DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2018
146TH YEAR, NO. 92
ONE DOLLAR
Police
delay
plans
to move
homeless
Some campers
claim disabilities
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Photos by Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
The rock formation looms large in the
background as waves crash along Cannon Beach.
Who visits
Haystack Rock?
New survey delves into where
visitors come from and how often
Astoria police will delay moving home-
less people out of the woods.
Officers had planned to begin clearing
camps today after posting cleanup notices
and talking to campers last week. But police
have delayed the sweeps until Friday after
two homeless people camping in the woods,
claiming disabilities, sent notices to the city
under the Fair Housing Act. They asked for
more time to clean up their camps and find
somewhere else to go, Police Chief Geoff
Spalding told the City Council.
While the federal law is not necessar-
ily applicable in this situation, Spalding
said, “We don’t want to get in the business
of making determinations if somebody has
a disability or not, and it’s entirely possible
they do.”
Both homeless people told police they
would likely be moved out of the woods
sooner than Friday, but Spalding decided that
if they were going to extend the deadline for
two people, they might as well extend it for
everyone who received notices. Police had
gone out last week to tag roughly a dozen
sites identified in September. Of the 12 sites,
nine were occupied.
See HOMELESS:, Page 7A
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
C
Businesses
want help
with bridge
project
ANNON BEACH — A recent
survey shows visitors at Hay-
stack Rock like to come often
and from places outside of
Oregon.
The survey, facilitated by the feder-
ally and state-funded Oregon Sea Grant,
was conducted over six weeks this sum-
mer to study the demographics of those
who visit the 235-foot sea stack each
year.
While Haystack Rock Awareness
Program has tracked the number of vis-
itors for years — which has now topped
more than 90,000 — this is the first time
the group has seen a better look at the
demographics.
“We really wanted to learn about why
visitors came here,” said Melissa Key-
ser, program director of the Haystack
Rock Awareness Program. “We wanted
to ask them who they are and figure out
how well we were educating them, so
we can learn how to better engage with
them.”
Over the course of the summer, Dylan
Rozansky, the marine science scholar
chosen by the awareness program to
conduct the study, interviewed people at
the beach and at educational events, and
collected data from online surveys. He
asked beachgoers questions about where
they traveled from, whether they had
See HAYSTACK ROCK, Page 7A
Haystack Rock is the site of nesting grounds for several endangered bird species.
‘WE REALLY WANTED TO LEARN
ABOUT WHY VISITORS CAME HERE.
WE WANTED TO ASK THEM WHO
THEY ARE AND FIGURE OUT HOW
WELL WE WERE EDUCATING THEM,
SO WE CAN LEARN HOW TO BETTER
ENGAGE WITH THEM.’
Disruption along
the waterfront
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Daily Astorian
Business owners at the base of 11th Street
pleaded with the Astoria City Council for
help Monday night, saying foot traffic and
profits have plummeted now that major con-
struction work on three waterfront bridges is
underway.
“We understand that this project must go
on but — help!” said Karen Allen, who with
her husband, Steve, owns Astoria Brewing
Co. and the Pier 11 building.
The Allens estimate they will see a loss
of $100,000 to $200,000 for one business
Melissa Keyser | program director of the Haystack Rock Awareness Program
See BRIDGE PROJECT, Page 7A
Wendy’s to start building soon in Warrenton
Company hopes
to hire 50 people
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
WARRENTON — The
owners of a proposed Wendy’s
in Warrenton hope to begin
construction by Thanksgiving,
hire about 50 people and open
by mid-March.
Group W AKSAN Warren-
ton recently closed on about
one-half of an acre in the War-
renton Highlands shopping
center at the southwest cor-
ner of Ensign Lane and U.S.
Highway 101. The site will
be Steve Harris’ 26th Wendy’s
franchise.
Harris’ company runs 25
other restaurants in the Pacific
Northwest and is part of
AKSAN United Fortune Inc., a
chain of more than 60 Wendy’s
restaurants throughout the West.
He was attracted to Warrenton
by the year-round local popu-
lation and central location in a
large shopping center, he said.
Construction is expected
to take about 14 weeks, said
Jason Graber, a facilities coor-
dinator with AKSAN United
Fortune. The 2,400-square
foot store will include seating
for 40, an outdoor patio and
nine parking spots.
About two-thirds of Wen-
dy’s customers will come
through the drive-thru ringing
the property, Harris said.
The restaurant will begin
recruiting up to 50 employees
starting early next year, and
staffing will eventually settle
in at around 40, Harris said.
Finding workers will
likely be difficult, with Clat-
sop County and the state at the
lowest rate of unemployment
since at least the 1970s. Other
companies have reported
issues finding workers, and
workers have had difficulty
finding affordable housing.
See WENDY’S, Page 7A
AKSAN United Fortune Inc.
A 2,400-square-foot Wendy’s restaurant planned for the
Warrenton Highlands shopping center will include a nar-
row rectangular restaurant with seating for 40, an outdoor
patio and a drive-thru ringing the property.