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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 2020)
A6 THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, JANuARy 11, 2020 Apartments: Work on two pump stations will cost close to $800,000 Continued from Page A1 supporting the Canes- sa’s project, testified that previous projects like Dick Krueger’s Forest Rim Apartments did not require carports. Mike Morgan, a planning consultant on the Canessa’s project, estimated that requiring carports would add between $50 and $100 a month to rents, esti- mated at between $1,100 and $1,250. Morgan pointed out that neither the Canessa nor Palmberg developments can be built until the city finishes upgrading two ailing pump stations on Marlin Avenue and near Fred Meyer, giving the developers six to eight months to apply for a vari- ance not to build carports. The city should also look at eliminating the design stan- dard for carports because of their look and affect on rents, he said. The work on the two pump stations will cost around $800,000, Mor- gan said, with the cost fall- ing on the city and the new users requiring more sewer service. The city has looked at an advance financed dis- trict, in which developments like the Canessa’s that lay the initial utilities would be reimbursed by future proj- ects hooking up to the lines. Discussion about the Jetty Avenue complexes’ water and sewer needs led to a larger one about the city’s capacity. Commissioner Ken Yuill said he is concerned the city doesn’t take enough account of its sewer capacity when approving new projects. He unsuccessfully tried to con- tinue the hearing on Lati- tude 46 until getting a state- ment from the city’s Public Works Department about the capacity of the wastewa- ter treatment plant. City Manager Linda Engbretson said the city is looking at the capacity of its wastewater treatment plant, which is designed to be expanded, but is not too concerned. “Our water is more of a concern than our wastewater treatment plant,” she said. Commissioner Christine Bridgens said the city also needs to look at the capacity of fire and police to handle all the new apartments. The staff report on Latitude 46 did not include any input by the Warrenton Fire Depart- ment, which recently went through a leadership change and a state investigation into safety violations. Paul Mitchell, the pres- ident of the Planning Com- mission, responded that it’s the city’s responsibility to provide police and fire as the city grows. “It isn’t for us to deny applications because we don’t have enough police and fire,” he said. Colin Murphey/The Astorian Construction workers build the interior of a housing complex in Warrenton in 2018. Astoria Pointe: Tight housing market Continued from Page A1 review the structure and has concluded that the structure, which consists of 30 rooms, can accommodate employee housing with only minimal capital investment,” Pacific Seafood’s representatives wrote the city. Pacific Seafood has cited the tight housing market on the North Coast as a reason the company has had diffi- culty finding the 300 workers needed to operate its newly rebuilt Warrenton process- ing plant at full capacity. The company buses in up to 150 workers during the peak pro- cessing season between May and November, John King, general manager of the War- renton plant, has said. The company recently gained approval from War- renton to turn part of a machine shop in Ham- mond into a 70-bed bunk- house, which could increase to 90 beds after a one-year trial. The approval followed a good-neighbor agreement requiring Pacific Seafood to shuttle employees to work and shopping to limit traffic, install signs to contain noise, perform background checks and promptly remove trouble employees. Pacific Seafood will have to undergo a similar vet- ting process as the Astoria Warming Center, an emer- gency homeless shelter located in the First United Methodist Church down- town, or as Astoria Pointe did when it started operating as a treatment center, said Bar- bara Fryer, the Astoria city planner. The worker dorms would need to comply with the city’s comprehensive plan and development standards for high-density residential, she said. “In terms of zoning, it’s probably the most appropri- ate zone for that use,” Fryer said. “It just depends on the parking. They’re still pro- viding some additional infor- mation on the shuttles and what they anticipate doing to accommodate the traffic.” Astoria Pointe has 18 off- street parking spaces. Pacific Seafood has asked that addi- tional parking not be required because, like in Hammond, the company would provide shuttles to and from the