A4
THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, AuguST 31, 2019
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
Founded in 1873
JEREMY FELDMAN
Circulation Manager
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Production Manager
CARL EARL
Systems Manager
BEHIND THE NEWS
‘Warrenton for Warrenton is the new mantra’
W
arrenton Mayor Henry Balen-
sifer is not anti-development.
Like others on the City
Commission, the mayor has a record of
being friendly to new business in Clat-
sop County’s fastest-growing city.
So it was a little eye-opening when
Balensifer, in his first State of the City
speech in August, took a sharp line
against a relaxed approach to vetting
projects.
“Warrenton for War-
renton is the new man-
tra,” he said, urging the
city to take a careful look
at development codes
and examine growth
more intelligently.
Appointed mayor
DERRICK
after Mark Kujala
DePLEDGE
stepped down in 2017,
Balensifer, the communi-
cations manager at JBT
Lektro Inc., was elected to a four-year
term last November.
But he was first elected to the City
Commission in 2012, and served on the
Planning Commission before that, so he
had a role in some of the policy direction
he was critical of in his address.
The Warrenton High School gradu-
ate, whose grandmother, Barbara Bal-
ensifer, was mayor in the late 1990s,
talked about the theme of his speech, and
his thoughts about development, in an
interview.
Q: What motivated your speech?
A: This is, in a sense, a cultural shift
for the city. That’s why that theme came
about, is to really kind of put the flag in
the ground, so to speak.
Q: The city took a lot of grief over
Wendy’s, especially the drive-thru. In
hindsight, what would you have done
differently?
A: Our Transportation System Plan
should have been done a couple years
ago, and it didn’t really get finished until
just about the same time. That delayed
new traffic standards, because ODOT
(Oregon Department of Transportation)
doesn’t generally have a conversation
with you, just to have a conversation.
The TSP is really where you set the
standard.
Q: You mentioned neighborhoods
being built without streetlights. How
does that happen?
A: That’s a good question. I shake
my head, and scratch my head, all at the
same time.
There’s roads that are tens of feet
off the plat, so that people have skewed
yards. My only conjecture is that cer-
tain individuals who were building those
things, the city must have given a condi-
tional approval, and then said, ‘Once you
finish, it just needs to be done.’
And when it got finished, they signed
off on it, and it didn’t get done.
Q: In Astoria, we have had debates
over national chains like Grocery Out-
Lucy Kleiner/The Astorian
Mayor Henry Balensifer discusses economic development in Warrenton.
‘I dON’T HAVE ANyTHINg AgAINST BIg-BOX
STORES, I’LL BE STRAIgHT WITH THAT, ANd
NEITHER dOES THE COMMISSION. BuT IF THE
CONNOTATION IS THAT WARRENTON HAS BECOME
A duMPINg gROuNd FOR THINgS — IT’S JuST AN
INduSTRIAL WASTELANd, SO TO SPEAK — IT’S A
LOT MORE THAN THAT.’
Warrenton Mayor Henry Balensifer
let and Dollar General. We have heard
people say, “That’s what Warrenton
is for.”
A: It aggravates me, I’ll just say that.
I don’t have anything against big-box
stores, I’ll be straight with that, and nei-
ther does the commission. But if the con-
notation is that Warrenton has become a
dumping ground for things — it’s just an
industrial wasteland, so to speak — it’s a
lot more than that.
Q: Some of the best potential for
new development is around the Asto-
ria Regional Airport and the North
Coast Business Park. What kinds of
projects would you like to see happen?
A: Industrial projects. It’s zoned for
that and I’m going to zealously protect
the industrial zoning of that.
I know there is some friction between
certain individuals and entities about the
commercialization of the North Coast
Business Park. There’s probably going to
be some technicalities in law, but, right
now, it’s industrial zoned.
I feel that we have a lacking of diver-
sification of our industrial sector, and
there are opportunities to capitalize on
that.
Q: Warrenton is growing as a place
for younger families. We see it in the
housing and school enrollment data.
What can the city do to improve the
quality of life?
A: We can get more creative with our
zoning. I personally don’t like the kind
of cookie-cutter style densities that we
put into our housing.
... I think that there’s opportunities
to get more creative. I think with tiny
homes being developed in Warrenton —
and we’re working on those codes —
we’ve had a lot of local interest in that.
