A2
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2019
Residents critical of state over
Norriston Heights timber sale
IN BRIEF
Astoria Library offers
underground archive tours
The Astoria Library is providing tours of its basement
archives for American Archives Month.
Library Director Jimmy Pearson will offer tours at 10
and 11:15 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 14 and Oct. 21. Tours
are limited to 10 people. Call 503-325-7323 to reserve
a place.
The library recently received a $17,327 grant from
the Oregon Cultural Trust to assist with processing and
preservation. The archival project has received nearly
$80,000 in grants overall.
“I would say in two years we’ll have it where I want
it to be,” Pearson said.
That will include a website, keyword-searchable
documents and MacBooks for viewing archives in the
library.
— The Astorian
Peninsula sands produce
bivalve windfall
LONG BEACH, Wash. — The fi rst fall clam dig of
the season didn’t disappoint.
Crisp weather, calm tides and clear morning condi-
tions culminated in fast and frequent limits from Seaview
to Oysterville over the weekend, the fi rst of several digs
slated for the Long Beach Peninsula this fall.
The three mornings attracted a big crowd that made
an estimated 18,900 clam-digging trips, resulting in a
harvest of 281,800 clams. This includes about 19,700
that were dug up but not kept — which the Washing-
ton Department of Fish and Wildlife counts as wastage
and applies against the overall season quota of around
5.2 million.
“Success was high for most everyone,” Dan Ayres,
the state coastal shellfi sh manager, said.
An average of 14.9 clams were retained per person,
meaning virtually all diggers achieved a 15-clam limit.
The average size was 3.8 inches.
“The average size was on the small side, as we
expected. These clams will continue to grow and that
will be noticeable in the months ahead,” Ayres said. “I
worked with my crew collecting catch and effort data
on Saturday and was impressed with how many people
thanked us for the chance to get out and dig and surpris-
ingly there were actually very few complaints about the
small size of the clams.”
— Chinook Observer
More vaping lung illness cases
reported in Oregon
State health offi cials say three additional cases of
severe lung illnesses linked to vaping have been reported,
bringing the total to eight.
The Oregon Health Authority said last week that two
Oregon victims had died. That escalation prompted the
state, lawmakers and Gov. Kate Brown to launch a bar-
rage of anti-vaping messaging, including calls for action.
The Oregonian reported the fi ve victims Oregon offi -
cials disclosed last week all shopped at legal retail mari-
juana stores. A health authority spokesman did not say if
the three new cases did, too.
The state on Friday proposed a six-month ban on vap-
ing products, part of a six-point list of options for the
governor’s consideration for stemming the tide of vap-
ing-related illnesses.
Last week, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee directed the
state Board of Health to exercise its emergency author-
ity to ban all fl avored vaping products, including those
with THC.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Preven-
tion said there are more than 800 confi rmed and proba-
ble cases nationwide.
— Associated Press
ON THE RECORD
Assault
• Robert Francis
Cole, 43, of Astoria, was
arrested Tuesday at his
home for assault in the
third degree and disor-
derly conduct in the sec-
ond degree. Police said
Cole drove home fol-
lowing a fi ght at Capri-
corn Pub and Fine Foods
in Astoria. The victim
was taken to Columbia
Memorial Hospital for
signifi cant injuries.
DUII
• Josh Mons Engels-
tad, 43, of Sherwood, was
arrested Tuesday for driv-
ing under the infl uence of
intoxicants, reckless driv-
ing, failure to perform
duties of a driver in an
accident with property
damage and driving while
suspended and revoked.
His blood alcohol con-
tent was 0.19%. Police
said he was involved in
a hit and run earlier on
U.S. Highway 26. Engel-
stad’s car had extensive
damage but he continued
to drive away. The other
vehicle sustained little to
no damage.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
THURSDAY
Astoria Design Review
Commission, 5:30 p.m.,
City Hall, 1095 Duane St.
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2019 by The Astorian.
