7A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2017
Cormorants:
Volunteers ranged
from teenagers to
70-something retirees
Continued from Page 1A
Citizen science
The Cape Falcon Marine
Reserve, located between the
Falcon Cove natural area and
Manzanita, was set aside for
conservation and scientific
research in 2012. It is one of
five marine reserves in Ore-
gon. They are, as the Friends
of Cape Falcon Marine
Reserve have described
them, “underwater parks,”
or “living laboratories,” in
the words of Chrissy Smith,
coordinator for the Friends
of Cape Falcon Marine
Reserve.
The Cape Falcon site
is Oregon’s northernmost
marine reserve. Three of the
area’s five cormorant colo-
nies are easily visible from
where Sappington would
sit above Devil’s Cauldron,
a cove surrounded by steep
cliffs where ocean swells
turn the water below tur-
quoise and milk-white with
froth.
For the past two sum-
mers, the Audubon Soci-
ety of Portland and Fish and
Wildlife Service, in collabo-
ration with Friends of Cape
Falcon Marine Reserve and
the Haystack Rock Aware-
ness Program, have trained
volunteers to monitor seabird
nesting success. Volunteers
also watch colonies at sites
in the Cape Perpetua Marine
Reserve farther south.
Volunteer scientists are
also called “citizen scien-
tists” and they could be any-
one — that’s the point. This
summer, Smith said volun-
teers ranged from teenag-
ers to 70-something retirees.
They came from all back-
grounds with varying skills
and experiences.
“Citizen science, you can
do a lot with it,” said Liebe-
zeit. But, he added, simplic-
ity is key.
The cormorants are mon-
itored as an indicator spe-
cies, said Shawn Steph-
nesen, wildlife biologist with
Fish and Wildlife, “helping
us understand ocean condi-
tions and food availability
for many different seabirds.”
But, given the citizen science
component, cormorants were
also chosen because they are
commonly found off the Ore-
gon Coast, they are easy to
spot, difficult to confuse with
other sea birds and they build
distinct, separate nests that
volunteers can peer into with
their spotting scopes and
binoculars.
For Liebezeit there are
several main reasons for
community science in this
project: “To get good info,
and involve citizens who live
on the coast so they feel like
they are part of the environ-
ment they live in, to develop a
connection with wildlife and
nature, and to contribute.”
The volunteers also serve
an important function as
educators. They explain the
monitoring work and the role
of marine reserves and pass
out brochures to tourists or
curious locals who stop to
see what they’re doing.
Peaceful pace
Above all, a Cape Falcon
volunteer needs patience.
Patience to find a nest.
Patience to watch it, and
watch it and watch it, waiting
for a moment when the bird
sitting on it gets up or trades
spots with its mate.
“Right at that moment
you have to look into the nest
and see how many eggs there
are,” Liebezeit said.
This summer, volun-
teers monitored 46 cormo-
rant nests at Cape Falcon and
66 at Cape Perpetua. They
saw 114 chicks successfully
fledge.
Liebezeit hopes the mon-
itoring can continue for a
minimum of five years, but it
depends on funding. Already,
he has some money for next
year, and will likely need
more to ensure both Cape
Falcon and Cape Perpetua
have a biologist on hand to
answer questions and help
with quality control in data
collection. Fish and Wildlife
provides thousands of dollars
worth of in-kind support.
Monitoring the cormo-
rants is an activity Sapping-
ton and other volunteers say
they find to be very peace-
ful. The normal pace of his
life slows, Sappington said.
At the same time, though, the
birds he has been watching
seem to grow up overnight.
“All of the sudden what
once was an egg is now a bird
and it’s getting ready to leave
the nest.”
Gearhart: Reports of loud parties and
overcrowding drew greater calls for action
rentals in residential zones can
negatively affect the atmo-
sphere and livability.
At the time, the taxing ordi-
nance for short-term rental
properties provided exemp-
tion for the approximately 50
single-family homes rented
out under the city’s guidelines.
