7A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JULY 20, 2018
Dennis Karns consults on the electrical systems for Da-
ly’s latest project.
Train: ‘It’s
going to be
really popular
with the kids’
Continued from Page 1A
Dennis Karns, a retired
electrical engineer, helped
Daly wire the train into
a mobile light show with
strobes and LEDs illuminat-
ing the undercarriage. Chim-
neys pump out backlit fake
flames and 16-foot plumes of
smoke from the train engine.
There is a replica Southern
Pacific train horn, numer-
ous front and back moving
lights, and horns from a local
music store turned into
headlamps.
Like Daly, Karns remem-
bers as a child watching the
American Legion’s Clatsop
Voiture 547, denoting the
547th Forty & Eight chap-
ter established nationally,
and wanted to make sure it
all worked.
Daly plans to assemble his
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Jeff Daly checks the lights on his newest project.
parade column at 4:30 p.m.
Saturday behind the Astoria
Warehousing property and
make several passes through
downtown on Commercial
and Duane streets starting
around 5 p.m.. The vehicle
can carry more than 10 peo-
ple on benches, along with a
couple of 1920s-era folding
chairs from the Astoria The-
atre where Clark Gable began
his acting career.
Joining the Joy Train will
be several of Daly’s other
vehicles, including the Glam
Tram and a restored 1948
Chrysler clown car.
Robert Jacob, the owner of
the Cannery Pier Hotel, will
bring several of his vehicles,
such as a double-decker bus.
The Astoria Library’s new
book bike — Spokes — will
also join the parade.
Daly had been preparing
the train for the Burning Man
festival in Nevada in August,
but because of his cancer
treatment could not take the
heat and dust of the event.
The Joy Train has drawn
interest from Travel Oregon
to visit old train stations and
to deliver copies of 1859,
an Oregon-focused lifestyle
magazine.
Saturday’s debut is only
the first phase of the Joy
Train, Daly said. He plans
to continue adding on, peri-
odically driving the train
through downtown, similar
to the Glam Tram. He will
eventually install a barbecue
in the train engine and host
mobile birthday parties, com-
plete with conductors hats all
around.
“It’s going to be really
popular with the kids,” he
said.
Rental: ‘Is $1.8 million a fair penalty?’
Continued from Page 1A
was not violating Manzani-
ta’s vacation rental ordinance
because she only allowed fam-
ily, friends and current and
former trustees to stay at the
$395,000 property. The trust
arranged reservations through
a website and took guest dona-
tions of about $50 to $65 a
night for upkeep, supplies and
repairs, not for a profit.
“It was my belief that the
use of the property by our
extended family members did
not constitute an event that
generated either registration
or a tax,” Petersen said in a
court filing.
But
Manzanita
put
Petersen on notice as far
back as 2009 that the home
appeared to be a vacation
rental.
“Your home must be reg-
istered as a short-term rental
in order for you to legally
accept money for the use of
the house, even if you merely
intend to use the money
towards taxes and mainte-
nance on the house,” a letter
from the city stated.
Kevin O’Connell, a Port-
land attorney representing
Petersen in federal court, said
Petersen explained to the city
at the time that the home was
only used by family. He said
she did not hear from the city
again until the fines arrived
last October.
While the penalty was
staggering, Manzanita has
shown a willingness to nego-
tiate with property owners.
The city settled a similar case
this year with a homeowner
facing $3.7 million in fines
for just under $53,000.
Christian Zupancic, a Sea-
side attorney for Petersen,
reached an agreement with
the city in February that
would have required Petersen
to register her home as a
vacation rental, pay $7,500
and city attorney fees, and
operate under a two-year
probation.
But Manzanita learned of
another alleged violation on
Edmund Lane in April, and
moved to throw out the set-
tlement and pursue the hefty
fines in the city’s Municipal
Court. O’Connell said that,
unbeknownst to Petersen, a
friend and family member
reserved the property but let
a friend stay at the $65 dona-
tion rate.
“She is and was clearly
aware of the city ordinances
and knew compliance was a
par to the settlement regard-
less of whether she knew
what the final dollar amount
would be,” Manzanita City
Prosecutor Stacy Rodriguez
said in a court filing.
A trial is set for August in
Municipal Court, but Peters-
en’s attorneys are asking for
a delay pending a ruling by
the federal court in Portland.
The Eighth Amendment —
mirrored in Article I, Section
16 of the Oregon Constitu-
tion — is a check on the gov-
ernment’s power to impose
excessive fines that are out of
proportion to the offense.
“Compared to the alleged
violation, we feel it’s grossly
disproportionate,” Zupancic
said. “Even if she did suppos-
edly do it, is $1.8 million a
fair penalty?”
Brenna Visser/The Daily Astorian
Sandra Petersen is suing Manzanita over $1.8 million in
vacation rental fines.
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A Coast Guard helicopter lifts off after lowering a diver into the water near Pier 39 to
search the scene of a crash.
Plunge: ‘It was bizarre’
Continued from Page 1A
The woman, whose name
was not released, was taken to
Columbia Memorial Hospital
in Astoria as a precaution and
for a mental health evaluation,
police said.
People in a car behind
the woman said they saw her
drive into the railing, back up
and drive into it again before
breaking through and going
over the edge.
Witnesses heard the woman
say, “I’m alright,” while
she was in the water. Some-
one from the dock ran over
and threw the woman a life
preserver.
“It was bizarre,” said Cindy
Howenstein, who was visiting
from Fairview Heights, Illi-
nois. “It was real weird. Like,
what just happened?”
A Coast Guard contractor
removed the vehicle from the
river. The bridge, which con-
nects to the restaurants and
businesses at the end of the
pier, was taped off where the
railing was damaged but is
open to vehicle and foot traffic.
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