Clearcut on hold
for at least a year
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
Representatives from the
Oregon Department of For-
estry met with Arch Cape
residents Monday follow-
ing the decision to delay
the Norriston Heights tim-
ber sale.
The discussion was facil-
itated by Clatsop County
c ommissioners and staff
who hope this will be the
fi rst of many talks until
a solution is found . The
state had planned a modi-
fi ed clearcut of more than
70 acres on the east side of
U.S. Highway 101 between
Arcadia Beach and Hug
Point.
About 20 people would
be affected by the timber
sale , but more than 50 peo-
ple attended the meeting in
Astoria.
Among those in the audi-
Money would pay
for compliance
By R.J. MARX
The Astorian
SEASIDE — Vacation
rental license fees could go
up 500% or more in January .
The annual fees vary from
$75 to $150, depending on
a rental property’s occu-
pancy. The fee could jump to
$500 to pay for a new code
enforcement offi cer who
would conduct inspections
and enforcement.
T he City Council and
Planning Commission con-
vened a workshop Monday
to develop new guidelines
to help promote affordable
long-term rentals and work-
force housing and reduce
complaints relating to noise,
litter and parking.
“Some of these concerns
that have been brought up
are the livability of the areas
where there are” vacation
rentals , David Posalski, the
vice chairman of the Plan-
ning Commission, said.
“That’s really what these
ideas are trying to address.”
Raising
the
annual
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R.J. Marx/The Astorian
Members of the Seaside Planning Commission and the City
Council met Monday at City Hall.
license fee found unanimous
support .
“It’s not going to do any
good to change the ordi-
nances if we don’t have this
person in place,” C ity C oun-
cilor Dana Phillips said of a
code enforcement offi cer .
Inspection fees, currently
at $84, could also be hiked or
incorporated into the overall
cost of the annual license.
At the workshop, Plan-
ning Director Kevin Cupples
laid out options designed to
increase the stock of work-
force housing and cut down
on quality-of-life complaints .
While vacation rentals are
not supported east of Neawa-
nna Street, North and South
Holladay Drive and South
Roosevelt, areas west of U.S.
Highway 101 could see fur-
ther limits on density, includ-
ing a neighborhood cap.
For example, if the limit
was 40%, four properties
within a zone could receive
conditional use permits as
vacation rentals , Posalski
said.
In calculating boundar-
ies, offi cials could measure
either a suggested 100 feet
or 200 feet from the subject
property site.
Areas on the Prom des-
ignated
resort-residential
would be exempt, as hotels
are permitted outright.
Parking limits and the
elimination of “stacked”
parking in long driveways
could also be added to the list
of restrictions.
Other changes could be a
limit of one vacation rental
Rabbits not the
only problem
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
CANNON BEACH —
Although it may be tempt-
ing to feed cute wild animals,
Cannon Beach is calling an
end to it.
City councilors approved
an ordinance Tuesday night
making it illegal to feed
wild animals. The restric-
tions include people placing
food on their property for the
animals.
Wild animals are described
as birds, raccoons, squirrels,
opossums and rabbits, among
others.
Although rabbits have his-
torically raised havoc in Can-
non Beach, they are not the
only ones people are feed-
ing. “I think the rabbits were
Colin Murphey/The Astorian
Cannon Beach is making it illegal to feed wild animals.
just the straw that broke the
camel’s back,” Mayor Sam
Steidel said.
Warrenton passed a simi-
lar ordinance in 2016 to dis-
courage people from feeding
elk . Gearhart followed earlier
this year.
For Cannon Beach, it’s
permit per property owner, a
requirement for a local emer-
gency contact and annual
compliance inspections.
While policy changes will
be the topic of future Plan-
ning Commission sessions,
the license fee will be a mat-
ter for a City C ouncil vote.
Timing could be an issue ,
as business license applica-
tions will be mailed out in
November.
Public hearings will be
scheduled for Oct. 14 and
Oct. 28.
