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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 20, 2017)
DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 2017 144TH YEAR, NO. 253 ONE DOLLAR Man stabbed after fight in Astoria Attack happened near Doughboy Monument By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Leroy Olvey’s property in Astoria’s Alderbrook neighborhood is covered in signs and debris. After years of trying to get him to clean up his property and address concerns about his house, the city is seeking to sell the property through a public auction process if Olvey doesn’t pay $58,000 in fines. THE LAST WORD CITY TO TAKE ACTION ON ALDERBROOK PROPERTY T Violations This is a process the city has pursued before, most famously against properties owned by the Flavel family downtown. The derelict building ordinance enables the city to take steps against blight. “This tool is a fairly substantial tool,” said City Manager Brett Estes, “and we want to be able to work with people, be able to make things happen.” “We’re not looking for fees or fines,” See STABBING, Page 4A Astoria rethinks parks fee By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian he first thing you notice about Leroy Olvey’s house in Alder- brook is the words. The property is drowning in them. There are signs everywhere: freestand- ing in the yard, tacked to the sides of a dilapidated trailer, nailed to the outer walls of the weather-beaten house, arranged in rows and taped to a fence. One particu- larly enormous sign hangs over the front porch and states in all-capital red-and-yel- low letters: “THE CITY OF ASTORIA DESTROYED MY PROPERTY.” The signs are a recent addition to a Birch Street property the city has long considered derelict and that neighbors for the past 20 years have called a nuisance, a safety hazard and a junkyard. For more than a decade, the city has tried to get 77-year-old Olvey to address issues at his property — the trash piling up inside and outside the house, the old, abandoned cars, the overgrown yard. Offi- cials tried warnings and citations and, in the past two years, Municipal Court fines totaling $58,000. Now, the end is near. On Monday, the Astoria City Council unanimously decided to give City Attor- ney Blair Henningsgaard permission to take the first steps in a lien foreclosure pro- cess that — if Olvey doesn’t address the fines against him — will result in a public auction of his property. A Washington state man was stabbed Monday night after a fight near the Dough- boy Monument in Uniontown. Witnesses said a group of about 10 people who appeared to be transients had gathered behind the monument when a man started throwing punches and kicking. Kasey Burgess, 28, of Seaside, and Briean Jantes, 38, of Warrenton, who were attending a baby shower at the El Tapatio restaurant, said they ran outside to help. Many from the group began to flee. But witnesses said a woman pulled a large knife out of her handbag and handed it to the man who was the aggressor in the fight. The man grabbed the knife, approached the man he had been attacking, and quickly stabbed the man near his stomach. “I’m calling the police,” Jantes said she told the attacker. “Get your hands off him!” City Council will discuss options in July By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Cars, rusting and overgrown with plants, are one of the city’s many concerns when it comes to Olvey’s property. ‘We’re not looking for fees or fines. We’re looking for the place to be cleaned up.’ Brett Estes city manager he said. “We’re looking for the place to be cleaned up.” Enforcement at Olvey’s property has happened in fits and starts, complicated by fluctuating staff levels in city departments and Olvey’s own sporadic bouts of com- pliance then contention. In recent years, Olvey stopped making any effort to com- ply with the city’s requests. “The owner has failed in each case to correct the violations or respond to the written notices sent both (through) cer- tified and regular U.S. mail,” Astoria’s Community Development Director Kevin Cronin wrote in a memo to the City Coun- cil. “Staff has tried repeatedly to visit the owner at his known residence over the last two years.” “Progress has been made on other nui- sance properties in this neighborhood,” the memo continued, “but the Olvey case is outstanding for its lack of progress.” The Astoria City Council is reconsid- ering details of a proposed fee intended to raise money for the city’s Parks and Rec- reation Department, seeking a solution that will more evenly distribute the cost across the community. Instead of charging residential water cus- tomers $3 per water meter per month, coun- cilors at a meeting Mon- day night asked city staff MORE to look into what it would take to charge $3 per unit. INSIDE Residents and city staff Advance had pointed out that there Astoria a is a mix of units in the road map for city, some of which have economic multiple families using a development single meter. Residents Page 2A who commented at the meeting say charging per unit would be more equitable. Ultimately a per unit charge is expected to raise more money — the per meter charge would raise an estimated $117,000 a year — but City Manager Brett Estes said it would also take more time to put in place. City staff would need to conduct a thorough audit of See PROPERTY, Page 4A See PARKS FEE, Page 4A Timed parking delayed in Cannon Beach Business owners disgruntled over plan By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian CANNON BEACH — Timed park- ing in Cannon Beach has been put on hold after complaints from the community. The original plan approved by the City Council was to enforce a three- hour parking limit over the summer on Hemlock Street between First and Third streets, as well as on First through Third between Hemlock and Spruce streets. The pilot area was chosen after a parking study surveyed the two busi- est days of spring break, and found that Hemlock is the first to fill up. The restric- tion would help the city reach its goal of creating 50 new spots by the end of 2018. While some business owners wel- come the turnover, others worry that timed parking will adversely affect parking for employees and will rush customers. Parking petition Cannon Beach Police Chief Jason Schermerhorn said the city decided to postpone installing signs and enforcing the rule until it is discussed again at the July 10 City Council meeting. “There’s been a lot of citizens upset by it,” said Schermerhorn, who will soon be the interim city manager. “(City councilors) are going to give citizens an Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian See CANNON BEACH, Page 4A Cannon Beach has postponed a pilot program on timed parking downtown.
