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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 12, 2018)
7A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2018 Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian A pedestrian walks by the historic Tidal Rock in Astoria. Parks: Historic designations make some sites a tougher sell toric rock and the chair walls — structures that tied into tun- nels for city utilities — under Marine Drive must remain visible. Johnson said the property could be divided. The portion of the lot that does not include the historic features could be sold. But the park may be of most value to the bakery and brewery across the street. The city has an agreement with artist, landscaper and gar- dener Jessica Schleif to clean up and renovate the park as well as install temporary visual art installations this year with other collaborators. Continued from Page 1A If the City Council wants to sell the parks, Rosemary Johnson, the city’s consul- tant and a former city planner, recommends they direct staff to begin the steps for selling Birch Field, complete a relo- cation and engineering evalua- tion for the custom house and contact adjacent property own- ers about Tidal Rock. The Post Office Park is not a good candidate for sale, Johnson said. Developing it for other uses is not really feasible and there are com- plications because of its sta- tus as a historic site. There is also an adoption agreement between the parks depart- ment and neighboring bed- and-breakfast owners, Pam and Dave Armstrong, to main- tain the site. The State His- toric Preservation Office has said it would not likely support removing the park from public ownership. The other sites are still up for debate, though. The parks department has classed them as underutilized and poten- tially able to be developed, Johnson wrote. She identified Birch Field as “the most feasi- ble to sell and redevelop.” “It has no improvements on the site other than a neigh- borhood ball field configura- tion,” she wrote, estimating the field could accommodate a maximum of eight single-fam- Community opposition The backstop at Birch Field in Alderbrook is the only visible evidence of the baseball diamond. ily residential units as an out- right use, or up to 16 multi- family units with conditional use approval. Given the field’s proximity to four sewer out- falls, additional city stormwa- ter treatment facilities could also be placed there. Master plan The parks department’s 2016 master plan noted that the approximately 1-acre field is rarely used except by neigh- borhood dog walkers. To sell the property, the city would need to remove the field from Astoria’s list of designated city parks. Given the marshy, wet nature of the site, Johnson also advised having the Columbia River Estuary Study Taskforce review Birch Field as potential wetlands. The other sites, with their historic designations and other factors, are a tougher sell. The customs house site, besides featuring a historic structure with some restric- tions limiting what can and cannot be done with it, also provides a cul-de-sac access for nearby houses and parking for the Columbia Field base- ball field. A major city sewer line that serves a motel runs on the east side of the property. Two other nearby city sewer Murrelets: ‘The next step has to be protecting potential, future habitat so we can actually build on that habitat’ Continued from Page 1A places were designated as mar- bled murrelet habitat many years ago. Several spots do not appear to have been used by the birds in five or six years. “There’s no policy whether to keep or get rid of those, so now we’re treating them all as occupied even though they might not be,” he said. There isn’t any known mar- bled murrelet habitat within the Lewis & Clark Timber- lands managed by GreenWood Resources, but these lands are adjacent to the state land that does contain nesting sites. In the days before the Fish and Wildlife commission’s decision, Mark Morgans, area manager of the Lewis & Clark Timberlands, said an uplist- ing would be premature at best considering the research Ore- gon State University is con- ducting on the bird. “I believe that a change in the status of the marbled mur- relet from threatened to endan- gered is not warranted because the science on the marbled murrelet is unclear,” he said. He pointed to data that sug- gests murrelet populations in Oregon may be stable and improving and forest habitat may not be the limiting factor. Marbled murrelets spend their time on coastal waters and in bays but nest inland. They appear to prefer trees in old-growth and mature forests, habitat that has become scarce. The birds are federally listed as threatened. In recent years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- vice has predicted recovery of the species could take decades given the marbled murrelet’s naturally low reproductive rate and continued loss of nesting habitat. Near Arch Cape, a pro- posed RV park across the high- way from Arcadia Beach has faced criticism from environ- mental groups who fear the development threatens mar- bled murrelet habitat. For Nadia Gardner, an environmental scientist and North Coast resident, it is cru- cial to look at both of the envi- ronments where the murrelets spend their time — the forest and the ocean. “We have the current occu- pied nesting habitat and old growth — which is very little at this point — on public lands and not enough to sustain the population in the long term,” she said. “So the next step has to be protecting potential, future habitat so we can actu- ally build on that habitat and in the long term there will be more, not less.” She thinks it’s important to keep climate change in mind, pointing to shifts in the ocean that could result in a collapse in the food chain. “That alone could kill them off,” she said. “The only thing we can do as a state is on the land.” Though Oregon’s version of the Endangered Species Act only applies to property owned by the state government, some private forestland owners worry the uplisting will effec- tively move Oregon toward more stringent regulations for all forests. Bruce Buckmaster, a fish and wildlife commissioner from Astoria who voted against the change, said he shared their concerns. “They’re old enough to know it’s an ironclad law they will undoubtedly be affected,” Buckmaster said. Commissioners originally considered ordering the agency to develop survival guidelines without uplisting the species. This proposal, set forth by Commissioner Bob Webber, would have had the effect of creating a roadmap for the mur- relet’s recovery that wouldn’t be legally enforceable. However, the motion resulted in 3-3 deadlock, after which Webber changed his mind and supported the uplisting. “I stated my preference but my least favorite option would be to do nothing,” said Webber, an attorney. The federal government listed marbled murrelets as threatened in 1992 and Oregon extended the same status to the birds three years later. Washington state and Cal- ifornia consider the species endangered. Perkowski reported from Portland. lines that serve the entire city run nearby. This site could also be a good location for a storm- water treatment facility in the future, Johnson said. Tidal Rock would likely need further historic reviews before being sold or altered because of its archaeologi- cal features. The sunken park with its namesake tidal rock, a survey monument from 1853, cannot be filled in. The his- A number of residents pub- licly said they do not support the sale of park land, wor- rying what it means to take green spaces out of public ownership. George “Mick” Hague, who attended meetings when the parks master plan was being developed and finalized in 2016, has said selling park land goes against what peo- ple expressed during that plan- ning process, and against other safeguards the city has estab- lished to maintain diverse park land. The City Council is not expected to take any formal action Wednesday, and there is not usually a public comment period included during work sessions. Taxi: Favorite destinations are Indian Head Beach and Tillamook Head Continued from Page 1A The Thornburgs’ three chil- dren, Ray, Lila and Kiana, attend Seaside schools. As full as their schedule is, Jennifer Thornburg still man- ages to fill in as needed, either in the phone dispatch rotation or as a driver. She loves the tourists: “They’re super-fun to deal with.” People come from all over the place, she said, with a lot of visitors from British Columbia, along with “a lot of hikers, bik- ers and campers.” Favorite destinations are Indian Head Beach and Tilla- mook Head. “It’s on the to-do lists. Either drop off or pick up. In the summer it’s kind of crazy because the road to get up through Ecola State Park is just busy. You know the summers here are crazy!” Part of their mission is to give back to the community, with special fares for the elderly and $2 rides to area food banks. The Thornburgs team with Providence Seaside Hospital and Project Access NOW, the nonprofit service connecting uninsured patients with medi- cal care. “The police department works directly with us for whatever they need. We’re here to service our community and be ambassadors. It’s really important to do good for the community.” ‘We’re here to service our community and be ambassadors.’ Jennifer Thornburg Taxi driver, who runs a taxi service with her husband Ray
