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PAGE 8
THURSDAY,
OCTOBER 24,
2019 // 1
DailyAstorian.com // THuRSdAY, OcTObER 24, 2019
147TH YEAR, NO. 50
$1.50
Astoria could
see denser
development
downtown
Astoria
approves
Bridge Vista
standards
A move toward
greater flexibility
Port objects to view corridors
By EDWARD STRATTON,
The Astorian
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
The Astoria Planning Commission on
Tuesday warmed to taller buildings and
more development along the downtown
waterfront, including new hotels over
water in existing buildings.
The Urban Core, which includes
downtown and waterfront properties
between Second and 16th streets, is the
last of four sections of the city’s Riv-
erfront Vision Plan guiding develop-
ment along the Columbia River. The
City Council has approved new devel-
opment rules for Bridge Vista in Union-
town, the Civic Greenway east of down-
town and the Neighborhood Greenway in
Alderbrook.
The outline for Urban Core antici-
pates a mix of commercial, residential
and water-dependent uses with denser
development and a preservation of river
views. Some of the more controversial
recommendations included prohibitions
on certain uses over water, such as new
hotels, homes and medical and profes-
sional offices.
The proposed prohibition on hotels
came in part from criticism over the four-
story Marriott Fairfield Inn & Suites fran-
chise approved by the City Council last
year at the former Ship Inn restaurant.
The approval sparked a review of devel-
opment codes in the Bridge Vista section
of the Riverfront Vision Plan to protect
the public’s views along the waterfront,
seen as the city’s most desirable commer-
cial land.
But planning commissioners largely
agreed that downtown was meant
for denser development and fewer
restrictions.
“Looking at some of the numbers
we put on things (downtown), I think it
really was in response to this kind of con-
cern about what we lost in Bridge Vista,”
Commissioner Jennifer Cameron-Lattek
said. “And if we don’t have that concern
anymore, do we feel differently about
the height restrictions in the Urban Core
area? Because if we do … this is where
we should have a little more density and
development.”
Much of the backlash to hotels has
focused on chains like Marriott and the
belief Astoria might be approaching too
many rooms. The City Council raised the
possibility of banning chain hotels and
will discuss the issue in January. Rose-
mary Johnson and Matt Hastie, plan-
ning consultants for the city, said parking
requirements would be a natural limiting
factor on allowable hotels downtown.
The Bowline Hotel under construc-
tion next to Buoy Beer Co. might have
been the last approved hotel on the
downtown waterfront. But planning
commissioners reached a consensus
that other new hotels should be allowed
as a conditional use in existing build-
ings, which property owners should
be allowed to expand within the city’s
height and mass restrictions.
See Downtown, Page A5
in 2015 when Chief Justice Thomas
Balmer presented her with a lifetime
achievement award for her work with
abused and neglected children.
Brownhill was appointed by Gov.
Barbara Roberts to fill Judge Thomas
Edison’s position on the Clatsop
County Circuit Court in 1994 and was
elected four times.
After 25 years on the bench, the
presiding judge will retire on Oct. 31.
However, she won’t be gone long.
Brownhill chose a retirement
option that requires her to work 35
days a year for five years filling in for
judges around the state. She said the
option allows her to stay up-to-date
with changes to the law and gives
her the opportunity to travel to new
places.
The Astoria City Council on Mon-
day unanimously approved development
restrictions around the Astoria Bridge,
declining the Port of Astoria’s calls to hold
off on preserving two view corridors in
Uniontown that run through its property.
The Bridge Vista overlay zone is one
of four sections in the city’s Riverfront
Vision Plan guiding development along
the Columbia River. It covers properties
between Portway and Second streets and
reflects a desire to preserve the public’s
view of the bridge and the river through
smaller buildings and other standards.
Bridge Vista has been under dis-
cussion for several years, with codes
approved in 2015. But a new City Coun-
cil started looking at amendments follow-
ing criticism over the approval of a four-
story Fairfield Inn & Suites at the former
Ship Inn restaurant and amid mounting
pressure against new hotels.