The owners were required to
pay Oregon’s 1 percent lodg-
ing tax but did not have to
pay Gearhart’s 7 percent lodg-
ing tax, through an exemption
that had been put in place in
the 1990s so those dwellings
could be rented without pay-
ing taxes.
Gearhart City Adminis-
trator Chad Sweet estimated
that the city was losing about
$95,000 a year because of the
exemption.
That
exemption
was
removed in 2016 and short-
term renters were required to
pay the city’s 7 percent lodg-
ing tax.
Another challenge for the
city was the absence of an
ordinance requiring inspec-
tions or spelling out occupancy
limits for vacation rentals.
An acute countywide hous-
ing shortage also drove the
conversation.
Increased online rental
activity and reports of loud
parties, overcrowding and
blocked roadways drew
greater calls for action.
By 2015, an increase in
online bookings led to more
than a doubling of book-
ings in Gearhart, through
companies
like
Vacasa,
HomeAway and Airbnb.
Complaints that out-of-town
management was unable to
promptly reply to public safety
concerns led to an increased
call for regulation, particularly
a provision requiring 24-hour
owner contact information.
After a series of hearings,
including
standing-room-
only public workshops in the
Gearhart Fire Hall, the Plan-
ning Commission crafted rules
in May 2016 detailing occu-
pancy limits, parking rules and
property management contact
information.
According to rules, rental
properties must maintain a
“residential appearance,” and
provide weekly garbage ser-
vice. Homes are required to
conduct fire and safety inspec-
tions, and post a tsunami evac-
uation map in the dwelling.
The proposed regulation
capped registration to existing
short-term rental properties
Port: ‘I will fight this thing to the end’
Continued from Page 1A
‘Back in line’
“I think Jim’s been very
busy getting this thing back in
line,” Campbell said.
After running through the
many ways he thinks Knight
has improved the Port, Camp-
bell made the motion to
extend the executive director’s
contract.
Thinking back to his time
with the Clatsop County
Board of Commissioners and
Clatsop Community Col-
lege Board, the agency’s lead-
ers did not have multiyear
contracts, Rohne said. He
instead preferred a rolling
contract of an indefinite time
period, considered each year
after a performance review by
the Port Commission.
“I feel very strongly about
that,” Rohne said. “As a …
board member from the gen-
eral public, this is, I believe,
our responsibility to keep tabs
on our sole employee, which is
the manager of the Port.”
Hunsinger went through
his own reasons why Knight’s
performance did not warrant
a contract extension. Despite
being advised by Spence, the
commission’s president, not to
talk about the Riverwalk Inn
lawsuit on instructions from
Port counsel, Hunsinger went
into the verdict form show-
ing where the jury had found
Knight culpable and claimed
he had broken his contract with
the Port.
“I will fight this thing to
the end, because Jim Knight
does not deserve to be there,”
Hunsinger said, pointing at the
executive director’s seat.
Stevens gave Knight credit
for hiring the right staff to
put the Port on better finan-
cial footing. He called Rohne’s
proposal a double-edged sword
that while providing account-
ability, could also suggest the
agency changes directors.
Spence, a former city man-
ager, said he saw chaos and
instability during his three
years on the Port Budget Com-
mittee and sought stability in
his campaign for a seat on the
Port Commission. The CEO of
any organization needs to feel
confident in the backing of the
governing board and in their
contract, Spence said.
Waldorf: Apartments will cost between $450 and $850
Continued from Page 1A
Housing worked out prospec-
tive purchaser agreement with
the Department of Environ-
mental Quality that will solid-
ify the amount of remediation
needed and limit the group’s
liability on environmental
cleanup of the site.
During the tests, the group
also found soupy soil and
groundwater within 1 foot of
the building’s floor, Garver
said, a good thing considering
water preserves the wooden
pilings the building likely rests
on.
New apartments
The apartments Innovative
Housing wants to create inside
the former hotel will range
between 250 and 500 square
feet, each with a kitchen and
bathroom, and cost between
$450 and $850 a month,
Garver said. Along with apart-
ments will be a ground-floor
retailer in the space of a for-
mer cigar store.
