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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JULY 26, 2018
Warrenton balances wetlands with development
Some residents
critical of a
housing project
By KATIE
FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — City
Commissioners tried to hit
a balance Tuesday between
allowing a developer to build
in a wetland area and address-
ing neighborhood fears that
any new buildings will exac-
erbate flooding and drainage
issues on their street.
The debate highlights a
common problem when it
comes to building in the wet-
land-rich city where major
development has occurred in
the past, continues today and
is expected to unfold in the
future. Despite all the flat land,
there’s also water everywhere.
It swells with the tides and
during heavy rains. It never
truly goes away.
“Hey, you can walk out
here, poke a hole in the asphalt
and dig down a foot and you’re
going to find water,” City
Commissioner Mark Baldwin
said.
On Tuesday, residents of
Cedar Avenue continued their
appeal of a Planning Commis-
sion decision to allow devel-
oper Adam Crites to build on
a small portion of his property
designated as wetland. Crites
hopes to build duplexes on the
street.
Residents Terry and Nancy
Ager argued that Cedar Ave-
nue and Cedar Court are rou-
tinely impacted during tidal
‘Hey, you can walk out here,
poke a hole in the asphalt
and dig down a foot and
you’re going to find water.’
City Commissioner Mark Baldwin
and heavy rain events, and
flooding damage occurred in
the 1980s and 1990s.
They did not oppose new
development on the street
but they asked that Crites not
be allowed to fill in the wet-
lands. Nancy Ager also asked
for city protection if Crites
was allowed to fill in the wet-
land and then something went
wrong.
Crites disputed the neigh-
bors’ claims. There are drain-
age issues on the street, he
said, but there is no analysis to
back up claims that his devel-
opment plans would impact
neighboring properties. But,
he added, he wanted to work
with the city.
City staff originally rec-
ommended denial of Crites’
request for a wetland hard-
ship variance when he went
before the Planning Com-
mission in April, contend-
ing that he could build around
the small wetland area. Staff
generally agreed with Crites,
though, that his project would
“not be detrimental to public
improvements or adjacent pri-
vate property.”
“I’ve heard you guys loud
and clear,” Crites told the city
commissioners Tuesday. “My
intention (was) to accommo-
date the city from the get-go of
this project almost three years
ago. I continue to intend to do
so.”
When new construction
surrounds or encroaches on
wetlands in some locations
in Warrenton and Hammond,
the new houses set on man-
made elevations higher than
their neighbors risk displacing
water and sending it next door.
In April, a family in Hammond
told city commissioners about
flooding around their house
that began when the owner of
the neighboring property sub-
divided his lot and raised the
elevation.
On Tuesday, city commis-
sioners asked what needed to
change to get the project to
“yes.”
“I want housing in Warren-
ton, but I do not want qual-
ity of life to go down,” Com-
missioner Rick Newton said.
“And if it floods these other
houses, I can’t say that makes
the quality of life any better.”
The commission voted to
deny the Agers’ appeal and
approve Crites’ application,
which comes with some condi-
tions from the Planning Com-
mission. City commissioners
also added one condition of
their own: That Crites stick to
the neighborhood’s “common
elevation.” Whatever he builds
will be on the same level as
everyone else.
Shift in range brings more reported
cougar encounters to the Northwest
By JACK FISHER
Oregon Public Broadcasting
State Rep. Knute Buehler, the Republican candidate for
governor, will vote to repeal Oregon’s sanctuary law.
Buehler says he’ll
vote to repeal
sanctuary law
A contrast with
Gov. Brown
By JEFF MAPES
Oregon Public
Broadcasting
Republican gubernatorial
candidate Knute Buehler is
endorsing a ballot measure
to repeal Oregon’s so-called
sanctuary law, putting him at
odds with Gov. Kate Brown
on a hot-button immigration
issue.
Buehler told conservative
talk show host Lars Larson
this week that he supports
overturning the 31-year-old
law that largely bars state
and local police from enforc-
ing federal immigration law.
“We need to have coor-
dination and collaboration
between local law enforce-
ment and federal law enforce-
ment,” Buehler said. “People
who are here and commit-
ting crimes, there needs to be
that kind of coordination and
communication. It is com-
mon sense.”
Brown, a Democrat, has
made it clear that she’ll fight
to keep the law.
“I see Oregon as a wel-
coming and inclusive place
for all who want to call Ore-
gon home,” she said at a
press conference last week.
She said the law has helped
curb racial profiling and
assure crime victims they
can talk to the police without
fearing deportation.
Brown last year signed a
bill to strengthen the sanc-
tuary law by, among other
things, limiting the amount
of information the state col-
lects on someone’s immigra-
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Dinner
tion status. Buehler opposed
that change.