City councilors agreed last month on
a set of restrictions for new buildings,
including a 28-foot height limit with
stepbacks for higher floors, or 35 feet if
the developer grants public access. Each
building would be limited to 30,000
square feet. Buildings would only be able
to occupy half of a lot’s area and would
require a 60-foot view corridor to the
river in between structures.
The Port and Fort George Brewery, the
new owner of the Astoria Warehousing
property, can apply with the City Coun-
cil in the next five years for exceptions
to the building restrictions by submitting
master plans for their properties. The plan
districts are a nod to the unique potential
of the properties to attract industry, man-
ufacturing and higher-paying jobs.
City councilors argued that the restric-
tions strike a balance between property
owners’ rights and a public desire to pre-
serve river views. The council has increased
allowable building size and height from
what had initially been broached, while
creating more restrictive rules than those
approved in 2015, Mayor Bruce Jones said.
“I think it’s a good compromise
between citizens who are pushing for
greater protection of the waterfront, and
the property owners who are pushing to
not have their rights restricted,” he said.
A last-minute sticking point was the
protection of two view corridors from the
dead-end Bay and Basin streets in Union-
town to the river. Two business owners
worried their views could be taken away
by the development of a vacant piece of
land at the end of Bay Street. The Port
leases the lot to developer Mark Hol-
lander, who is behind the Fairfield Inn
and has sought to build multiple Marriott
hotel franchises in Astoria.
Dirk Rohne, the president of the Port
Commission, asked the City Council to
approve Bridge Vista code amendments but
set aside the view corridors, arguing they
were last-minute additions that undercut the
Port Commission’s legitimacy to manage
the agency’s property.
See Brownhill, Page A6
See Bridge Vista, Page A5
Brownhill reflects
on time as judge
Photos by Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian
Circuit Court Judge Paula Brownhill will retire on Oct. 31.
An advocate for children
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
T
en years ago, Judge Paula
Brownhill met a 3-year-old
boy who had come through the
court system to be placed with foster
parents.
His parents were engaged in drug
use, criminal activity and violence.
The judge said the boy had suffered
a great deal of trauma and did not
receive sufficient treatment.
He and his half-sister were ini-
tially placed together in foster care
with a relative, but eventually, they
were split up. Since then, the judge
has watched the boy get placed in one
home after another.
Although he is no longer in Clat-
sop County, Brownhill still keeps in
touch with him. “He is a great kid,
and he deserves a permanent home,”
she said.
Brownhill, 68, is most passion-
ate about cases involving children.
She has been an advocate for children
since she began her career as a law-
yer and has been recognized over the
years for her efforts to improve court
processes for children as a judge.
Chief Justice Wallace Carson
named her the juvenile court cham-
pion in 2002 for raising the pro-
file and priority of child abuse and
neglect cases. She was honored again
Judge Paula Brownhill’s engraved gavel
sits on the bench in Courtroom 300.
City signs off on dock lease
Partnership with
river cruise line
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
The Astoria City Council on
Monday approved a lease of the
eastern end of the 17th Street Dock
to American Cruise Lines.
The city leases moorage space
to visiting river cruise boats on
the eastern side of the dock behind
the Columbia River Maritime
Museum. The agreement lets city
staff outsource scheduling of the
ships and gives American Cruise
Lines, which comprises about two-
thirds of ship calls, priority dock-
ing rights while making reasonable
accommodations and setting rates
for competitors.
In exchange, American Cruise
Lines will pay the city $80,000 a
year for the first three years. After-
ward, the city will receive $80,000
a year plus $500 for each vessel
docking beyond 110 a year, with
the figure increased annually by 2%
or the last year’s consumer price
index.
Jeff Harrington, the city’s pub-
lic works director, has argued the
agreement frees up city staff, allows
for quicker repairs if any of the ail-
ing mooring dolphins fail and pro-
vides an equivalent amount of rev-
enue to what the city currently
Edward Stratton/The Astorian
See Dock lease, Page A6
American Cruise Lines will handle docking of river cruise and other ships at Astoria’s 17th Street Dock.