Business licenses are usu-
ally sent out Nov. 15 . “We
may need to shorten the
period people have to send it
in, but it will still be reason-
able, ” City Manager Mark
Winstanley said.
Even if the council does
approve funding, hiring a
code enforcement offi cer
could be a diffi cult process,
Winstanley said.
“You’re not hiring some-
body who looks at this job
and says, ‘This is going to
be fun.’ It is a diffi cult job
to fi ll,” he said. “You’d be
doing very well if you hired
somebody by the beginning
of 2020. I think that’s the
earliest.”
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about not attracting wild ani-
mals and educating the public
on why it is harmful to feed
them .
The ordinance would clas-
sify attracting or feeding
wildlife as a public nuisance.
T he violation will be a misde-
meanor with a maximum fi ne
of $500.
For the fi rst year, the city
will enforce the ban through
warnings and education, but
after that, people will start
being cited.
People are still allowed
to feed songbirds as long as
the food is in a container that
prevents access from wild
animals.
People can also continue
to feed wild animals they
have kept under a valid permit
issued by the Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife.
Steidel said people have
been thinking about an ordi-
nance for a while. More
recently, residents grew frus-
trated with people feeding
seagulls because it creates a
mess and is costly to clean.
“Also there’s an aspect
of being healthy for the ani-
mals,” he said. “If you start
feeding them all french fries,
it’s not natural for them. ”
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could have presented to and
shared what your process is
and what your process has
been for Norriston to show
some of the steps you’ve
taken to mitigate some of
the concerns here. B ecause
I do think every time you’re
in the room with the pub-
lic this is an opportunity as
representatives of a public
agency to speak to us.”
She asked for more dia-
logue in the future .
Liz Dent, the state for-
ests division chief , said the
department’s focus is on
moving forward method-
ically and thoughtfully to
fi nd a solution that has the
“greatest permanent value.”
She said the department is
looking at ways to improve
outreach and engagement.
She also assured people that
the timber sale was modi-
fi ed to exceed the depart-
ment’s standards.
“I don’t think any-
one kind of wants to be in
this spot again a year from
now,” Dent said.
Cannon Beach makes it illegal to feed wild animals
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MAIL (IN COUNTY)
EZpay (per month) ...............................................................................................................$11.25
13 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$37.00
26 weeks in advance ...........................................................................................................$71.00
52 weeks in advance ........................................................................................................ $135.00
the Department of Forest-
ry’s timber sale program,
said Doug Cooper, the v ice
p resident of r esources for
Hampton Lumber.
But h e also said the
d epartment should do a bet-
ter job communicating with
residents.
“I really do believe there
is a lot more care and pro-
tection that the depart-
ment puts into their timber
sales, how they’re laid out,
all the concerns that they
addressed that I don’t think
you were able to hear about
today,” Cooper said.
“Going forward, I would
hope the staff do take the
opportunity to inform peo-
ple and tell them everything
that they do in the timber
sale moving forward.”
Nadia Gardner, an Arch
Cape resident and environ-
mental advocate, agreed.
“I’m disappointed actu-
ally in ODF today,” she
said .
“Look at all the peo-
ple in this room that you
Vacation rental fees could soar in Seaside
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ence were concerned resi-
dents along the N orth C oast
and representatives from
environmental groups and
from Hampton Lumber.
Residents reiterated their
concerns about the proposed
clearcut and shared their
disappointment in what
they consider the Depart-
ment of Forestry’s lack of
transparency .
Many said they are
thankful the department
delayed the sale, but would
prefer permanent protection
of the land instead of a sug-
gested land exchange.
Jewell and Rockaway
Beach residents cautioned
against a land exchange,
sharing claims about the
impact of clear cuts on their
drinking water.
T he Department of For-
estry had little to say and
spent most of the discussion
listening.
The timber sale is
important to Hampton Lum-
ber, as they are a purchaser
of the timber produced from
up to
25
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20
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