pro- cessing plant. The company has also offered to invest in public parking and mass tran- sit in lieu of providing more private parking. Sunspire Health, which operated Astoria Pointe and the Rosebriar, a women’s treatment center on 14th Street, closed both facili- ties in 2018 for undisclosed reasons. Both facilities are owned by Highland Properties, belonging to Eleanor Dooner, of Memphis, Tennessee. Dooner and her late husband, Bill, a recovering alcoholic, opened several treatment cen- ters around the country. The Rosebriar is for sale for more than $1.3 million. Tobacco: Vote was 3-1 for ordinance as drafted Continued from Page A1 Edward Stratton/The Astorian A crew from Arbor Care Tree Specialists began taking down a bigleaf maple at Violet LaPlante Park in the Alderbrook neighborhood. Tree: ‘Would not be able to stay up without the city absorbing a significant amount of risk’ Continued from Page A1 — became infected by fun- gus and rot. Jonah Dart-McLean, the city’s parks mainte- nance supervisor, said the estimate was that the tree had five to 10 more years left after the fix. The parks department also planted a replacement maple nearby. “The tree would not be able to stay up without the city absorbing a significant amount of risk,” Dart-Mc- Lean told the City Council on Monday. On Thursday, a crew with Arbor Care Tree Spe- cialists began cutting the behemoth down to the stump. Dart-McLean said the tree will be taken down to the base, from which the city hopes starts will sprout. Ed Overbay, a local fur- niture-maker with a mill and kiln, will process the hardwood into lumber. Conditioning the wood could take years, Dart-Mc- Lean said. The city has also received requests from oth- ers wanting a piece of the tree, but first needs to fig- ure out how much timber is available, he said. A citywide tree inven- tory in 2015 documented more than 1,800 in city parks, providing a road map for future maintenance. The city took down some hazards, but has been for- tunate with mostly robust trees, Dart-McLean said. coupons. He also asked that modifications be made to soften penalties for violating Tobacco 21 rules. But local leaders and rep- resentatives from the Amer- ican Cancer Society and the American Heart Associa- tion urged commissioners to move forward with the ordi- nance as drafted. McNickle said price discount coupons are designed to target con- sumers who are low income, disabled and people of color. The Board of Commis- sioners voted 3-1 for the ordinance as drafted. Commissioner Mark Kujala voted against the ordinance, saying he thought it was intended to keep chil- dren from smoking. He believes adults should be able to use coupons to buy tobacco products. “I don’t think it was ever proposed as solely as a youth-oriented issue,” Com- missioner Pamela Wev said. “There are many, many actions that go on in the public health department that contribute to cessation efforts. Yes, this was primar- ily for kids, but if it can be in support of also causing adults to quit smoking, then it aligns.” McNickle said 24% of adults in Clatsop County smoke tobacco and that there is a social cost to tobacco addiction. He said in one year, $14.5 million is spent on tobacco-related medical care in the county. Some people expressed disappointment commis- sioners did not ban flavored tobacco products. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a federal flavor ban earlier this month that excludes methanol and open tank e-cigarettes. The Oregon Health Authority released a state- ment last week saying the federal flavor ban “falls short” and the exclusions limit the effectiveness in reducing youth vaping. A six-month state ban on fla- vored nicotine and cannabis vape products was halted by the courts. “After the previous read- ing of the first version, I was very disappointed to hear that it didn’t pass with the flavor ban and I trust all of you to look out for our com- munity and the next genera- tion, and I hope you will pro- tect our community tonight from the big interests of tobacco,” said Brooke Stan- ley, the Columbia Pacific Coordinated Care Organi- zation’s health improve- ment coordinator for Clatsop County. Stanley said the fact that a Juul representative showed up at the public hearing for the last proposal showed that commissioners were about to do something important. Steven Blakesley, the North Coast research liaison for Oregon Health & Sci- ence University, reminded commissioners that the orig- inal ordinance was evi- dence-based and written by the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium. “So, as we start tweak- ing it and watering it down, it starts to lose its impact,” he said.
