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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 7, 2019)
A3 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2019 Hotels: Cities on the North Coast look into the impacts of tourism stantial increase,” Jones said. “If those projects all were to open, then you’re prob- ably reasonably at a point where you can say we have enough,” the mayor added. “You don’t want any one leg of your economy to be dom- inant because then you will be weak if that sector takes a hit.” Continued from Page A1 Dismay When Hollander Hospi- tality proposed the four-story Fairfi eld Inn and Suites off the river at the base of Sec- ond Street , there was an immediate outcry from a vocal and active segment of the city’s population. They dissected the hotel’s boxy, generic design and worried about the impact of such a large building on views and public access. Did Astoria really need another large hotel? Espe- cially right on the riverfront? What did it mean for future development? Similar dismay met the announcement of the possi- ble 90-plus room Hilton or Marriott project on the South Slope on land where hotels are an outright use. By the time of a debate between mayoral candidates last fall , Hollander’s project had already been rejected by two different city boards and had an appeal fi led with the City Council. Jones, a city councilor at the time, was running for mayor, but as city councilor, he would be a supporting vote in upholding Holland- er’s appeal for the Fairfi eld Inn. He agreed with the majority of the council that city codes did not support denying the developer’s plea. But he was ready to ques- tion the proposed South Slope development. “I don’t think we need a 90-room hotel on the South Slope,” Jones said during the debate. “I think we need 90 apartments on the South Slope.” Hearings on the Fairfi eld Inn coincided with discus- sions about the Urban Core, the fi nal, downtown sec- tion of the city’s Riverfront Vision Plan. The plan guides development along the river. But the process of vetting the Fairfi eld Inn revealed ambi- guities and gaps in another section of the plan — Bridge The role of tourism Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian The Astoria Riverwalk Inn wraps around the marina at the Port of Astoria. Hollander appeals hearing, he had suggested if hotels are the problem, change the zon- ing so the use is not allowed outright. In an interview the week before, the mayor had won- dered if residents most inter- ested in restricting develop- ment and building heights along the river were primar- ily opposed to hotels. “You dig a little deeper and you ask why and they say what they really don’t want is any more chain hotels. So then you have to ask what’s more important for the city to address: a pro- hibition on hotels period, or limiting chain hotels.” City Councilor Roger Rocka, a former director of the Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce, had pushed for a 28-foot-height limit in Bridge Vista and has preferred this approach as a tool to limit uses along the river. “Do we need more hotels? I don’t know,” Rocka said. “But there may become a point where we do. Do we need them on the riverfront is ‘HAVING A NUMBER OF GUESTS — TOURISTS — COME INTO THE COMMUNITY EVERY YEAR PROVIDES AN ECONOMIC SHOT IN THE ARM. BUT THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO IT.’ Joan Herman | city councilor Vista in Uniontown — jump-starting further review of riverfront codes. What began as straight-forward clarifi ca- tions morphed into some- thing much larger as elected offi cials and people in the community saw a chance to address broader concerns about how large-scale devel- opment along the river might alter the character of Astoria. The height and scale of new buildings in Bridge Vista, which stretches from Portway Street to Second Street, were suddenly up for another debate. On Tuesday, that debate came to a partial close. The City Council decided on a 28-foot height limit for new buildings in Bridge Vista, or 35 feet if the developer grants public access. The size of a building would be limited to 30,000 square feet and can only occupy half of a lot’s area with a view corri- dor to the river. That same night, Jones also proposed an investiga- tion into limiting chain hotels and restaurants. During his bid for mayor and during the the question I struggle with.” Years before, Rocka had been part of the push to develop the Astoria River- walk and preserve views and public access. In the early 2000s, he and others fought against a slew of potential condominium projects. If they thought their work was done, the Fairfi eld Inn was a wake-up call, he said. of fi nancing.” So far, neither Holland- er’s Fairfi eld Inn project nor the South Slope develop- ment have moved forward. Hollander won the appeal but has yet to pull any per- mits with the city. The devel- oper has just over a year to take advantage of the city’s approval. Hollander also owns vacant property just to the west of the Maritime Memorial Park and the Asto- ria Bridge . Astoria Hotel Investors, a partnership between Kan- sas City, Missouri, develop- ers John Ferguson and Lew Wiens, still owns the South Slope property. The site, complete with the decaying remains of the former Bay- side Sentry Market, remains as untouched as ever and city staff have not heard from the developers about permits. If all of these hotel pro- posals and other short-term lodging projects — such as a development that includes a mix of long-term apartments and vacation rentals the city recently