DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017
145TH YEAR, NO. 98
Natural
gas scare
scrambles
commute
ONE DOLLAR
Warrenton mobile home park
tenants become landlords
Eastern entrance to
Astoria closed for
about 2 1/2 hours
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
A natural gas scare closed Lief Erikson
Drive near 39th and 45th streets in Astoria
Tuesday, backing up traffic for roughly 2 1/2
hours during a soggy evening commute.
Police closed a portion of the road at
about 4:45 p.m. By 7:15 p.m., the road was
reopened but traffic moved slowly because
of the lengthy delay.
A slight pressure change inside a pipeline
caused a relief valve to lift, which caused
the emission of the gas odor, NW Natural
spokeswoman Melissa Moore said.
“This was our system working as it
should,” Moore said.
The road is the eastern entrance into the
city via U.S. Highway 30. Astoria Fire Chief
Ted Ames said “it caused a lot of headaches
See GAS SCARE, Page 7A
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Doug Lyle and Michael Fallert are residents of Warrenton Mobile Home Estates who, along with the majority of other
residents, recently banded together to purchase the park.
Nonprofit
helps residents
purchase property
Jack Heffernan/The Daily Astorian
A natural gas scare closed the eastern
entrance to Astoria Tuesday night.
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Task force
will look at
ministorage
Warrenton examines
potential regulations
W
ABOVE: Warrenton Mobile Home Estates was recently purchased
by a majority of the residents who live in the park. BELOW: Elk
Meadows Homeowners Cooperative board member Doug Lyle
shows where the group got its name.
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — A city task force will
tackle the question of where new ministor-
age businesses can be located and what will
be required of them.
At a meeting Tuesday night, the
City Commission decided the task force
will include members of the planning
and city commissions. The group will
be asked to discuss what kind of
parameters to set around future ministorage
development.
New businesses may be required to pro-
vide setbacks, sidewalks, landscaping, or
even retail space along frontage roads like
Harbor Drive. The two commissions will
later meet jointly to hear the task force’s
recommendations.
ARRENTON — In April, Michael Fall-
ert and the other residents of Warrenton
Mobile Home Estates received notice that
the owner was looking to sell. The park includes 37
spaces for low-income residents over 55 years old,
many on fixed incomes.
“We were facing a pretty stiff rent increase here,
especially if another owner bought this,” Fallert said,
adding he and his wife already had their rent hiked
twice since moving to the park in 2013.
“There was a rumor that a mobile home park was
for sale, that the residents would be moved out.”
Fallert reached out to neighbors and learned the
purchase price. One neighbor knew about a program
through the housing nonprofit Community And Shel-
ter Assistance Corp. — CASA of Oregon — that
could help, he said.
With help from the nonprofit, the residents orga-
nized Elk Meadows Homeowners Cooperative and
recently bought their park from Warrenton Estates
LLC for $1.7 million.
Helping residents form Elk Meadows and secure
financing was Julie Massa, an organizational devel-
opment specialist. The nonprofit is a local affiliate of
Resident Owned Communities USA, a national orga-
nization based in New Hampshire helping residents
acquire and manage their mobile home parks.
See PROPERTY, Page 7A
‘BASICALLY WHAT THIS IS ABOUT IS GUARANTEEING
AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR PEOPLE.’
Michael Fallert | resident of Warrenton Mobile Home Estates
See MINISTORAGE, Page 8A
Take a walk in her park
Astoria diabetes
teacher creates
indoor path
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
For much of her life, Sunnie Bell has
taught about diabetes and the importance
of walking as exercise.
After moving to Astoria from Las
Cruces, New Mexico, several years ago,
Bell found it harder to keep up on her
walking.
To keep herself and others moving,
Bell is creating the Sunflower Dairy
Indoor Walking Park on Duane Street,
with hopes of opening by month’s end.
“I’ve spent my whole life trying to
improve the health of other people,” Bell
said.
Bell bought the former Sunflower
Dairy Co. building, directly west of the
former J.C. Penney store, 2 1/2 years ago
as a retirement investment. She became
landlord to Paramount Drug Co. on
Commercial Street and Shear Expres-
sions Salon on Duane Street, along with
a garage storage space used by J.C. Pen-
ney until the retailer closed earlier this
year. The closure left Bell with 2,600
square feet of empty property.
While on a recent trip to Israel, she
came up with the idea of the park.
Contractors working in the for-
mer storage area are putting the finish-
ing touches on a springy, slightly ele-
vated wooden walking track and hand
See BELL, Page 7A
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Sunnie Bell has been putting together a Southwestern- and tropi-
cal-themed indoor walking park inside the former Sunflower Dairy Co.
on Duane Street.