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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2019)
A8 THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, OcTObER 5, 2019 Grocery Outlet: Denial can be appealed to the council within 15 days continued from Page A1 Frank Augstein Health officials have issued warnings about vaping. Ban: County’s health director hopes the ordinance can be a partnership with cities continued from Page A1 “That has not been brought before Seaside lead- ership,” Seaside Mayor Jay Barber said. “We have heard about the licensing of tobacco dispensaries, which I think the City Council would be very supportive of. But no, we haven’t been in that loop.” He said he would person- ally be in favor of some type of ban around vaping fla- vors, but would like more conversation to occur. Warrenton Mayor Henry Balensifer said a ban on fla- vored vaping products was discussed, but he wasn’t aware the ban included all flavored tobacco products. “I didn’t understand it to be like all flavored nicotine products at large because that encompasses quite a lot of stuff, very much well in circulation, and isn’t causing the vaping crisis type symp- toms,” he said. Warrenton City Manager ‘FLAVOREd TObAccO PROducTS ANd FLAVOREd VAPING PROducTS ARE dESIGNEd TO GET KIdS TO SMOKE — THAT’S THEIR ONLy PuRPOSE. THE WHOLE POINT OF THIS IS TO GET TEENS FROM NOT PIcKING uP VAPING, WHIcH IS A GATEWAy TO SMOKING.’ Michael McNickle | county’s public health director Linda Engbretson was also under the impression that the ban was only on vaping flavors. She said a concerned busi- ness owner came to her say- ing he also understood the ban was on vaping flavors. He said flavored menthol tobacco products are popu- lar with adults, so a broader ban would have a very big impact on his business. Michael McNickle, the county’s public health direc- tor, said the favor ban was presented to the cities. “Probably we could have done a better job explaining this specifically and that’s why we’re going to do it again,” he said. “The one the cities saw was a draft and then the draft that we sent out to our county counsel for final review was the one that the county commissioners saw,” he said. “There were differ- ent drafts going around.” McNickle said the county first wanted to know whether cities would support a tobacco retail license. “Then we said, ‘What about a flavor ban?’ And most of them said ‘yes.’ But apparently they didn’t under- stand what that means,” he said. McNickle said he hopes the ordinance can be a part- nership with cities. He said he understands people’s concerns about having access to flavored tobacco products, but said if adults have access, so do teens. “Flavored tobacco prod- ucts and flavored vaping products are designed to get kids to smoke — that’s their only purpose,” McNickle said. “The whole point of this is to get teens from not picking up vaping, which is a gateway to smoking.” walk through, which is what the Grocery Outlet design entails. “That’s where the com- mission can look either way and say, ‘This particular project does not bring the building up to that pedes- trian level,’” she said.Sis- son, a planner for Clatsop County, argued that based on staff’s interpretation of pedestrian orientation, the store’s layout does not meet guidelines by simply using striping to guide people through the parking lot and past a driveway on Marine Drive. “Being pedestrian-ori- ented to me is very import- ant, and I don’t think the project hits the mark on that,” he said. Commissioner Sarah Jane Bardy agreed with Sis- son’s assessment, calling the potential dangers simi- lar to those faced by pedes- trians who enter Safeway from the parking lot. While a majority of com- missioners found the design of the building to pass mus- ter, Bardy took issue with what she considered the cookie-cutter design of the store, similar to Grocery Outlet stores that recently broke ground in Seaside and Tillamook. Commissioner Hilarie Phelps argued that Grocery Outlet would not slow down traffic on Marine Drive any more than drivers turning into the nearby Mini Mart or on and off 23rd Street to the new co-op. “I don’t think it’s a lot that will ever be — no matter what you put there — particularly pedestri- an-friendly because of its specific location,” she said. Commission President Jared Rickenbach toyed with the idea of eliminating access from Marine Drive as a condition of approval, arguing that would address the majority of people’s concerns about the proj- ect. Instead, the finding was cited in the 5-0 vote to deny the project. Phelps and Commis- sioner Bob Levine shared concerns that the store’s proposed monument sign, elevated 10 feet in the air, would block the view of passing motorists on Marine Drive from seeing traffic on Commercial Street. The commission’s denial can be appealed to the City Council within 15 days. Food hub: ‘We want to open it up’ continued from Page A1 The concrete build- ing’s facade features glass blocks near the top of a blank wall. Blackler hopes to cut into the walls between the building’s pil- lars, installing large win- dows or roll-up glass garage doors. “We want to open it up,” he said. “It’s kind of a dank, dungeon looking thing down there.” The former Port of Call and Astoria Event Cen- ter have been vacant since Marvin James Sawyer, the former owner of Port of Call, was forced out two years ago after a rental dispute. The building was the last to be sold by Luottamus Partners, a former partnership between Paavola and the late Robert “Mitch” Mitchum. Blackler is undecided what will be done with the Astoria Event Center, which used to host wres- tling, the FisherPoets Gath- ering and other events. He plans to store equip- ment there for his consult- ing company repairing and reselling food processing equipment. PORTLAND DERMATOLOGY Feel confident in your skin. Our expert dermatologists provide quality care patients have relied on since 1960. Now as The Oregon Clinic Portland Dermatology. (503) 223-3104 I OregonClinic.com