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THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, NOvEmbER 6, 2021
Riverwalk Inn: ‘This is a tremendous opportunity for your city’
Continued from Page A1
The Port has considered
selling the hotel, which wraps
around the West Mooring
Basin, and leasing the land.
Ganesh Sonpatki, who
leases the Riverwalk Inn
from the Port through Param
Hotel Corp., came before the
Port Commission earlier this
year with concerns about fix-
ing the imminent structural
issues if the hotel was not in
the Port’s future plans.
Zilis also said they are rec-
ommending the removal of
the Chinook Building, which
is now vacant.
The presentation on
Wednesday was an opportu-
nity for the Port, the city and
Walker Macy to share poten-
tial redevelopment scenarios
with the public and hear feed-
back from the community.
The consultants laid
out two potential paths for
development. The scenarios
included a fish market out-
side of Bornstein Seafoods,
a pavilion, a footbridge and a
marina boardwalk with seat-
ing and seasonal food carts
where the Riverwalk Inn sits.
The sketches also showed
two spots for new hotels, just
south of the Cannery Pier
Hotel & Spa and just west of
the marina.
How to approach zoning
codes, as well as how to man-
age parking and circulation,
were also addressed.
Walker Macy’s team reit-
erated points Will Isom, the
Port’s executive director, has
Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian
The Astoria Riverwalk Inn wraps around the West Mooring Basin.
made about the need to create
jobs, help drive the region’s
economy and craft a plan
that is flexible to economic
changes.
“It’s impact can’t be
understated,” Zilis said. “This
is a tremendous opportunity
for your city and for your
community.”
Dozens of residents
shared their observations and
concerns after hearing the
overview.
City Manager Brett Estes
said he was pleased with the
amount of participation from
the public, with around a hun-
dred people tuning in at the
high point.
“I just want to thank all
the members of the public
for their input and I want to
thank the advisory committee
members and the consultants
for what, I think, is a very cre-
ative and visionary approach
to look at potential new uses
and activities at the Port,”
Mayor Bruce Jones said. “I
am really impressed by this
and on behalf of the City
Council, I know we are all
looking forward to future dis-
cussions with the Port com-
missioners and the council
after the next iteration comes
forward after any changes
based on the public input.”
The Port and the city
posted slides from the pre-
sentation on their websites
with the option to submit
comments.
After considering the pub-
lic feedback, the Port, city
and consulting firm will host
another meeting in December
and present their preferred
option.
Code changes: ‘We
just want to make the
criteria really clear’
Continued from Page A1
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
A 5% food tax would help finance emergency response and a new City Hall.
Food tax: Election results are
expected to be certified on Nov. 22
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Only 100 ballots remain
to be counted for the food
tax and a Knappa school
bond measure, accord-
ing to County Clerk Tracie
Krevanko.
Most of the remaining
ballots are ones that could
not be read by the county’s
voting machines because
they were damaged, among
other reasons. A few other
ballots did not pass the coun-
ty’s signature verification
process. Letters went out to
those voters and people will
have until Nov. 16 to cure
their ballots.
Krevanko expects to cer-
tify the election results on
Nov. 22.
Besides the possibility of
an automatic recount, people
have until Dec. 7 to request
a recount of their own. They
just have to pay for it. The
cost comes to $15 per pre-
cinct, and Cannon Beach is
a single precinct. Anyone
demanding a recount would
also need to pay some addi-
tional fees associated with
county expenses, such as
bringing in workers to do the
recount.
On election night, with
‘I NEEd TO dO THE JOb THAT
I WAS ELECTEd TO dO. IT’S A
LITTLE dIFFICuLT TO bRING
PEOPLE TOGETHER THAT
COmPLETELy dISAGREE ON AN
ISSuE. THAT IT’S THIS dIvIdEd
dOESN’T mAKE IT ANy EASIER.
buT my mAIN GOAL IS TO TRy TO
GET THE CITy’S buSINESS dONE.’
Brandon Ogilvie | Cannon Beach city councilor
the vote so close, Fire Chief
Marc Reckmann said he
expected the results will be
challenged.
The fire district is con-
sidering a levy in May if
the food tax fails. Funded
through property tax dollars
and grants, the district is in
dire need of increased, stable
funding, Reckmann has said.
