VOTERS GUIDE FOR 2018 ELECTION INSIDE
DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2018
146TH YEAR, NO. 77
ONE DOLLAR
Astoria
bans
camping
in the
woods
City hopes to work
with the homeless
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
The ceiling at Cannon Beach City Hall has been known to leak.
Cannon Beach divided over
location of new City Hall
City hopes for
a May bond
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
ANNON BEACH — The City
Council wants to ask voters in
May to approve a bond that would
pay for a new City Hall.
In a work session last week, city coun-
cilors shared their vision of what they
would like to see: More flexible work
spaces. Better technology. Environmen-
tally sustainable systems. Seismically
safe construction.
But on one critical detail, the council
remains divided — where exactly to put
it.
The council is considering rebuilding
City Hall on Gower Street or building on
the 55-acre undeveloped property known
as South Wind that sits above the tsu-
nami inundation zone. The decision could
mean the difference of millions of dollars
on the project’s price tag or the chance to
usher in the first stages of development
on a property meant to keep critical ser-
vices above water.
To help decide, SRG, a Portland-based
architecture firm, will evaluate the bene-
fits and downsides of each location, as
well as the estimated cost, in a report
expected to be published in December.
Issues surrounding City Hall have
been documented for more than a decade.
Multiple renovation plans to fix prob-
lems with air ventilation and structural
defects have been drawn up, but shelved
due to high costs and lack of feasibility.
Conversations about replacing City
Hall resurfaced at the urging of City Man-
ager Bruce St. Denis, who has concerns
See CAMPING, Page 5A
C
See CITY HALL, Page 7A
It is now illegal to camp in the woods
around Astoria, but police say they don’t
plan to start asking the estimated 30 home-
less people living in the woods to move any
time soon.
The City Council on Monday night
closed a loophole in the city’s “no camping”
rule, which banned camping in a variety of
public areas like parks and parking lots but
neglected to mention city forestland.
Advocates for the homeless, and the
homeless themselves, have concerns about
what will happen when police do begin to
move people out of the woods.
“There’s a lot of barriers that keep people
out there,” said John Nordquist, who lives in
a tent in the woods. “I’d say most of them
don’t want to be out there. Some of them like
it, some of them enjoy it. The ones that do
are going to go deeper into the woods. That’s
the plan. … It’s not going to go away just
because an ordinance is passed.”
Gearhart cool
to rezoning
a parcel for
new housing
A conversion from
agricultural to residential
Damage can be seen to the foundation of City Hall in Cannon Beach.
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
GEARHART — Objections from neigh-
bors and concerns from the Planning Com-
mission led to a recommendation against
the rezoning of a nearly 30-acre property in
Gearhart eyed for higher-density housing.
Residents said the property is prone to
flooding, unable to handle additional traffic
and lacks essential services.
“You want to make your $2.5 million,
walk away and leave everybody else with
the ramifications,” Mary Chandler, who lives
on McCormick Gardens Road, said at Thurs-
day’s meeting.
Planning Commissioner Terry Graff
echoed the concerns.
Bowls are set up at Cannon Beach City Hall to collect water dripping from the ceiling.
See GEARHART, Page 7A
Hey, no parking, you guys!
City gets tough near
the Goonies house
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Astoria hopes a $100 fine will curb park-
ing and traffic issues near the Goonies house in
Uppertown.
The City Council held a first reading of an
ordinance Monday night to modify city code
and enhance the fees people will have to pay if
they violate parking rules in the neighborhood.
City councilors will hold a second reading and
officially adopt the ordinance at a meeting in
November.
The city has already posted a number of
signs — “No Stopping;” “No Parking” — in
the area with only a moderate level of compli-
ance, according to City Manager Brett Estes and
Police Chief Geoff Spalding,
Spalding, after meeting with neighbors
this month, does not plan to extend the exist-
ing signage. Instead, he proposed the addition
of another sign: “Enhanced Fine Zone — $100
Fine.”
The neighborhood has long been a draw to
tourists hoping for a glimpse of the house fea-
tured in the 1985 cult classic, “The Goonies.”
Parking problems reached their height when
the Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Com-
merce staged a celebration of the film’s 30th
anniversary in 2015. The iconic house saw thou-
sands of visitors almost every day that summer.
A few months after the celebration, the city and
the chamber actively tried to keep fans away
from the house and homemade signs bloomed
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
See PARKING, Page 5A
Parking and traffic issues have plagued the Uppertown
neighborhood that is home to the Goonies house.