Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (May 24, 2017)
WESTERN SNOWY PLOVER CHICK HATCHES AT NEHALEM BAY PAGE 3A DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, MAY 24, 2017 144TH YEAR, NO. 234 ONE DOLLAR Cannon Beach tests time limits on parking Downtown streets will have a three-hour cap By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian FISH, OFF LOW CHINOOK SALMON COUNT CASTS DOUBT ON SPRING, SUMMER Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian A solitary salmon boat floats on Youngs Bay at the start of the fishing season in late April. Columbia River fishing is in doubt. By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian S pring is over on the Columbia River — for now. A lower-than-expected count of returning spring Chinook salmon at Bon- neville Dam delayed or closed a number of fi sheries in Oregon and Washington state last week and now an updated forecast has cut the total predicted run size almost in half. As of today, even fi shery managers in Idaho, who were waiting to see if more salmon would begin to pass fi sh counters at Bonne- ville Dam, decided to close the Clearwater and Salmon rivers to spring Chinook fi shing. Fishery managers at the mouth of the Columbia River aren’t quite ready to give up on spring and start planning for summer, however. They theorize that low temperatures and high river fl ows — thanks to a healthy snowpack in the mountains and record rain fall elsewhere — have kept fi sh waiting below Bonneville Dam. What’s less clear is if the run of spring Chinook — originally forecast at 160,000 fi sh, now downgraded to 83,000 — is actually going to come in as low as the new forecast predicts. “I still think that our run size is going to be much better than everybody is talking about,” said Ron Roler, a Columbia River fi shery manager for the Washington Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife. The warmer and relatively drier weather this week could encourage fi sh to start swimming upstream, he said. Unfortu- nately, it could also melt more snow, adding more water to an already swollen river and causing temperatures to drop again. CANNON BEACH — In an attempt to create more downtown parking, Cannon Beach plans to impose time limits along a section of Hemlock Street starting next week . Residents and tourists will see three - hour parking limit signs on Hemlock Street between First and Third avenues, as well as on First, Second and Third streets between Hemlock and Spruce. The City Council this month decided to move forward with the pilot program to see whether or not timed parking increases turn- over in parking spots. This in turn would help the city reach the goal of creating 50 new spots by the end of 2018. This pilot area was chosen after a parking study contracted by the city surveyed the two busiest days of spring break, and found that Hemlock Street is the fi rst to fi ll up — some- times as early as 9 a.m., City Planner Mark Barnes said. “Part of the congestion comes from a number of cars cruising H emlock trying to fi nd parking,” Barnes said . “If you can increase turnover, you’ll get more people in spaces rather than going around in circles.” See PARKING, Page 7A Three vie for Warrenton appointment ABOVE: Salmon fisherman Martin Rice prepares to launch his boat at the start of the season in late April in Astoria. BELOW: Terry Millbrooke hoses down his boat after the first night of salmon fishing in Youngs Bay in late April. Vacancy opened after Balensifer moved up By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian Three men have applied to be Warren- ton’s next city commissioner, fi lling a seat left empty when Henry Balensifer was appointed to take on the role of mayor after former M ayor Mark Kujala resigned. The city received applications from Mark Baldwin, a former commissioner and owner of a local construction business; Paul Mitch- ell, who, in addition to working as the com- munity outreach manager for Columbia Memorial Hospital, serves on the city’s bud- get committee and P lanning C ommission; and newcomer Ronald LeChurch, a retired mechanical engineer who moved to Warren- ton seven years ago. Warrenton residents will not elect this new commissioner — the C ity C ommis- sion will appoint one of the three candidates to serve out the rest of Balensifer’s term — so the city held a meet-and-greet Tuesday night to give residents a chance to meet the Going forward The salmon in the river right now are spring fi sh, and they’ll remain spring fi sh until June 15. Then on June 16, they, along with the other runs that start to show up at this time, are all summer fi sh. See SALMON, Page 7A See WARRENTON, Page 7A Housing crunch in mind, Seaside OKs zone change Property could yield 40 units By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian SEASIDE — Citing a lack of affordable housing, the Sea- side City Council has granted approval of a zone change on a 3.75-acre property located between North Wahanna Road and the wetlands along Stanley Lake for a housing project . “We, as a council, spent two days of public goal-set- ting, and we need additional housing in this community,” City Councilor Dana Phillips said at a meeting Monday. City Councilor Seth Mor- risey said there were sim- ilar apartment complexes on Wahanna already, and attempts to expand the city’s urban growth bound- ary had been pushed back. “Any time we can expand any- where we try to increase den- sity or place housing there’s going to be people who aren’t going to like where it’s at,” he said. P roperty owner James Folk pointed to the lack of rent- als in Clatsop County . “There is a huge, signifi cant need for housing, and this will defi nitely accommodate a lot of that, ” he said after the meeting. Wetlands protected During public hearings, neighbors expressed con- cern about discrepancies in the property survey, traffi c on Wahanna Road, affordabil- ity and impacts on the envi- ronment. Neighbors said the building complex. Folk said he is permit- units would be priced too high for those in low- or mini- ted 20 housing units per acre, mum-wage jobs to fi ll the need and would abide by what- ever numbers a sur- for affordable hous- vey would determine. ing. Donna Lyons of The last survey, pre- Warrenton, whose pared in 1990, is under mother’s property revision. Folk said he borders the property, expected a new survey questioned the fea- will show 1.9 acres of sibility of providing buildable land. workforce housing at The traffi c impacts, the prevailing wages James Folk even in the worst-case in the community. At a February Planning scenario, would be so minimal, Commission meeting, Folk he said, that impacts would not said units would rent for even require a state Depart- between $800 and $1,300 a ment of Transportation study. month. A total of 104 resi- See SEASIDE, Page 7A dents could live in the fi ve-