The food tax has been
controversial. The mea-
sure would levy a 5% tax
on prepared food purchased
at restaurants and similar
businesses and is expected
to raise an estimated $1.7
million annually. The reve-
nue would be split between
the fire district and the city,
which intends to use its
share to fund a new City
Hall and police station and
other infrastructure.
Proponents say the tax is
a way to target visitor dol-
lars and spread the burden
of paying for city and emer-
gency services without rais-
ing property taxes for resi-
dents. Calls for emergency
services have increased in
the past two years, with
most of the calls generated
by visitors.
But opponents questioned
the timing of the ballot mea-
sure, saying it will hurt busi-
nesses that are already strug-
gling to recover amid the
coronavirus pandemic. Oth-
ers have expressed distrust
with the city and how it will
spend its cut of the revenue.
The City Council had
considered passing the mea-
sure as an ordinance, but a
majority moved to send it to
voters instead. City Coun-
cilor Brandon Ogilvie was
the deciding vote at that
meeting in July. He changed
his mind on the ordinance
and shifted to the ballot
measure.
Though he fully sup-
ported the food tax, Ogil-
vie said he ultimately felt it
would be best for the com-
munity to decide. It was also
possible that even if the City
Council had favored an ordi-
nance, citizens could peti-
tion to force an election, he
noted.
He knows the tax has
been divisive, but he does
not regret changing his vote.
“I need to do the job that
I was elected to do,” he said.
“It’s a little difficult to bring
people together that com-
pletely disagree on an issue.
That it’s this divided doesn’t
make it any easier. But my
main goal is to try to get the
city’s business done.”
Hollander, Hennings-
gaard contends, made
no effort at all. He sat on
the property and the per-
mits until 2020 and then
claimed economic hard-
ship because of the
pandemic.
The city code, follow-
ing a section that discusses
the ways an applicant can
show they’re making an
effort, says: “In lieu of
compliance with Section
2.c above, the applicant
may demonstrate that poor
economic conditions exist
in the market that would
advise against proceeding
with the project.”
Henningsgaard
and
Megan Leatherman, the
city’s community devel-
opment director, are still
hashing through exactly
what needs to change in
the code language. Hen-
ningsgaard thinks they will
need to drop “in lieu of.”
Leatherman says there may
be a switch from “may” to
“must.”
“We just want to make
the criteria really clear on
when we would approve
(an extension) versus when
the City Council would
deny one,” Leatherman
said.
Astoria’s code has some
quirks and a somewhat
unusual order of opera-
tions for developers, Hen-
ningsgaard acknowledged.
While those quirks
and processes are under-
stood, or at least antici-
pated, among local plan-
ners who know who to call
if they have questions, the
order may not be some-
thing the state took into
consideration.
City staff refined this
troublesome section of
code in the past in response
to another legal challenge,
but that was years ago,
City Manager Brett Estes
said. Hollander’s appeal
was the first time someone
had challenged the current
version.
It is probably time to
provide more clarity, Estes
said.
While the city amends
the code to guide future
projects, the Oregon Court
of Appeals will weigh
whether the state was cor-
rect in reversing the city’s
denial of the permit exten-
sion for Hollander’s hotel.
Poll: Only 45% of parents
support a vaccine mandate
for children 12 and older
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Oregonians living in
urban areas are more likely
than people in rural parts
of the state to support vac-
cine mandates for children
12 and older.
Two-thirds of those liv-
ing in the Portland metro
area support vaccine man-
dates for children 12 and
older, while less than half
of those living outside
other the metro area and
Willamette Valley support
a mandate.
Oregonians ages 65 and
older are also significantly
more likely than people
between the ages of 18 and
44 to support vaccine man-
dates for children 12 and
older.
Only 45% of parents
support a vaccine mandate
for children 12 and older.
“This is likely indica-
tive of continued concerns
over long-term side effects
of vaccination, as well as a
lower probability of severe
symptoms and hospitaliza-
tion among infected chil-
dren,” the organization
said.
Donna Casey called
mask and vaccine man-
dates a “no-brainer.”
As a mother of a senior
at Summit High School
in Bend and a statistician
who spent over a decade
teaching at Central Ore-
gon Community College,
Casey believes they are
simple measures to protect
more people from dying.
She called opposition to
the mask mandate from
parents and school boards
selfish.
“We’re talking about
people’s lives here, and
that doesn’t seem to be the
main focus,” she said.