
12.77
29.2% †
23.8%
11.8% †
14%
90.7%
19.9%
63.4%
$38,693
$21,404
2,174 †
2,196
54.6%
$208,100
$1,401
$868
4.03 million
3.83 million
39.9
95,988
21.4%
22.6%
16.4%
13.9%
89.5%
30.1%
62.4%
$50,521
$27,173
1.72 million
1.68 million
61.5%
$234,100
$1,591
$894
*2010-14
† 2014
estimate
Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group
Crist: ‘We need more places to live’
Continued from Page 1A
C rist has been living with her
parents but is looking at moving
in with a boyfriend.
“I’ve been considering any-
thing, including trailers,” she
said. “I’ve looked from Manza-
nita to Knappa.”
Making it more diffi cult, she
said, is her dog . But C rist said she
Urling has observed that most
of Warrenton’s housing units get
snapped up almost as soon as they
are fi nished.
“They get built, and they’re inhab-
ited within days,” he said.
Lack of land
Part of the problem is that War-
renton doesn’t have much land left
ready to develop, and many undevel-
oped properties are constrained by
utility and wetland issues.
Mayor Mark Kujala said local
developers want to build housing
looks young , and the dog makes
her feel safer.
“I just feel it should be more
reasonable based on our income,”
she said. “We need more places
to live.”
Despite her challenges, C rist
said she loves living in Sea-
side, being close to the beach
and mountains and the small-
town charm. S he has taken sev-
units — homes and apartments —
that families can afford, but many do
not have the property to do it.
“That’s a really big concern mov-
ing forward,” he said.
With increasingly fewer devel-
opment projects in Warrenton, local
contractors are fanning out .
Mark Korpi, owner and opera-
tor of North Coast Classic Homes,
a Warrenton-based business, said he
has been personally impacted by the
land shortfall. “I’m going through it
every day,” he said.
He used to build houses primarily
eral classes at Clatsop Commu-
nity College and would one day
like to own a custom-named mer-
chandise store with her mother.
“My mom, dad and me have
been looking at a house on 15th”
Street, C rist said. “They have a
garage/loft area I’d be interested
in living in. It sucks being 22,
and having had an apartment, and
being under my parents roof.”
in Warrenton and is currently doing
work on the Forest Rim apartments.
But, he said, within roughly the last
year and half, the bulk of his building
has shifted to outside areas, including
Knappa and Gearhart.
The city has discussed expanding
the urban growth boundary to bring
more land into the city limits. Noth-
ing has happened on an offi cial level,
however, and the process can take
two or more years.
Unlike Astoria and Cannon
Beach, many residents in Warrenton
— the home of big-box retailers —
Paul Mitchell
‘I worry about
where people
are going to
go to live in
Warrenton
after a while.
I mean, you’re
not going to
be able to
fi nd a place. If
you’re a young
family just
starting out,
you can’t fi nd
a house that’s
affordable.’
Paul Mitchell
vice chairman of the
Planning Commission
are not as refl exively critical of new
housing projects.
Kujala said the city may look into
establishing partnerships with Clat-
sop Community Action and North-
west Oregon Housing Authority to
provide housing options for low-in-
come families.
Mitchell said there is defi nitely
a need for more units. “I’ve always
looked at Warrenton as sort of like:
This is where the working man lives,
you know? And we need a place for
that working man to live,” he said.
Astoria: ‘There are no easy choices’ to solve housing problem
Continued from Page 1A
In response to community con-
cerns expressed at a Planning Com-
mission public hearing in Septem-
ber and discussed last week at a
work session, Cronin added several
provisions:
• Only one accessory dwelling
unit will be allowed per property.
• The new units created after
Jan. 1 cannot be used for short-term
homestay or vacation lodging, like
Airbnb rentals, only for permanent
housing.
• The units must have one off-
street parking space, in addition to the
two off-street spaces required for the
primary residence. But if on-street
parking is available on a city street,
built to a city standard identifi ed in
the Transportation System Plan, an
on-street parking credit may be given
for the unit instead.
• The height of a new detached
unit shall not exceed 20 feet, or 80
percent, of the height of the main
dwelling, whichever is less.
• The location of the entrance to a
detached unit can be anywhere if the
unit is built behind the main dwell-
ing. In cases where the new unit is
in front of the main dwelling, the
entrance cannot face the street.
In addition, one year after the
changes take effect, city staff will
bring a report to the commission
showing whether the amendments
have been effective, and where they
may need adjustments.
With these code revisions, “we’re
not trying to solve the housing prob-
lem,” Commissioner Daryl Moore
said. “We’re trying to take a little bite
out of the housing problem by maybe
adding a few options.”
The recommendation will head to
the City Council for fi nal approval.
In favor
Some people who spoke in favor
of accessory dwelling units at the
public hearing pointed to the harm
caused by the housing crunch.
Kevin Leahy, executive director
of Clatsop Economic Development
Resources, said the North Coast is
“seeing the impact on recruitment
in our community, of some of the
larger employers not attracting talent
because they can’t fi nd a home.”
If Astoria wants young entrepre-
neurs to move into town and help
stimulate economic growth, he said,
the city needs the housing stock
to support them, their families and
employees.
Nicole Williams, CEO of Clat-
sop Care Health District, said the dis-
trict is having trouble recruiting nurs-
ing staff for its care facilities, in part,
because of the housing scarcity.
“This has been a real struggle for
us,” she said.
The health district recently shifted
to a new food service management
company but had to delay the con-
tract, Williams said, because the
company “could not fi nd permanent
places to live for their managers that
they were transitioning to the area.”
The district has also lost caregiv-
ers because of rent spikes.
