The daily Astorian., October 03, 2019, Image 1

147TH YEAR, NO. 41
DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2019
$1.50
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
The former Astoria Warehousing property sits off the Astoria Riverwalk, east of the Astoria Bridge.
FORT GEORGE BREWERY TO
BUY ASTORIA WAREHOUSING
A hub for canning
and distribution
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
F
ort George Brewery is preparing
to buy the former Astoria Ware-
housing for canning and distribu-
tion operations.
The Astoria City Council on Mon-
day unanimously approved a whole-
sale liquor license application for Fort
George at the warehouses, along with a
$1 million grant from the state to clean
up petroleum contamination.
Chris Nemlowill, who started the
brewery with Jack Harris in 2006, gave
the City Council an overview of the
company’s plans.
“For about the 20 months, we’ve
been looking at property on the water-
front,” Nemlowill said. “For years now,
we’ve just been looking for more space
for can storage. We need more space to
work on distribution. When we found
this property was available, it was really
ideal. It has loading docks. It’s a beauti-
ful space on the waterfront.”
The owners of Astoria Warehous-
ing Inc., a salmon-canning and-labeling
Port approves strategic business plan
company founded in 1983 and occupy-
ing several acres along the central water-
front near the Astoria Bridge, closed the
operation last year and relocated to the
Seattle area. The closure meant the loss
of upward of 25 local jobs and left a large
swath of land and warehouses along the
waterfront primed for development.
Harris and Nemlowill started Fort
See Brewery, Page A6
Shooting
Stars and
state reach
agreement
Child care center gets
temporary license
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Boats moored at the Port of Astoria.
A step toward state funding
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
The Port of Astoria Commission on Tuesday
approved an updated strategic business plan more
than two years in the making, inching closer to the
possibility of more state funding to help fi x crum-
bling infrastructure.
The Port contracted Mary McArthur, execu-
tive director of the Columbia-Pacifi c Economic
Development District, to create the plan,
which focuses on returning the Port to fi nancial
stability and public credibility over the next two
years.
An approved plan is required for the Port to
get more grants and loans from Business Ore-
gon, the state’s economic development agency,
which has funded many of the Port’s infrastructure
improvements.
MORE
INSIDE
Uniontown
plan
could
trouble
Port
Page A3
See Port, Page A6
Cannon Beach restricts vacation rentals
City curtails
permit options
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
CANNON BEACH — In an
effort to rein in vacation rent-
als, the City Council on Tuesday
night approved an ordinance to
phase out unlimited permits.
Beginning Nov. 1, the city
will not renew fi ve-year unlim-
ited permits after they expire.
Lifetime unlimited permits will
remain in force until revoked or
terminated and they will not be
MORE INSIDE
Vacation rental fees could
soar in Seaside
Page A2
replaced.
After the unlimited permits
are phased out, Cannon Beach
will be left with 14-day permits,
which allow property owners to
have two renters per month.
Cannon Beach has about 200
short-term rental permits. Four-
teen-day permits make up the
majority, with about 120 to 125
permits. There are about 30 to 40
fi ve-year unlimited permits and
about 45 to 50 lifetime unlimited
permits.
Jeff Adams, the city’s c om-
munity d evelopment d irec-
tor, said the rule change comes
after complaints about unlimited
permits.
The ordinance will also allow
the city to better enforce short-
term rental regulations and
penalize those who don’t have a
license.
Also under the new rules,
property owners can have their
fi nes deferred if they join a
property management com-
pany. The reasoning behind that
move , Adams said, is that rent-
als under property management
companies tend to have fewer
violations .
The city said the goal with
the changes is to strike a balance
between the residential and resort
elements of the community .
“This is a discussion that has
been elevated to the state level
as a concern for a lot of peo-
ple, myself included, for how
short-term rentals might possi-
bly impact the livability of their
communities,” said state Rep.
Shooting Stars Child Development
Center will remain open with a temporary
license under a settlement agreement with
the state.
The private Astoria child care facil-
ity, which can serve up to 50 children, has
agreed to weekly on-site appointments
with a quality improvement specialist.
The specialist will review record-keep-
ing, staffi ng, supervision, training, teacher
qualifi cations, hand-washing, the enroll-
ment of staff and volunteers in a central
background registry and the separation of
infants and toddlers from older children.
In September, the state Department of
Education notifi ed Shooting Stars that the
facility’s license would not be renewed
because of too many noncompliance fi nd-
ings. After the intervention of state Sen.
Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, the state
and Shooting Stars agreed to work toward
a resolution.
State records detail several noncom-
pliance fi ndings and complaints at Shoot-
ing Stars. Over the summer, for example,
the state found there was not enough staff
for the number of children. Toddlers were
also combined with preschool and school-
age children.
State staff will help Shooting Stars
develop and fi ne-tune procedures to
address issues so they don’t have the defi -
ciencies, said Melanie Mesaros, the com-
munications director for the Department
of Education’s Early Learning Division.
Denise Giliga, the owner and direc-
tor at Shooting Stars, said she is confi dent
she will be able able to work with the state
and stay in compliance.
Giliga said she is also working with
Northwest Regional Child Care Resource
and Referral to help identify any pitfalls or
stumbling blocks they can help eliminate.
See Shooting Stars, Page A6
See Rentals, Page A6
COASt WEEKEND: Fire Mountain Musicfest comes to Cannon Beach, Manzanita