A2
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2021
IN BRIEF
Cross Creek development
receives approval in Seaside
SEASIDE — The 74-unit Cross Creek apartment
complex received conditional approval from the city
Planning Commission last week.
The property comprises about 4 1/2 acres and
is located near the TLC Fibre Federal Credit Union
building near Neawanna Creek. Neighboring busi-
nesses include Randall Lee’s Flooring America, Ticor
Title and Seaside Car & Boat Wash.
Lots would be sold to builders, with apartments
anticipated to be leased at $1,200 to $1,400 a month.
The facility will include nine six-unit buildings and
fi ve four-unit buildings.
Along with the city staff report’s fi ndings, the Plan-
ning Commission added conditions.
The examples of pedestrian safety measures that
were provided by the applicant’s traffi c engineering
fi rm must be incorporated into the access at N. Roo-
sevelt Drive.
Commissioners asked for improved lighting
at the north and south ends of the crosswalks, fl ash-
ing crosswalk signs and refl ective thermoplastic in
pedestrian rights of way. A warning sign could be
installed on a northbound turn lane of U.S. Highway
101.
In a separate condition, the owners are
asked to approach nearby property owners to
rename the private access road for fi re department
identifi cation.
The road could be named Cross Creek Lane,
Way or Drive, subject to the approval
requirements of Clatsop County’s surveyor
and acceptance by the other owners. If this name is
unacceptable, the alternative name must be approved
by the Planning Commission at the time the fi nal plan
is reviewed.
Passenger injured after boat hits
sandbar near Astoria Bridge
A recreational boat hit a sandbar and got stuck on
the Columbia River near the Astoria Bridge at about
6 a.m. on Saturday.
The U.S. Coast Guard airlifted a passenger,
who had suff ered a neck injury, to receive med-
ical care. When the tide rolled in, the boat got
unstuck.
— The Astorian
DEATH
Aug. 5, 2021
In KNAPP,
Brief
Charles, 68, of Brownsmead, died in
Astoria. Hughes-Ransom Mortuary is in charge of the
arrangements.
Death
MEMORIALS
Saturday, Aug. 14
Memorials
BAERGEN,
Dan-
iel Scott — Celebration
of life at 1 p.m., Kicking
Back Ranch, 92531 Kop-
pisch Road.
CARPER,
Dana
Edward — Celebration
of life at 2 p.m., Shel-
ter A, Coff enbury Lake,
Fort Stevens State Park
in Hammond.
McMACKEN, Larry
— Funeral at 10 a.m.,
Pilgrim Lutheran Chris-
tian Church, 5650 S.W.
Hall Blvd. in Beaverton.
RINER, Louann Luce
— Memorial at 1 p.m.,
Caldwell’s Luce-Layton
Mortuary, 1165 Frank-
lin Ave., followed by a
reception at 2 p.m. at
Grace Community Bap-
tist Church, 1195 Irving
Ave.
ON THE RECORD
Theft
On
the Elizabeth
Record
• Sharon
Saunders, 60, of Chinook,
Washington, was arrested on the evening of Aug. 3 at
Walmart in Warrenton for theft in the second degree.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Clatsop County Planning Commission, 10 a.m., (elec-
tronic meeting).
Cannon Beach City Council, 6 p.m., City Hall, 163 E.
Gower St.
Lewis & Clark Fire Department, 6 p.m., main fi re station,
34571 U.S. Highway 101 Business.
Warrenton City Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S. Main
Ave.
Warrenton-Hammond School District Board, 6 p.m.,
Warrenton High School Library, 1700 S. Main Ave.
WEDNESDAY
Clatsop County Board of Commissioners, 6 p.m., (elec-
tronic meeting).
Astoria School District Board, 7 p.m., (electronic meet-
ing).
THURSDAY
Gearhart Planning Commission, 6 p.m., (electronic
meeting).
Warrenton Planning Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S.
Main Ave.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
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A CENTENNIAL SELFIE
R.J. Marx/The Astorian
Seaside Chamber of Commerce CEO Brian Owen takes a selfi e on Saturday at a celebration marking the 100th anniversary of
the Prom.
Limit on weekend construction
draws backlash in Gearhart
New rule could
take eff ect in
November
By R.J. MARX
The Astorian
GEARHART — Resi-
dents want a day off from
noise and construction. But
contractors, builders and
landscapers say seven days a
week are needed to complete
their jobs in a boom economy
amid a labor shortage.
“Our neighborhood has
been subject to ongoing con-
struction for the past two
years,” wrote Sheila Nolan,
a resident. “Commercial
construction is permitted 10
hours a day, every day. I am
urging you to vote to limit
commercial construction to
Monday through Friday.”
The city presented two
options to curb construc-
tion noise, considering work
prohibitions on Saturdays or
on Saturdays and Sundays .
Ultimately, the City Coun-
cil voted by a 3-2 margin
Wednesday to direct staff to
prepare an ordinance prohib-
iting work on Sundays.
If passed, the police will
have primary enforcement
responsibility, and may fi ne
violators up to $500. Each
occurrence or violation may
be punished separately.
“It’s too bad we have got-
ten to the point where we
have to enforce work eth-
ics that should be obvious,”
residents Wilson and Jeanne
Mark wrote in a letter to the
City C ouncil. “It’s too bad we
cannot get all builders to do
the right thing.”
The proposal spurred
a backlash as contractors,
landscapers and develop-
ers turned out in-person and
online at the council meeting
to register dismay at another
constraint to an already vol-
Builder Jon Shelton speaks against a proposed ordinance to limit work hours in Gearhart.
atile work environment,
with labor shortages, sup-
ply delays and unpredictable
weather.
