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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 14, 2017)
ENCORE DANCE BEHIND HOLIDAY TOY DRIVE COAST WEEKEND 145TH YEAR, NO. 119 ONE DOLLAR DailyAstorian.com // Astoria looks at permits for Airbnb-type rental housing Tug escorts needed if oil tanker traffic increases An attempt to curb illegal operations By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian People looking to offer Airbnb-type rentals based out of houses and apartments in Astoria may be required get a permit in the future. The Astoria City Council discussed new, stricter requirements for rental operations during a work session Wednesday. A proposal detailing a permit structure and amendments to city code could be in front of the council to discuss — and vote on — sometime in the next three months. A draft permit process staff presented Wednes- day builds on Astoria’s minimal requirements for homestay lodging and represents an attempt to curb illegal rentals — an issue cities across the country have struggled with since the rise of vacation rental advertising platforms like Airbnb and VRBO. ‘THIS ISN’T THE LAST BITE OF THE APPLE, BUT IT PROVIDES US WITH THE ABILITY TO START PUTTING SOMETHING IN WRITING NOW.’ Brett Estes | city manager of Astoria “This isn’t the last bite of the apple, but it pro- vides us with the ability to start putting something in writing now,” City Manager Brett Estes said. Astoria does not allow vacation rentals — where an entire house is rented out — in residential neigh- borhoods, but does allow a short-term rental option referred to as homestay lodging. The city asks peo- ple setting up homestay lodging in their house or apartment to file a business license with the city, submit lodging taxes to the Finance Department and meet off-street parking requirements. The homes also must be owner-occupied with an owner on site when guests or renters are present. A permit for homestay lodging would apply across the city’s zones and require people to sub- mit more information, making it easier for staff and police to track rentals, address issues as they come up and ensure an operation is in compliance, Estes and City Planner Nancy Ferber said. A permit may not be able to cut back on people who rent out illegally, Estes said, but “if there’s a lit- tle bit of a hammer to say if you sign up and you don’t have the permit, there is a penalty associated with it. … Word will get out, ‘Hey you really need to go through the city process to avoid any of these issues.’” ‘Changes daily’ City councilors disagree about the degree to which Airbnb-type rental practices and homestay lodging reduce available housing or impact the economy. They do worry about the overall effect on the community and the illegal operations that bypass city requirements such as paying the lodging tax. Right now, city staff have compliance informa- tion on only 15 hosts, but are working to investi- gate other rental operations to determine who is and who isn’t following the rules. The Finance Depart- ment saw $9,900 in lodging tax collected from the Coast Guard The Argent Cosmos, 557-foot tanker loaded with ethanol and glycol, ran aground in January near Skamokawa, Wash. A recent report by the Washington Department of Ecology pointed to river mile 39, near Skamokawa and the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge, as the most dangerous spot on the Lower Columbia River for transiting ships. Study finds risk of oil spills low, but concerning By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian T he risk of oil spills on the Columbia River is very low, a new study into vessel traffic and safety has found, but more tethered tug escorts might be needed if new marine terminals increase tanker traffic. Less than 5 percent of the 1,400 vessels on the lower stretch of the river each year carry bulk oil as cargo, equating to more than 470 one-way trips. Most of the oil traffic carried refined products upriver to terminals in Oregon and Washington state. The study, issued to the Washington Legislature in November, identified five proposed bulk terminals creating a potential of up to 1,379 additional one- way trips, mostly by tankers. Most of the terminal projects are in Washing- ton state, including coal in Longview, methanol in Kalama and calcium car- bonate in Woodland. A methanol refin- ery has been pitched for Port Westward near Clatskanie. Opposition has grown fierce against a proposed oil-by-rail terminal by oil giant Tesoro Corp. and transportation firm Savage Cos. at the Port of Van- couver. The terminal could receive up Wikimedia Commons About half of bulk oil-carrying vessels on the Columbia River were articu- lated tug barges. The barges include a notch in the bow, into which a tug hooks to propel and navigate. to 300,000 barrels and send out one ship per day bound for West Coast refineries. The last major oil spill on the Columbia River was March 1984, when the SS Mobil Oil grounded on Warrior Rock near St. Helens, spilling 200,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil. Rud- der failure and improper maintenance were determined as the cause. After the Exxon Valdez struck Alas- ka’s Bligh Reef in 1989 and spilled 11 million gallons of oil into Prince Wil- liam Sound, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 gave shippers 25 years to phase out single-hulled vessels. Tankers now have an outer hull and an inner, redun- dant layer in case of a failure. The risk of oil spills is very low, said Brian Kirk of the Department of Ecology. But his department found that, in 2006 figures, a large spill could cost Washington state $10.8 billion and 165,147 jobs. See TANKERS, Page 7A See AIRBNB, Page 7A Medical data analyst to run for county commission seat Davis ran for school board in Astoria in May By JACK HEFFERNAN The Daily Astorian An Astoria medical data analyst has announced his candidacy to replace Clatsop County Board of Commission- ers Chairman Scott Lee in the May elections. Andrew Davis will be run- ning for Lee’s District 1 seat, which covers much of west- ern Astoria as well as War- renton and Hammond. Lee announced last year that he Andrew Davis would not seek re-election. Davis, 40, first became involved in politics while he was living in his hometown of Bloomington, Indiana, about 10 years ago, citing his disen- chantment with former Presi- dent George W. Bush’s admin- istration. He served two years on the Bloomington Commis- sion on Sustainability — a citi- zen committee under the city’s economic development depart- ment — and worked part time for a community access televi- sion channel. A delegate for the Demo- cratic Party of Oregon, Davis will spend much of the next few weeks advocating for Measure 101. The measure, up for a vote in January, will deter- mine whether health insurance premium taxes approved by the state Legislature to finance Medicaid will be upheld. Davis moved with his wife to Astoria in February 2015 after spending three years in South Korea as a teacher. He worked as a data ana- lyst at Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare, the county’s men- tal health contractor, for a lit- tle more than a year before leaving last year in the midst of rapid staff turnover at the agency. “I think the environment there was not entirely healthy for a little while,” Davis said. “There were lots of disputes between labor and manage- ment about what direction they wanted to take the shop, and I didn’t feel particularly happy there at the time.” He then joined Greater Ore- gon Behavioral Health Inc. as an analyst studying where to best allocate money for med- ical resources. The agency oversees Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare. He said he has established productive rela- tionships with current lead- ership at the mental health agency and even helped train new employees who assumed his old position. “I don’t foresee any diffi- culty with me working with them,” he said. Should he win the elec- tion, Davis may need to recuse himself from some decisions involving behavioral health contracts. See DAVIS, Page 7A
