DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2017
144TH YEAR, NO. 208
ONE DOLLAR
Astoria aims to expand housing inventory
Mayor defends
park budget cuts
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
As of next month, property
owners in Astoria’s neighbor-
hoods can set up and rent out
extra dwelling units to long-
term residents.
The Astoria City Council
adopted an ordinance Mon-
day allowing owners of sin-
gle-family homes to create
housing by converting inte-
rior spaces, such as attics and
basements, or building new
detached structures on their
land.
The ordinance, meant to
augment the city’s limited
housing stock by relaxing
the development code, comes
with strict rules: For example,
the accessory dwelling units
cannot be used for homestay
— or short-term — lodging,
such as Airbnb rentals .
The vote came more than
a year after the community
development department ini-
tiated the code changes to
advance the council’s goal
of creating housing Astori-
ans can afford. As the changes
moved through the Planning
Commission and up to the
council, the proposal drew
support from people calling
for more housing for Astoria’s
workforce.
Objections and opposition
came from residents and orga-
nizations concerned about
residential streets becoming
crowded with parked cars and
neighborhoods growing clut-
tered with detached struc-
SHIP INN FURLS SAILS,
CLOSES GALLEY
FISH AND CHIPS
PLACE TO CLOSE
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
A
fter 43 years, The Ship Inn in Asto-
ria is setting sail at the end of the
month.
For owner Jill Stokeld, quickly
approaching retirement brings both the
uncertainty of a new chapter in life, and the
freedom of no longer having to run a busi-
ness she’s been trying to sell for more than
a decade.
Almost a year ago, Bellingham, Wash-
ington-based developer Mark Hollander
bought The Ship Inn and signed a one-year
lease for Stokeld to continue operating the
restaurant. Hollander, who recently bought
Stephanie’s Cabin next door, now owns
the majority of the block and is already
exploring how to place a Marriott hotel on
Port of Astoria property near the Maritime
Memorial.
Hollander’s purchase came as a relief
to Stokeld, who had put the restaurant on
the market in 2005 after her husband and
the restaurant’s co-founder, Fenton Stokeld,
died the year prior.
Rumors have fl own about whether Hol-
lander will try to site a hotel on the city
block. Stokeld’s husband had dreams of
building a hotel, conference center and
marina around The Ship Inn. But Stokeld
said Hollander had been interested in hav-
ing her operate The Ship Inn longer, or in
fi nding someone else to take over and keep
the restaurant going.
“I almost feel guilty because so many
people have been giving me a bad time
because they think a hotel is going in,” she
said. “But i t’s been for sale for 12 years. I
don’t know what’s really going to happen,
but I took the offer because I thought, ‘I’ll
be here until I die if I don’t.’”
tures whose character may
not match the historic envi-
ronment. Some people sug-
gested the city should focus
on encouraging developers to
salvage derelict structures and
turn them into housing.
City Councilor Cindy
Price voted against the code
changes.
See COUNCIL, Page 4A
Family
sues over
bridge
suicide
Claim alleges negligence
in mental health care
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
Jill Stokeld, owner of The Ship Inn, thumbs through some of the photo albums at
the restaurant filled with memories from past parties and customers.
Submitted Photo
Fenton Stokeld, co-founder of The Ship
Inn with wife Jill in 1974, died in 2004.
“I t’s been for sale
for 12 years. I
don’t know what’s
really going to
happen, but I took
the offer because
I thought, ‘I’ll be
here until I die if I
don’t.’ “
Jill Stokeld
The family of a suicidal woman who
heard voices that told her to jump off the
Astoria Bridge has fi led a $950,000 medical
malpractice lawsuit against Clatsop Behav-
ioral Healthcare, alleging negligence in her
mental health treatment.
Carrie Barnhart, 54, who had symptoms
of schizophrenia and depression, jumped to
her death in April 2015. Her family claims
Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare, the county’s
mental health contractor, failed to provide an
adequate treatment and recovery plan despite
Barnhart’s repeated suicide attempts.
The lawsuit alleges that Clatsop County
did not act on complaints about the men-
tal health agency’s poor performance in the
months before Barnhart’s death. The suit also
names Columbia Memorial Hospital and an
emergency room doctor who treated Barnhart
before her suicide.
“My heart grieves for anyone who loses
a family member to suicide,” Amy Baker,
the executive director of Clatsop Behavioral
Healthcare, said in an email. “As a general
rule, we don’t comment on pending litigation
and (at) this point, I certainly can’t comment
until I know more.”
The county and Columbia Memorial Hos-
pital also declined to comment.
owner of The Ship Inn in Astoria
Catalyst for change
Barnhart’s suicide was the catalyst for
change at Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare.
Her death was documented by The Daily
Astorian and prompted a county conversation
about gaps in the mental health safety net. An
internal investigation and an Oregon Health
Authority review described management and
operational dysfunction at the mental health
agency. Former staffers fi led federal lawsuits
alleging that managers engaged in discrimi-
nation and retaliation. Three top administra-
tors eventually resigned.
Baker, who was brought in last June to
stabilize Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare, has
stressed crisis intervention.
Barnhart’s family issued a tort claim
notice in October 2015, a preview of the law-
suit fi led Saturday in Circuit Court. Jeremiah
Ross, a Portland attorney, is representing
Artanya Barnhart, Barnhart’s daughter, who
is in charge of her mother’s estate.
See THE SHIP INN, Page 4A
The Ship Inn, a British-style pub and
restaurant in operation since 1974, is
closing at the end of the month.
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
See SUICIDE SUIT, Page 9A
Gun bills evoke strong
emotions at Oregon Capitol
One bill offers
tool to keep
guns from those
posing a risk
By PARIS ACHEN
Capital Bureau
SALEM — At age 24,
Jenna Yuille lost her mother in
a mass shooting at the Clacka-
mas Town Center in 2012. Four
years later, her father commit-
ted suicide using a fi rearm.
“I have now lost not one but
both of my parents to gun vio-
lence,” Yuille said. “I knew that
my dad wasn’t doing too well,
but I didn’t know how to help
him.”
A bill in the Legislature
would provide a tool for fami-
lies to block loved ones’ access
to fi rearms if they posed a risk
to themselves or others.
The legislation would cre-
ate an extreme risk protection
order process. Families could
obtain the temporary order —
up to 12 months — by petition-
ing to the court. The subject of
the order could contest its issu-
ance in court.
Once issued, the protec-
tion order could be renewed
annually.
‘Best course’
“What we’re trying to do
is provide the best course of
action to give family a chance
to help themselves to pre-
vent their veterans and other
family members from killing
themselves, prevent suicide by
cop and worse, killing family
See GUN BILLS, Page 4A
Paris Achen/Capital Bureau
House Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson, left, embraces
Jenna Yuille, regional manager of Americans for Responsi-
ble Solutions, after Yuille’s testimony during a hearing on
gun safety bills Monday at the Oregon Capitol. Yuille’s par-
ents were both killed in separate incidents of gun violence.