The governor also argued
that the law “doesn’t impact”
the ability of law enforce-
ment to deal with anyone
committing a crime.
Critics of the sanctuary
law have argued otherwise.
They point to the case of Ser-
gio Martinez, who had been
released from Multnomah
County jail a year ago despite
being sought by immigration
authorities. Seven days later,
he assaulted two women,
police said.
Martinez became a major
talking point for Attorney
General Jeff Sessions, who
has been the Trump adminis-
tration’s lead voice in attack-
ing sanctuary laws in cit-
ies and states around the
country.
Supporters of the sanc-
tuary law point to studies
showing that crime rates are
lower among immigrant pop-
ulations, and they charge that
backers of the measure are
driven by racial animus.
Buehler told Larson that
if the law is repealed, the
state can take steps to curb
racial profiling by police
and to assure crime victims
that they don’t have to worry
about going to the police.
Northwesterners are hear-
ing a lot about mountain lions
lately.
Since May, an extremely
rare fatal attack in the Wash-
ington Cascades, a Willamette
Valley pool party interrupted
by a wandering cat and a viral
Facebook video of a mountain
lion lounging in a southern
Oregon woman’s living room
have made headlines across
the region.
Are the Northwest’s moun-
tain lions acting out of charac-
ter this summer?
The Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife’s Derek Bro-
man says “no.” But they are
adapting to a gradual shift in
their range.
“They’ve exceeded the
maximum number of animals
that the habitat can support.
Younger animals are dispers-
ing to lower quality habitats.
They’re exploiting urban areas
and doing quite well,” said
Broman, the state carnivore
biologist. “Carrying capacity
has been reached.”
And when mountain lions
move into areas where peo-
ple aren’t as accustomed to
seeing them, it can lead to
more sighting reports, news
stories and interest on social
media. “They get more atten-
tion because they are unusual,”
Broman said.
In May, the Seattle area
saw a fatal cougar attack. Two
cyclists in North Bend, Wash-
ington, were attacked — one
fatally — by a mountain lion,
in an incident that a Wash-
ington Department of Fish
and Wildlife official called
“incredibly abnormal.” A nec-
ropsy performed by Washing-
ton State University released
last week indicated that the
male cat was lean but not
emaciated.
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
A cougar in the wild.
‘There’s a mountain
lion in our living room.
This is wild.’
Lauren Taylor
Ashland woman posting on Facebook
“The cause of aggressive
behavior reported in this cat
was not evident,” the necropsy
found.
Just this week, Springfield
residents had their own cou-
gar encounter. Upon spotting
a mountain lion in their back-
yard in the middle of the after-
noon, a group of teenagers
called the police. With the help
of a local game tracker, the
animal was located and eutha-
nized. Officials expressed con-
cern about the cat’s uncharac-
teristic daytime activity and
the normally skittish animal’s
apparent disregard for human
presence in the area.
And in early July, an Ash-
land woman posted on Face-
book about a strangely amica-
ble mountain lion encounter in
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her home.
“There’s a mountain lion in
our living room,” Lauren Tay-
lor wrote earlier this month.
“This is wild.”
Taylor did not respond to
interview requests Wednesday.
In her July 7 Facebook post,
she wrote that she believes
the cat entered through an
open door into a room that
“has huge plants & stairs built
around real tree branches …
she likely didn’t even realize
she was indoors until she was
inside.”
After discovering the ani-
mal in her home, Taylor wrote,
she calmly “meditated on” how
to safely coax the animal back
outside. Taylor says she “com-
municated using feline-speak
eye blinking to calm her” and
“sent telepathic pictures of
routes out of the house.”
Ultimately, after poking
around her living room and
taking a cat nap, Taylor said
the lion exited through an open
door and disappeared into the
night.
Michelle Dennehey, a wild-
life communications coordina-
tor at the Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife, noted
that despite a viral photo and
video album on social media,
this incident has not been con-
firmed by the department.
Dennehey pointed out just
how rare cougar attacks are,
saying, “We’ve never had a
confirmed attack by a wild
cougar in Oregon.” That’s a
complete lack of any attacks,
not just a lack of fatal attacks.
As for the Springfield
incident, Dennehey said her
agency deals with similar situ-
ations regularly.
“When a cougar exhib-
its certain behavior, like being
seen repeatedly in daylight or
killing pets,” Dennehey said,
“ODFW advises that they’re
euthanized.”
Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife has pub-
lished a set of guidelines for
living and recreating in cougar
country. If you see a cougar in
the wild, stay calm. They will
often retreat if presented with
the opportunity. Stand your
ground, maintain eye contact,
and speak in a loud, firm voice.
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