“I think we’re pretty open
to retail uses that are going to
enhance the downtown and
benefit the community,” she
said.
To fit all the apartments
into the historic building with
operative windows in each
unit, Innovative Housing
will extend existing light
wells on either side of the
building to the basement. A
staircase will be built in one
permit application deadline.
As of Oct. 1, 81 vacation
rental dwelling permits have
been issued, 57 of which are
complete and processed, six
pending parking plans, 15
working on upgrades after
inspection and three awaiting
initial inspection, according to
the city administrator.
Continued from Page 1A
of the light wells for a second
exit.
Silco Commercial Con-
struction Inc., the firm that
oversaw the construction of
the Yacht Club Apartments,
will be the general contractor
at the Waldorf. Under the best-
case scenario, Garver said,
construction would start next
fall.
The Waldorf, also known
as the Merwyn Hotel, was tar-
geted for demolition as part of
the city’s plans to expand the
Astoria Library. But preserva-
tionists urged the City Council
to save the historic hotel, and
an expansion of the library fell
apart because of high costs.
The city opted to renovate the
library.
Appeals, petition
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Ballot box at Gearhart City Hall.
MEASURE 4-188
Question: Shall Gearhart’s vacation rental dwellings ordi-
nance be repealed and replaced?
Summary: If approved, the ordinance would:
• Require $600 annual permit fees dedicated to police and fire
departments;
• Permit transfers to new dwelling unit owners;
• Change maximum occupancy from two persons over 2 years
old per bedroom to two persons over 12 years old per bed-
room, plus three additional people over 12 per dwelling unit,
no limit on children under 12;
• Repeal ordinances imposing special regulations on vacation
rental dwellings related to off street parking, residential ap-
pearance, garbage service, septic sewer capacity inspections
and cesspool prohibitions.
• Require compliance with Gearhart city ordinances that apply
generally to all residential dwelling units;
• Eliminate requirement that a 24-hour representative be able
to physically respond to the site within 30 minutes;
• Allow safety inspections to be conducted by any licensed
home inspector;
• Make dwelling unit owners responsible for self-reporting
inspection issues, and provide a six month cure period, for any
deficiencies;
• Remove current limitation on the number of vacation rentals;
• Require public vote for amendment of the vacation rental
ordinance or any subsequent ordinance relating to vacation
rentals.
and established a $600 permit
fee.
Provisions included permit
transfer only by inheritance,
not sale. Applicants had to
show proof of having paid the
lodging tax in 2016.
In early September 2016,
after what City Planner Carole
Connell said were “30 meet-
ings and eight draft reports,”
the City Council passed Ordi-
nance 901 unanimously with-
out discussion.
Property owners who met
the conditions faced a Dec. 16
After the new regulations
were adopted, two separate
groups sought to overturn the
rules in the state’s Land Use
Board of Appeals.
They said they were not
against some aspects of the
rules, but opposed what they
said were plans to eliminate
short-term rentals altogether.
They cited inconsistencies
in how the city defined “res-
idential character,” among
other issues.
Before a decision was ren-
dered, property owners David
Townsend, Joy Sigler, Brian
Sigler and Sarah Nebeker in
March filed a challenge seek-
ing a ballot initiative that
would repeal and replace the
ordinance. Nebeker serves on
the Clatsop County Board of
Commissioners.
Their proposed 15-point
ordinance sought to “assure
that the interests of vacation
homeowners and permanent
residents remain in a sustain-
able balance that is good for
the community, that every
property owner’s rights are
fairly protected and that no
property owner is econom-
ically harmed by excessive
rules and regulations.”
A city summary of the bal-
lot initiative was changed as
a result of a decision issued
by Circuit Court Judge Dawn
McIntosh in May.
Their
ballot
petition
received more than 200 sig-
natures, bringing the matter to
voters.
On May 30, the Land Use
Board of Appeals upheld pro-
visions of the ordinance.
Vigorous
campaigning,
including lawn signs, news-
paper and radio debates and
door-to-door outreach, have
marked the election so far.