approved near Safe- way — actually come on board, “that’s a pretty sub- THE KIDS ARE LOOKING FOR YOU – BE A CASA! Local owners Yet a third waterfront hotel project that emerged last year did not encounter any of the anxiety or furor that met the Fairfi eld Inn or South Slope projects. Proposed by the develop- ers behind Buoy Beer and the Adrift Hotel, the 39-room boutique hotel tentatively named the Bowline involves repurposing a former sea- food processing plant on the Riverwalk next door to the brewery at the base of Ninth Street. Since receiving approval from the Planning Commis- sion in January, the devel- opers have started pulling permits with the city. They anticipate beginning major Volunteer Pick of the Week Colton 1yr old Sharpei/Pit Terrier Blend Designed to amuse and cheer, this happy boy will provide enduring friendship. Read about Colton on Petfinder.com Sponsored By construction at the end of the month and hope to have the hotel open by next summer. “I am prejudiced toward local owners who are already invested in the community, who have proven themselves to provide good businesses,” City Councilor Joan Herman said. Herman has been a vocal advocate of development restrictions along the river- front. She approved of the Bowline’s smaller scale and the fact it would repurpose an existing building. Like those who testifi ed at public hearings about the Bridge Vista code amend- ments, Herman emphasized the need to preserve the waterfront for future gen- erations and not allow it to be built out with hotels like other communities that rely heavily on tourism. Similar to the Bowline, few people have had con- cerns about a hotel like the Cannery Pier. In fact, Jacob’s hotel was referenced often as a sort of gold standard during debates over the design and appearance of the Fairfi eld Inn. But a number of the cor- porate hotels are owned or at least managed by local peo- ple, Jones noted. If the con- cern is local versus corpo- rate, a purely local project on the scale of the Cannery Pier Hotel will not happen often, he said. “I don’t know how you would have gotten more peo- ple like Jake Jacob to step up,” Jones said. “It’s one thing to say you don’t want corporate businesses in town, but it’s very, very diffi cult for local people to get that kind Hotel development often happens in waves. As new hotels come on the market, opportunities will change. Room r ates and occupancy will likely dip for a while after a new hotel arrives and scoops up a share of visitors . Hotels are visible mark- ers of the region’s increasing economic reliance on tour- ism, and something — along with big-box stores — that some Astorians now point to as symbols of what they don’t want in their city. But tourism was a $12 bil- lion industry in Oregon last year, and the coast is a pow- erhouse. The region ranked second in overnight visits, just behind the Willamette Valley. The North Coast especially has reaped the benefi ts — and experienced the drawbacks . More than just hotels benefi t from booming busi- ness. Tourist dollars fuel local shops and restaurants, employ huge numbers of seasonal and year-round workers and help industries not directly connected to vis- itors: farming, landscaping, construction, electrical and plumbing. In recent years, the lodg- ing taxes Astoria collects — from in-home Airbnb-type offerings to hotels and motels — have climbed from $1.3 million in the 2013-14 fi scal year to $2.1 million in 2017- 18. Following an increase to the tax and the settlement of a lawsuit against the Astoria Riverwalk Inn, the city has collected $2.8 million for the 2018-19 fi scal year. “Having a number of guests — tourists — come into the community every year provides an economic shot in the arm,” Herman said, “but there are two sides to it.” Elected offi cials like Her- man, Rocka and Jones have concerns beyond the number of visitors. There is a lack of lower-priced, workforce housing and some employers have struggled to fi nd sea- sonal workers because of the shortage. “If we’re building more hotels, where are the employ- ees going to live?” Herman asked. Across cities on the c oast, there are questions about the impacts of tourism on traffi c, city infrastructure, wildlife, hiking trails and locals’ qual- ity of life. “When is enough enough, right?” Marcus Hinz, the executive director of the Oregon Coast Visitors Asso- ciation, said. “And I think depending on who you are you’re going to have differ- ent answers for that.” He has heard from many coastal residents who feel that what they see right now is enough — if not too much. The newly formed North Coast Tourism Management Network, a project led by Travel Oregon, exists solely to look at ways to make tourism more sustainable, both environmentally and economically. Almost more useful than asking a question like, “Does Astoria need more hotels?” is to prod at other criteria, Hinz thinks. “Will this enhance the overall quality of life for res- idents and will we be able to maintain a quality of experi- ence for visitors?” “And that last question causes you to look around, ‘Well, we could build another hotel, but there’s not more seats in the restaurants and there’s not more spaces in the parking lot and there’s already too many people on the trails,’” he said. “So the quality of experience for the visitors will decline.” C LATSOP C OUNTY A NIMAL S HELTER 1315 SE 19 th Street, Warrenton • 861 - PETS www.dogsncats.org Noon to 4pm, Tues-Sat CASA VOLUNTEER TRAINING 12 �nniversary YEAR TUESDAY 9/10/19 JOIN US FOR A FREE GLASS OF BUBBLY! 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