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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 2018)
WEEKEND DANCING WITH THE CLATSOP COUNTY STARS COAST INSIDE 146TH YEAR, NO. 74 ONE DOLLAR DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2018 Astoria could regulate homestay lodging Permits would be required By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian Astorians who want to rent extra bed- rooms in their homes to tourists may have to get a permit next year. City staff say a permit would help them better monitor Airbnb-type rentals and enforce city rules, as well as provide an eas- ier process for people looking to offer legal homestay lodging. The City Council dis- cussed a draft permit at a work session Wednesday. A new permit could be in front of the council for further discussion and adoption before the end of the year. Like many cities, Astoria has struggled to address a growing number of vacation rent- als. Leaders fear rentals contribute to rising housing costs, change the character of neigh- borhoods and take away long-term housing options for residents. Astoria already struggles to enforce its rules for homestay lodging and has no real idea how many of these rentals are See LODGING, Page 7A Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Tim Becken untangles a net on board his salmon fishing boat in June. ‘I want to fish and provide for my family’ State compensation for gillnetters trickles down County denies Dollar General in Knappa By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian M Size of new store was an issue By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian The Clatsop County Board of Commis- sioners on Wednesday voted against a new Dollar General store in Knappa that would have been more than twice the size of what is allowed in rural commercial zones. Cross Development had applied to build a 9,100-square-foot store at the southeast corner of U.S. Highway 30 and Hillcrest Loop. The property, owned by Rod Zweber, has hosted several restaurants but has long been vacant. Cross Development would have demol- ished an existing building, built new and leased the property to Dollar General. Zweber’s property lies in a rural commer- cial and light industrial zone allowing small- scale, low-impact businesses in buildings up to 4,000 square feet, “unless large buildings are intended to serve the rural community, surrounding rural area or travelers.” Fishing boats sit docked at a marina near the Old Youngs Bay Bridge. ‘IT MEANS A LITTLE BIT OF A PAYCHECK. IT’S NOT ENOUGH. I WOULD RATHER BE FISHING AND NOT HAVING TO WORRY ABOUT FREE MONEY.’ oney local commercial salmon fishermen will soon receive as compensation after reform pol- icies pushed them off the Columbia River is “not nothing.” But it’s not quite some- thing, either. “It means a little bit of a paycheck,” said David Quashnick, a gillnetter who has been fishing since he was a teenager and now has two sons who run their own boats. “It’s not enough. I would rather be fishing and not having to worry about free money.” Clatsop County informed 129 com- mercial gillnetters in September that they were eligible for a cut of the $500,000 set aside in the state’s Columbia River Tran- sition Fund to compensate them for direct economic losses and reimburse them for gear. This month, county officials said 124 fishermen had responded and applied for around $460,000 worth of the pot as of last week. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will give final approval for how the county intends to distribute the funds, but Theresa Dursse, executive David Quashnick | a gillnetter who has been fishing since he was a teenager See GILLNETTERS, Page 7A See STORE, Page 4A Housing, development dominate mayoral debate Candidates for mayor talk policy By KATIE FRANKOWICZ The Daily Astorian Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian From left, Astoria mayoral candidates Dulcye Taylor, Michael ‘Sasha’ Miller and Bruce Jones debate at Clatsop Community College. Imagine a $1 million grant falls out of the sky and lands at the feet of Astoria’s next mayor. At a debate among the three candi- dates for mayor Wednesday night, moder- ator Chris Breitmeyer, president of Clatsop Community College, asked: What would you do with the money? City Councilor Bruce Jones, deputy director of the Columbia River Maritime Museum and a former Coast Guard com- mander, would use the money for afford- able housing, expanding child care and working with the state to train and certify more home child care providers. “When we don’t have adequate child care, mothers or fathers who wish to work, one of them has to stay home and can’t work and that means they might not be able to keep paying their mortgage or paying their rent,” he said. Dulcye Taylor, owner of Old Town Framing Co. and president of the Astoria Downtown Historic District Association, would use the money to buy property on Irving Street — the long-vacant lot between Ninth and 10th streets — and build low-in- come housing. She would also want to find a way to use the grant to make more money. “But I’d have to figure out how to do that first,” she said. See DEBATE, Page 3A