And that’s another key — citizen
engagement, like the Spur 104 charrette
process. So whatever comes out of Spur
104, you can’t say that the city didn’t
open it up for other thoughts, because the
community really had a very active hand
in developing the plans for that.
In traffic-challenged areas like 104,
that’s really going to be critical, is to get
community involvement in what is going
to be an acceptable level of development.
Q: What was the reaction to your
speech?
A: With the exception of one person
who didn’t live in the city of Warren-
ton, very positive. A lot of people said,
‘Finally.’
derrick dePledge is the editor of The
Astorian.
GUEST COLUMN
Grocery Outlet could bring jobs to Astoria
W
e are family representatives
for the property proposed for a
Grocery Outlet in Astoria.
We want to share a few thoughts. Our
dad, Robert P. Heestand, owned Nehalem
Valley Motor Freight, the facility now
occupied by TP Freight Lines. He was a
small-business owner who grew up in and
loved Oregon. Dad offered many good
union jobs in Astoria. Dave and Karen
Johnson, owners of NAPA Auto Parts,
asked and he built them a
building so they could ful-
fill their entrepreneurial
dreams. Thus, more jobs
were created in Astoria.
Now a developer wants
to create more jobs and
offer affordable groceries.
WILLIAM
The opposition makes little
HEESTAND
sense to us. Does Astoria
have all of the jobs it ever
needs and wants?
On July 30, reporter Katie Frankowicz
gave what appeared to be a fair overview
of the various interests, “New Grocery
Outlet in Astoria would complicate inter-
section.” On Aug. 1, she wrote, “Online
fight over Grocery Outlet echoes other
campaigns.” On Aug. 27, the editorial
department weighed in and voiced opposi-
tion to the Grocery Outlet development.
Fitting into the beauty and coastal envi-
ronment of Oregon is a priority for Astoria.
Having seen the drawings for the build-
ing, it appears to be architecturally appro-
priate. Yet, when the design team fulfilled
the need for attractiveness, new demands
and new objections came forth.
Clatskanie Chief
A line outside Grocery Outlet when a new store opened in Rainier last year.
Mysterious letters from law firms
arrived at the last minute. Now the site
traffic is a major concern? Large trucks
have been pulling in and out of the prop-
erty from U.S. Highway 30 for over 60
years.
Through the property, we’ve paid hun-
dreds of thousands of dollars in property
tax to the region over more than 60 years.
We are not some nameless entity, not out-
siders — we grew up Oregonians. We con-
tributed to the common good of Oregon.
Yet, fallow land has little tax value.
It is now crunch time for the developer
and the development has to make eco-
nomic sense to them.
The city, the citizens and the newspa-
per cannot demand that the developer find
some other land. They are a private com-
pany and have every right to buy what
they believe is viable. The same parties
cannot demand our real estate represen-
tative just magically create some other
developer to purchase and build some
project, any project, it doesn’t work that
way.
The land is private. It has a valid retail
building on it, and a valid right to develop
retail there. It also has an ancient truck ter-
minal which rightfully stands there — as
long as viable development is not allowed
to build in the location. It stands as a sore
thumb today and will for years to come
because your and our best option sits in
front of the Design Review Committee
now.
If this development fails, as citizens and
visitors alike drive by, they may wonder
why this property remains ugly and with-
out an attractive new building. The real-
ity is you can look to this date and time to
know the reason.
We as owners will have no choice but
to lease the building to any business want-
ing the space. Any retailer. Of any type.
The land has automatic rights for retail and
that is what you’ll get.
We don’t have to ask permission to sign
a lease. You truly do not know, as we do
not know, who or what will be interested.
Maybe Astoria will like it. Maybe Astoria
will not. However, if the lease offer is eco-
nomically viable, we will sign it and they
will move in.
Finally, maybe you are a citizen and
you think one of those new jobs at Gro-
cery Outlet would be good for your fam-
ily. If so, maybe it’s time to let your voice
be heard. New jobs are great. An attrac-
tive building offering affordable groceries
is great.
Opposition might seem great until you
put the whole thing into perspective —
then it is simply a bad outcome for all
concerned.
William Heestand is the family represen-
tative for the property owners.