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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (May 17, 2017)
144TH YEAR, NO. 229 ONE DOLLAR ELECTION EDITION // WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 2017 Campbell, Rohne, Spence win big in Port races Battle for control of the Port By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Airport bond measure fails 2015, when Port Commission- ers Robert Mushen and Bill Hunsinger ran unop- posed and less than 23 percent of voters partic- ipated. Voting was also up slightly from 2013, when Fulton and Camp- bell were elected, and more than 32 percent of voters cast ballots. Dirk Clatsop County res- idents gave a resound- ing vote of approval Tuesday to the Port of Astoria’s political and executive management, handily electing James Campbell, Dirk Rohne and F rank Spence over Rohne Taking sides Stephen Fulton, Dick Two distinctive sides had Hellberg and Pat O’Grady . More than 34 percent of reg- cut across all three Port races. istered voters cast ballots in the Fulton, Hellberg and O’Grady special district election, a signif- See PORT, Page 4A icant increase in turnout from SECOND LIFE INSIDE Money was school board races; for Life Flight, College, Health Care District elections • Page 5A airport work By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian James Campbell, left in red jacket, and Frank Spence, right, celebrate their leads in the Port of Astoria Commis- sion races Tuesday night at Fort George Brewery after early election results . Voters on Tuesday nar- rowly rejected a bond mea- sure to fi nance improve- CITY GETS FIRST LOOK AT POTENTIAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING AT WALDORF HOTEL ments at the Astoria Regional Airport, a blow to the Port of Astoria’s plans for future development. The bond measure, which had broad support See BOND, Page 4A Emerald Heights rolls back gas charge Deed restrictions delay new charges for tenants By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Astoria’s Waldorf Hotel may get a second life as affordable housing if developers get their way. By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian D evelopers hoping to turn Asto- ria’s Waldorf Hotel into work- force housing gave the city its fi rst look at exactly how afford- able the housing might be Tuesday night. Studio apartments could cost between $425 and $525 a month in the Waldorf’s second life as a 40-unit apartment building, Julie Garver, the housing development director for Portland-based non- profi t Innovative Housing, told the city’s Historic Landmarks Com- mission during a presentation intro- ducing the project. One-bedroom apartments could cost between $440 and $540. Renters must fall within certain income requirements — among other things — to qual- ify for a unit. Four units would rent at market rate at $825 to $875 a month, and not carry the same income restrictions. Lot of promise Innovative Housing develops multifamily, low-income apartment buildings in Oregon and Wash- ington state. The group has refur- bished a number of old and his- toric buildings to give them new life as affordable housing, but the Waldorf — built as the Merwyn Hotel in the 1920s — sandwiched between the Astoria Library and City Hall on Duane Street and vacant for decades, presents a unique challenge. Jeff Daly/For The Daily Astorian See WALDORF, Page 4A A Portland nonprofit hopes to gather the funding to remodel the Waldorf Hotel into apartments. Emerald Heights Apartments has delayed a move to charge renters for natu- ral gas because it would violate deed restric- tions meant to keep the Astoria apartments affordable. Tenants were told they would have to pay for gas starting in June or risk eviction. But after The Daily Astorian asked Edita Smith, the property owner, about deed restrictions that extend until October, the new policy was delayed. Emerald Heights is one of the few remain- ing sources of affordable housing for low-in- come residents in Astoria. When Smith and her husband acquired the apartment com- plex from the Clat- sop County Hous- ing Authority in 1992, they agreed to main- tain the apartments as mixed-income for 25 years. The restric- tions preserve 60 units in the sprawling 300-unit complex for very low-income renters, and 180 units for low-income ten- ants. The rent includes the cost of providing utilities. “Ms. Smith did not recall that the deed restriction included a limitation on utilities,” Lawrence Popkin, a Seaside-based attorney for Smith, wrote in an email Tuesday. “She will now delay the change in policy (gas utilities) until the deed restrictions expire in October. The tenants will receive a notice informing them of the delay.” When the deed restrictions lapse, it opens the door for Smith to rent all of the apart- ments at market rate. But Smith, according to her attorney, plans to keep rent rates the same. “Other than the change in policy regard- ing payment of gas utilities, no other changes are planned,” Popkin wrote. See GAS CHARGE, Page 11A Housing, preparedness top county’s agenda Forty area leaders gather in Gearhart By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian GEARHART — Elected offi cials and staff in Clat- sop C ounty seem to agree on two things: housing and emer- gency preparedness are the major issues , and political will is the key to address them. Roughly 40 offi cials gathered Tuesday night at McMenamin’s Gearhart Hotel and Sand Trap Pub to dis- cuss the challenges facing the county, the second time in the past year or so that city and county leaders have met to talk through policy concerns. County Community Devel- opment Director Heather Han- sen said the county is aware anecdotally of discrepancies between wage levels and the location, availability and cost of housing and its impact on business retention, expansion and recruitment. The problem: the county is unsure of any solution because there isn’t enough data to support the anecdotal evidence. Offi cials discussed a recent six-month, $100,000 study Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Seaside pictured from the air. County and city leaders dis- cussed the housing crunch Tuesday in Gearhart. by Tillamook County, which Hansen said is in a similar situ- ation to Clatsop, that identifi ed specifi c data about the area’s housing markets and possible solutions. The report differentiated between coastal and inland markets and highlighted fac- tors such as a low-wage econ- omy, scarce land supply and absentee landlords. Ten possi- ble solutions included creating a county wide housing coor- dinator position in the county and rezoning. Attendees appeared enthused. “Let’s just steal this,” Seaside Mayor Jay Bar- ber quipped. Barber used the Seaside City Council’s vote next week about rezoning a plot of land on North Wahanna Road for a See LEADERS, Page 11A