Supportive with reservations
Last month, a number of residents
said they worried the code changes
would lead to new dwelling units
cluttering up neighborhoods and
spoiling their historic character.
Rachel Jensen, president of the
Lower Columbia Preservation Soci-
ety, spoke approvingly of the code
changes while offering qualifi cations.
The city should approach acces-
sory dwelling units “in a way that
does not undermine the spirit of the
city’s comprehensive plan and the
historic preservation ordinance, and
does not negatively affect the char-
acter and livability of our historic
neighborhoods,” she said.
Though the society supports the
prohibition on using the dwelling
units as homestays, she said the text
is inadequately written. It is con-
ceivable, Jensen pointed out, that
an owner could stay in the acces-
sory dwelling unit while renting out
the main building for short-term
vacationers.
In opposition
Linda Oldenkamp, a 40-year
resident, cautioned that detached
accessory dwelling units, over the
long run, could have “extreme
detrimental effects on the livabil-
ity and historic character of our
neighborhoods.”
“They probably would not be
noticeable in a year,” she said,
“but, year after year after year, they
will be very noticeable.”
If dwelling units proliferate,
deteriorate and become unsightly,
she said, surrounding property val-
ues may drop, which is not fair
to the neighbors who have spent
years investing in their homes.
She suggested the Planning
Commission look to the other hous-
ing-creation strategies outlined in
the city’s 2015 affordable housing
study — for example, setting up an
ad hoc housing task force to devise
gradual solutions that don’t put the
onus on neighborhoods.
“Let us do this right, so that our
city provides both affordable hous-
ing and protects its historic homes
and neighborhoods,” she said. “We
can do both. We must do both.”
‘Tough task ahead’
Commission President Dave
Pearson disagreed.
“I do believe this is compatible
with the historic character of Asto-
ria,” he said. “Nothing here super-
sedes the good work of the Historic
Landmarks Commission. Nothing
here supersedes the work of design
review. All that still stays in place.”
With respect to historic pres-
ervation, Moore said, “Of course
that’s important — essential, even,
to the character of Astoria.
“But,” he continued, “where
this proposal would allow (a
detached ADU), you could, today,
build a garage, or a shed for your
garden tools. So I don’t necessarily
see that allowing detached ADUs
is going to create a huge problem
in changing the character where
that problem may have already
existed, just in a slightly different
form.”
Given that so few accessory
dwelling units have been pursued,
he said, “I can’t imagine that this
is going to create huge demands
and we’re going to see structures
going up all over the place, espe-
cially in the more dense urban core
here, where you’re just not likely
to have the footprint to support
another structure on your lot.”
When it comes to solving the
housing problem, Cronin said,
“there are no easy choices here.
There is very little low-hanging
fruit that we can bite off. We have
a tough task ahead of us to try to
solve this problem.”
Dam: Blitz suggested water district strayed from fl ood control
Continued from Page 1A
successfully operate and main-
tain those for the service life of the
structures.
“So from our agency perspec-
tive, we look at them as an owner of
those structures.”
Warrenton has sought to take
control of the dam, either for fl ood
control or as an asset to remove later
for wetlands mitigation credits on a
development project.
The water district wants to
remove the dam as a hazard and to
improve water quality and fi sh pas-
sage on the river. But the water dis-
trict does not hold title to the dam,
and an agreement with the Colum-
bia River Estuary Study Taskforce
and the city to remove the dam and
construct a bridge over the river for
emergency access has fallen apart,
so the future of the dam is in legal
limbo.
Blitz has said the water district
forfeited a city easement to operate
the dam when the district removed
the tide gates.
Blitz had told the City Commis-
sion in September that the city is the
rightful owner of the dam because
of a 1938 Circuit Court ruling on
the title of nearby land and the water
district’s decision to remove the tide
gates.
But the attorney now maintains
that the dam is likely a federal asset
tied to the city’s levee system. He
wants the Natural Resources Con-
servation Service to fi nd that a fed-
eral interest remains and that the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and
the city should control the dam as a
component of the levees.
The water district has rejected
the idea that the dam is part of the
city’s levee system.
Strayed from fl ood control
Blitz suggested the water dis-
trict has strayed from a fl ood-con-
trol mandate and is more interested
in protecting salmon.
“Their charter is water con-
trol,” the attorney said. “Their clear
motive is fi sh. They aren’t in the fi sh
business, but that’s the passion of
the governing body.”
Tessa Scheller, the chairwoman
of the water district’s board, has
called for a work session with the
city to discuss potential solutions.
The district is also seeking legal
counsel to respond to Blitz’s warn-
ing that the city could fi le a lawsuit
or seize the dam.
One possibility for mediation,
Blitz said, could be Portland State
University’s National Policy Con-
sensus Center.
Mayor Mark Kujala, whose fam-
ily owns property near the dam,
did not warm to the water district’s
request for negotiations.
“I don’t know what we have to
negotiate,” the mayor said.
Restore tide gates
Kujala and other commission-
ers instead discussed restoring
the tide gates on the dam and
operating the structure for fl ood
control, warning that property
owners are at risk of fl ooding.
The water district has concluded
that the dam is obsolete and has
adopted an engineering plan that
found no increased risk of fl ooding
if the dam is removed. A city tech-
nical review, however, raised doubts
about whether the engineering plan
accurately modeled the fl ood plain.
Federal and state offi cials have
said the dam could continue to func-
tion past its 50-year useful life with
improvements and maintenance, but
recommended more study.
Collin Stelzig, the city engi-
neer, told commissioners that more
data collection is necessary, partic-
ularly with the tide gates installed.
“They’re providing protection and
they need to be modeled with those
tide gates in place,” he said.