Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 27, 2018)
PROPERTY LINES • INSIDE WEST WARRENTON’S BEST KEPT SECRET 146TH YEAR, NO. 20 ONE DOLLAR WEEKEND EDITION // FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2018 Developer appeals hotel denials Project proposed for the waterfront By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian Hollander Hospitality, which hopes to build a four-story hotel on the Astoria waterfront, has appealed two denials of the project to the City Council. A date for the hearing has not been set. The city’s Design Review Committee and His- toric Landmarks Commission in June shot down a proposal for a four-story, 66-room hotel off Marine Drive. The boards cited issues with the hotel’s size, appearance and how developers planned to inte- grate the former Ship Inn restaurant with the new building. But Hollander Hospitality contends the two boards misapplied city criteria and that the Design Review Committee, in particular, “turned otherwise objective standards into subjective standards in vio- lation of the express language” of the city’s devel- opment code. Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Seaside City Councilor Tom Horning stands under a bridge in Seaside that he says is in need of modification in order to survive a major earthquake. BRIDGING THE GAP ‘THE NATURE OF THE PROCESS IS IF WE WANT MORE INFORMATION, WE NEED TO GO THROUGH AN APPEAL.’ Horning wants new tax to pay for safer bridges By BRENNA VISSER The Daily Astorian S Sam Mullen | vice president for Hollander Hospitality The developer also believes a city code that requires new buildings to be compatible with adjacent historic structures does not apply to its proposal. In this case, the historic element that triggered review by the Historic Landmarks Com- mission was an old boiler from the former White Star Cannery. “Because there are no ‘adjacent historic struc- tures, the (committee) erred in comparing the pro- posed style with any building,” Hollander Hospital- ity wrote in its appeal. The company is seeking clarity, said Sam Mul- len, vice president for Hollander Hospitality. “The nature of the process is if we want more information, we need to go through an appeal,” he said. After city boards denied the project in June, Mul- len wasn’t certain if the company would appeal or not. He said the project had received valuable feed- back through the hearings process and at a commu- nity meeting the company hosted earlier in the year. He still believes there could be some room during the appeals hearing with the City Council to tweak the proposal, and the appeal to the City Council itself will reveal a path forward. Hollander Hospitality owns more property far- ther west between the Astoria Bridge and the build- ing that houses the Bridgewater Bistro restaurant. As the company looks to develop both properties, Mullen says they need to know what they are being measured against. EASIDE — The majority of bridges in Seaside will need to be fixed to withstand a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake, and one city councilor wants to use lodging tax dollars to pay for it. City Councilor Tom Horning, a geologist, projects a 2 percent increase in the lodging tax will generate about $1 million a year to help pay for seven bridges and build two pedestrian bridges. He estimates the entire project would cost about $35 million over 20 years. The urgency in Horning’s timeline is based on studies that show 9.0 mag- nitude earthquakes happen about once every 340 years. A Cascadia-like event of this size was last recorded 318 years ago, meaning the area is due to have another devastating quake in the next 25 years. This magnitude would likely pro- duce a 25-foot to 50-foot wave, destroying about 92 percent of Sea- side’s buildings — emphasizing the need to invest in bridges that will act as evacuation routes out of the inunda- tion zone. “This is one thing we can do to save the most lives,” he said. The City Council will discuss the idea Monday during a workshop cen- tered around finding ways to reinforce the town’s bridges. Seaside City Councilor Tom Horning examines wood preserved for hun- dreds of years in Seaside. Smooth rocks left over from a tsunami that hit hundreds of years ago lay in a creek bed in a marshy area near Seaside. See BRIDGES, Page 7A See HOTEL, Page 7A In lip-sync battle, sheriff turns to ‘The Goonies’ Deputies sing along to Lauper By HANNAH SIEVERT The Daily Astorian Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office Sheriff’s deputies channeled Cyndi Lauper’s song from ‘The Goonies’ in a lip-sync battle. Stepping into the lip-sync battles going viral across the country, the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office has posted a video of deputies and staff doing Cyndi Lauper’s “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough.” Sheriff Tom Bergin said his staff — challenged by the St. Helens Police Depart- ment — volunteered to make the video while off duty or during their lunch hours. Jus- MORE ONLINE • Watch the video: bit.ly/sherifflipsyncbattle tin Grafton, a local videog- rapher, shot the footage for free. By Thursday afternoon, the video had racked up more than 89,000 views on Facebook. Bergin said he was impressed by the public’s support and the many pos- itive reactions. “Best one I’ve seen so far!” one viewer posted. “Thanks for the entertainment,” another said. “To have so many posi- tive comments about an office where we already get so many good compliments on the deputies just goes to show you we’re part of the commu- nity. We live here. We’re just trying to keep this place safe,” Bergin said. “If we can thread a little humor throughout the days and months and years, so be it. Life’s tough enough as it is. Why not put a smile on people’s faces?” Like with any perfor- mance — Goonies-themed or not — there are critics. A few people complained that it was a waste of time and not very well-executed. See DEPUTIES, Page 7A
