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CORONAVIRUS
County
tackles
vacation
rental rules
Discussions started
in South County
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
GOING
GREENER
Clatsop County is tackling rules
around vacation rentals, considering
some big-ticket policy items that could
increase restrictions .
During a county Board of Commis-
sioners work session in February , the
county set the table for discussions , lay-
ing out ways to tighten short-term rental
ordinances as well as potential policies to
consider down the road.
Cities on the North Coast have strug-
gled to balance the growth in vacation
rentals as the region becomes a more
popular tourist destination. Pockets of the
county have also felt the same pressures.
Many of the questions and policy sug-
gestions came out of quarterly commu-
nity discussions the county started host-
ing last summer.
The virtual discussions began in Cove
Beach in July to promote dialogue after
strife over vacation rentals. The meetings
were expanded to Arch Cape and Clatsop
Plains.
See Vacation rentals, Page A6
TOP: Garrett Lyle, from Elemental Energy, installs the
fi rst solar panel on the roof of the Astoria Co+op on
Wednesday afternoon. The 51-kilowatt solar array
is expected to generate about a third of the grocer’s
electricity. RIGHT: Co-op general manager Matt Stanley
looks at the new solar panels. BELOW: Elemental
Energy installs solar panels on the roof.
Photos by Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Resources
limited
for crisis
response
Mental health director,
sheriff outline challenges
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
Amy Baker, the executive director of
Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare, and Sher-
iff Matt Phillips on Tuesday outlined the
limitations of getting people in mental
health crisis the help they need.
The Astorian has reported on several
incidents over the past year that played
out in public view, including two deaths
after interactions with police.
Some people in the community have
called for directing more resources to a
mobile crisis team, like the CAHOOTS
model in Lane County, where mental
health professionals respond to crisis calls .
See Crisis repsonse, Page A6
Port signs fi shmeal processor
to a long-term agreement
New plant planned at
Airport Industrial Park
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
The Port of Astoria Commission
has agreed to a lease with Scoular at
the Airport Industrial Park in War-
renton that could take the grain-and-
feed trading company through 2061.
Scoular, based in Omaha,
Nebraska, plans to spend around
$10 million building a plant along
12th Place next to the a irport turn-
Astoria reopens hearing on hotel
City must decide
by end of May
MORE INSIDE
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Astorian
Astoria adds Buoy Beer, Scoular
to enterprise zone • Page A2
ing seafood scraps from local pro-
cessors into fi shmeal for aquacul-
ture and pet food.
“This is the largest development
project that the Port’s undertaken in
certainly since my tenure, and the
largest one in the last 10 years or
so,” said Matt McGrath, the Port’s
deputy director .
The lease initially pays the Port
more than $2,000 a month, includ-
ing rent credits. It jumps to $4,000
a month in 2022 and escalates to
Edward Stratton/The Astorian
The Astoria City Council
reopened the hearing on a con-
troversial hotel along the Colum-
bia River after the state ordered
another review.
Over the summer, the city
denied an extension of building
permits for the four-story Fairfi eld
Inn and Suites that developer Mark
Hollander wants to build at the site
of The Ship Inn restaurant.
Hollander’s hotel had been
approved in 2018. But he made
little progress before seeking a
See Port, Page A6
Developer Mark Hollander hopes to build a four-story Fairfi eld Inn and Suites
at the site of The Ship Inn, a former seafood restaurant vacant since 2017.
See Hotel, Page A6