Sometimes
contractors
have no choice but to work
on weekends, Andrew Silvis,
of AMJ Insulation LLC, said.
“A few weeks or month delay
can drastically aff ect our
schedule as well, so every-
thing rolls downhill and slows
down the entire project,” he
said. “If you need your proj-
ect done and we have to push
you back a week, that’s going
to hurt everyone you know.”
The building process has
been disrupted like never
before, contractor Wesley
Houck said. “Supply chains
are a mess, material shortages
are almost in every trade and
timelines are undeterminable
at the moment. ... I’m just try-
ing to put food on the table,
like the rest of us.”
City code allows con-
struction and landscape work
seven days a week between
8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Landscap-
ing is permitted from 8 a.m.
to 7 p.m.
An update to the code,
with limits to contractor
hours, passed the City C oun-
cil unanimously in 2014, but
fell short of limiting weekend
work.
According to the proposed
ordinance, in cases of non e-
mergencies, the city admin-
istrator may issue a fi ve-day
temporary permit. The permit
may be revoked if complaints
arise by working outside of
the permit parameters.
“As a commercial contrac-
tor, we cannot tell you how
these changes would dramat-
ically aff ect our business,”
Ben and Tami Olson, of
Clean-Sweep Maintenance,
wrote city councilors . “In
the summertime, we ‘make
hay when the sun shines.’ We
work longer hours to keep
up with demand. In winter-
time, our hours are less as
the daylight is less. By put-
ting restrictions on hours or
less working days, it would
greatly harm our ability to
service our customers.”
Developer Robert Morey,
the co-owner of the former
Gearhart Elementary School,
said he was “strongly against
a reduction of contractors in
our area.”
“Our feeling is we should
have hours six days a week,
longer days than 8 a.m. to
6 p.m,” Morey said. “The
noise is part of life. We need
to make accommodations for
our contractors.”
Arlene Cogen, a resi-
dent, said she was “com-
pletely against” limiting
hours for construction work-
ers. “Financially, this would
cripple our community,” she
said. “This makes completely
no sense whatsoever.”
City Councilor Kerry
Smith said the city has a man-
date to protect the health and
well-being of residents.
He rejected the Saturday
and Sunday option, making a
motion for work restrictions
on Sundays only.
“We have a right and duty
to our citizens,” Smith said.
“Even if they’ve had their
own home built in 28 days,
seven days a week, today is
a diff erent time. People want
peace and quiet at least once
a week.”
City Councilor Brent
Warren and Councilor Reita
Fackerell voted with Smith
on behalf of the ordinance.
City Councilor Dan Jesse
and Mayor Paulina Cockrum
voted in opposition.
With staff revisions and
approval, the ordinance could
go into eff ect Nov. 1.
Crime historian conducts dig for D.B. Cooper evidence
Associated Press
VANCOUVER, Wash. —
Nearly 50 years after sky-
jacker D.B. Cooper vanished
out the back of a Boeing 727
into freezing Northwest rain
— wearing a business suit,
a parachute and a pack with
$200,000 in cash — a crime
historian is conducting a dig
on the banks of the Columbia
River in search of evidence.
KOIN reported that Eric
Ulis, a self-described expert
on the infamous D.B. Coo-
per case, began a two-day
dig in Vancouver on Friday.
Ulis and four volunteers are
searching for evidence about
10 to 15 yards away from
where a boy found $6,000 of
Cooper’s ransom money in
1980.
Ulis said his theory is
that Cooper buried the para-
Associated Press
The famous 1971 D.B. Cooper
skyjacking remains unsolved.
chutes, an attache case and
the money at the same time,
but dug smaller holes instead
of one large one.
The case of Cooper has
become infamous, not only
in the Pacifi c Northwest but
also in the country. The FBI
Seattle fi eld offi ce called the
investigation one of the lon-
gest and most exhaustive in
the agency’s history.
On Nov. 24, 1971, the
night before Thanksgiving,
a man described as being in
his mid-40s with dark sun-
glasses and an olive com-
plexion boarded a fl ight from
Portland to Seattle-Tacoma
International Airport. He
bought his $20 ticket under
the name “Dan Cooper,” but
an early wire-service report
misidentifi ed him as “D.B.
Cooper,” and the name stuck.
Sitting in the rear of the
plane, he handed a note to
a fl ight attendant after take-
off . “Miss, I have a bomb and
would like you to sit by me,”
it said.
The man demanded
$200,000 in cash plus four
parachutes. He received
them at Sea-Tac, where he
released the 36 passengers
and two of the fl ight atten-
dants. The plane took off
again at his direction, head-
ing slowly to Reno, Nevada,
at the low height of 10,000
feet. Somewhere, apparently
over southwestern Washing-
ton state, Cooper lowered
the aircraft’s rear stairs and
jumped.
He was never found. But
a boy digging on a Columbia
River beach in 1980 discov-
ered three bundles of weath-
ered $20 bills — nearly
$6,000 in all. It was Coo-
per’s cash, according to the
serial numbers.
Over the years, the FBI
and amateur sleuths have
examined innumerable the-
ories about Cooper’s iden-
tity and fate, from accounts
of unexplained wealth to
purported discoveries of
his parachute to poten-
tial matches of the agen-
cy’s composite sketch of the
suspect.
In July 2016, the FBI
announced it was no longer
investigating the case.