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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018
Co-op: Some revisions
could be made east of the
site to improve traffic flow
Continued from Page 1A
and then on to Steam Whistle
Way. The intersection where
23rd Street meets Marine
Drive can be busy. Colum-
bia Memorial Hospital is just
across the street and there is
no left hand turn lane onto
23rd Street for someone trav-
eling east on Marine Drive.
During the height of the sum-
mer tourist season, traffic can
come to a standstill on the
main road.
Mill Pond residents warn
there could be an increase in
traffic through the neighbor-
hood if shoppers use Steam
Whistle to reach a traffic light
farther east in order to avoid
complications at 23rd Street
and make an easier turn back
onto Marine Drive.
LaMear agreed.
“I think common sense
just tells you people are going
to come out of that parking
lot and go to the light,” she
said. “I certainly will. I’m
not going to try to get out on
Marine Drive without a light.
And coming in, I’ll come the
same way. Right through Mill
Pond.”
“I am not voting against
the co-op,” she said later,
before the council voted. “I
am voting against this pro-
posal because I think there’s
some transportation issues
that need to be covered.”
There are changes that
could be made east of the
site to improve traffic flow
in the future, said City Engi-
neer Nathan Crater. He also
noted that a credit union had
considered building on this
same site, a use that would
have been permitted outright
and never come up for a pub-
lic hearing. The traffic gener-
ated by that use would have
been similar, if not somewhat
higher, than what is predicted
for the co-op.
Price said the council
needed to be “honest” that
“we are considering rezoning
because this is a beloved com-
munity institution.”
She repeated a question
Planning Commissioner Jen-
nifer Cameron-Lattek had
posed at a hearing on the
co-op’s zoning request in Jan-
uary, “What’s the interest?”
“I think the interest is in
creating a good space for a
local community-owned busi-
ness that has living wages …
we have good economic rea-
sons for doing this and I think
that’s good enough for spot
zoning,” Price said, but added
that she still considered it a
“critical issue” that there is
no left turn lane from Marine
Drive onto 23rd Street.
Brownson said he wasn’t
going to hold traffic issues
against the co-op.
“There’s new businesses
coming in,” he said. “There’s
more traffic, more tourists.
We’re expanding. There’s
more pressure on our exist-
ing road systems. There’s no
getting around there and as
that area changes — no mat-
ter what happens, whether
the co-op’s there or not — it’s
just a crappy bit of highway
intersection that needs to be
addressed at some point.”
In other business:
• The City Council
approved logging plans on
approximately 50 acres of
the Bear Creek watershed.
City forester Ben Hayes said
the operations are intended
to improve water quality and
forest health over the long
term by increasing the forest’s
diversity, structural complex-
ity and resilience. The work
will take place on a ridge
between Cedar Creek and Fat
Buck Creek. The city expects
proceeds of around $200,000
after harvest and reforestation
costs.
Hayes and Public Works
Director Jeff Harrington
proposed commercial thin-
ning on a tightly spaced
spruce-dominated stand. The
thinning will allow extra light
to penetrate the forest and
give remaining trees more
space. Right now, the trees
have gotten to a point where
they have stopped growing,
Hayes told councilors. Log-
ging crews will also thin out
an area where Douglas fir has
been impacted by Swiss nee-
dle cast. This fungus attacks
the crowns of trees and stunts
their growth. The city will
replant in this area.
• The City Council
approved an agreement with
the Astoria Downtown His-
toric District Association for
a parking study. The associa-
tion, working with city staff,
will begin to gather input
about how parking downtown
is used and what the needs
are, as well as complete an
inventory of private parking.
Eventually, the association
hopes to create lease options
with owners of private park-
ing lots and connect them
with businesses and employ-
ees who want reliable parking
in the downtown area, freeing
up more on-street parking.
• The city has begun look-
ing for a new fire chief. A job
posting is up on the city’s
website. Chief Ted Ames
announced his retirement last
year but said he would stay
on an interim basis through
the spring to help ease the
burden on the city during a
search for his replacement.
City Manager Brett Estes said
he expects it could be a dif-
ficult position to fill, but has
contracted with a recruitment
company to advertise the job.
Astoria’s fire chief is respon-
sible for nine career staff and
14 volunteers. The job has
been advertised with a salary
range of $86,105 to $104,662.
Applications are being
accepted through March 22.
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Like many retailers in the area, Hi Casual Cannabis in Astoria sells a wide variety of products.
Marijuana: ‘It’s no surprise to me that there’s
excess supply, or that prices are plummeting’
Continued from Page 1A
Curry County, on the bor-
der with California, ranked
second in sales per capita,
selling $310 worth of mari-
juana per person. Rural Baker
County, with 16,750 residents
and across the border from
more than 600,000 people in
Idaho’s Treasure Valley, sold
$16 million worth of mari-
juana last year, or $960 per
person. Multnomah County
sold $176 million in marijuana
products last year, or $220 per
person, the fourth-highest rate
statewide.
“I think it’s just the begin-
ning,” said Don Morse, direc-
tor of the Oregon Canna-
bis Business Council, a trade
association. “I think sales are
going to increase, and they’ll
certainly get a lot higher as
we take away from the black
market.”
But Morse and others see
consolidation coming among
the more than 500 retailers
and 900 growers statewide.
A presentation by New
Frontier Data economist Beau
Whitney noted the indus-
try was reaching saturation.
Retailers need about $125,000
in monthly sales to be viable,
but are averaging $92,000
a month in Oregon, leaving
them in distress.
Part of the issue is too
much marijuana being pro-
duced. The estimated maxi-
mum canopy being used by
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6 PM
growers has gone from less
than 10 million square feet
in 2015 to more than 20 mil-
lion square feet, Whitney said.
Between October 2016, when
recreational sales started, and
November, the retail price of
a pound of marijuana dropped
from $4,440 to less than
$3,000.
“It’s no surprise to me
that there’s excess supply, or
that prices are plummeting,”
Whitney said, adding many
growers are trying to get
bought out.
Whitney has suggested
retailers lower their prices to
take price-conscious consum-
ers away from the black market.
SCHEDULE
THE DAILY
ASTORIAN
A
ABOVE: Edible options are a popular alternative to tradi-
tional marijuana products. BELOW: Most marijuana retail-
ers in the area sell a variety of edible alternatives.
“In general, for every 1
percent or so reduction in
price … you’ll increase your
demand by 2 to 3 percent,” he
said. “That’s conversion over
from the illicit market.”
The marijuana industry is
also trying to tackle other reg-
ulatory hurdles, such as find-
ing bankers to handle money
and places to legally smoke
outside of the home.
The Oregon Cannabis
Business Council is plan-
ning legislation for the next
session on social-use areas
for cannabis, Morse said. A
couple of cannabis clubs in
Portland allow consump-
tion, but are technically still
illegal.
One issue, Morse said, is
the state’s Indoor Clean Air
Act. “We don’t even allow
cigar bars, unless they were
grandfathered in,” he said.
North Fork 53, a farm and
lodging on the Nehalem River
in southern Clatsop County,
had provided space and par-
aphernalia. But the business
ended the practice amid dif-
ficulties turning a profit and
creating spaces that complied
with air quality standards.
On banking, the marijuana
industry needs to show the
state how much it is poten-
tially losing in taxable income
by businesses having to
depend on cash.
“There’s a lot of money
floating around,” Morse
said.
Evening listings
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