147TH YEAR, NO. 84
WEEKEND EDITION // SATuRdAY, JANuARY 11, 2020
$1.50
County
approves
tobacco
ordinance
Advocates complain
it was watered down
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian
Pacific Seafood Group wants to turn Astoria Pointe, the former treatment center in Uniontown, into temporary worker housing.
Pacific Seafood Group eyes
Astoria Pointe for housing
Property was used
for drug treatment
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
acific Seafood Group wants to
convert Astoria Pointe, a former
drug and alcohol treatment center
in Uniontown, into temporary housing
for up to 125 workers.
The company has applied for a
one-year conditional use permit at the
nearly 16,000-square-foot facility off
Exchange Street. The application goes
before the Astoria Planning Commis-
sion on Jan. 28.
Pacific Seafood declined to discuss
the project.
“Applicant has visited the structure
several times, has asked its architect to
P
See Astoria Pointe, Page A6
Clatsop
County
commissioners
approved a tobacco retail license Wednes-
day night, but some advocates of the ordi-
nance say it has been watered down and
has lost its effectiveness.
The
ordinance
will give the county
the authority to
license and inspect
tobacco retailers to
ensure they follow
Tobacco 21, which
outlawed the sale of
tobacco products to
people under 21 years old.
This was the second version to come
before commissioners — this time with-
out a flavor ban.
Commissioners delayed action in Sep-
tember after claims that cities and local
tobacco retailers had not been informed
about a ban on all flavored tobacco prod-
ucts. Local tobacco retailers and the elec-
tronic cigarette company, Juul, urged
commissioners to exclude the flavor ban
component.
Michael McNickle, the county’s public
health director, said commissioners told
him they would unanimously support the
ordinance if it were revised to exclude a
flavor ban.
John Harper, a local tobacco retailer,
told commissioners Wednesday he sup-
ports the updated ordinance. However, he
asked that they remove a section restrict-
ing retailers from accepting price discount
See Tobacco, Page A6
Pacific Seafood Group has already gained approval for a bunkhouse for workers in
Hammond.
Warrenton
signs off on
apartments
Planners back
a 28-unit project
A popular maple tree falls in Alderbrook
WARRENTON — The Planning
Commission on Thursday conditionally
approved the 28-unit Latitude 46 Apart-
ments on Jetty Avenue.
Jennifer and Jeff
Canessa are planning
the apartment com-
MORE
plex next to a proposed
INSIDE
66-unit project by
Warrenton
developer Jason Palm-
planners
berg approved by the
approve
city in 2018. The two
jail design
complexes will share
without
stormwater treatment,
sidewalks
but Palmberg said he
Page A2
doesn’t expect to start
construction on the
larger complex until
next summer.
The approval of the Canessa’s project
came with 14 conditions from Kevin Cro-
nin, the city’s community development
director. In one of the more controversial
conditions, he recommended the Canes-
sas cover 28 of the 49 planned parking
spots with carports, a city standard not
required in several previous apartment
projects.
Jennifer Canessa argued the carports
would be hideous, block landscaping and
make the complex look like a parking
garage.
“We want it to look aesthetically beau-
tiful,” she said. “We want our tenants
to feel like they are living with dignity.
They’ve got a great place to live.”
Palmberg,
at
the
meeting
Damaged by high winds
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
Connie Clifford has more
than 40 years of history with
the bigleaf maple behind her
house, standing sentry at the
center of Violet LaPlante Park
in Alderbrook.
A photo in The Astorian
from 1987 shows her sons, Dan-
iel and James Benoit, playing in
a pile of the tree’s leaves.
But Clifford said she under-
stands why the city started
removing the popular tree
Thursday, after it was further
damaged in a windstorm.
“We’ve lived in the North-
west long enough to know that
trees can … these windstorms
can wreak havoc, and that tree
could hit our house,” she said.
High winds recently sent
the maple’s branches crashing
down into the park. The tree was
stabilized with a cable in 2015
after a crack between its dual
trunks — rising from a main
stem like halves of a wishbone
See Tree, Page A6
Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian
ABOVE: Using chainsaws and a cherry picker, Arbor
Care Tree Specialists cut down a popular bigleaf
maple tree at Violet LaPlante Park in Astoria on
Thursday. The old tree had suffered damage from
recent storms.
RIGHT: Connie Clifford holds a photo from 1987 of
her children, Daniel and James Benoit, playing in a
pile of leaves below a maple in Violet LaPlante Park.
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
Edward Stratton/The Astorian
See Apartments, Page A6