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Chronicling
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ss in the Colum
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A housing
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January 2022
Inside:
Issue 1
bia-Pacifi c Region
lutions ers as
Creativ ts e in so
housing for work
ide
Page 8
LYDIA ELY/
THE ASTORIAN
e in Seas
Hotelier inves
ents take shap
more developm
High sales industry surges
Pacifi c County marijuana
Page 6
American eats
New food truck in Seaview
Page 11
Budgeting made
easy
Tips for the new year
Page 23
149TH YEAR, NO. 86`
DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2022
$1.50
Northwest
energy
generation
shifts
Carbon dioxide emissions
tied to electricity dropped
By COURTNEY FLATT
Northwest News Network
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
Signs announcing a public hearing in February to review code changes for development are posted around Heritage Square.
Astoria reveals development
proposals for Heritage Square
Coal plant closures in the Northwest
and an increase in natural gas generation
meant fewer heat-trapping carbon diox-
ide emissions recently contributed to cli-
mate change, according to new data from
the Northwest Power and Conservation
Council.
In total, carbon dioxide emissions
from the generation of electricity dropped
about 20% in 2020 as compared to 2019,
said Gillian Charles, senior policy analyst
with the c ouncil.
The data accounts for heat-trapping
carbon dioxide emissions released as
facilities generate power, including coal,
natural gas, hydropower, wind and solar
generation. The data counts greenhouse
gas emissions from 2020, which is the
most recent year available.
“That’s the lowest carbon dioxide
emissions in 25 years,” Charles said.
See Energy, Page A6
Panel recommends option
that involves Clatsop
Behavioral Healthcare
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
A
panel tasked with reviewing
ideas for workforce housing
at Heritage Square has made a
recommendation to the Astoria City
Council.
Two Portland-based developers,
Edlen & Co. and Related, submitted
proposals for the downtown block
near City Hall after the city requested
expressions of interest last fall.
A group of city leaders and stake-
holders, appointed by Mayor Bruce
Jones, conducted private interviews
with the two teams on Jan. 11, and
after discussion agreed the city
should move forward with the pro-
posal by Edlen & Co .
In a memo on Friday, John South-
gate, a city consultant, said two of
the six panelists argued that nei-
ther proposal is responsive to the
city’s workforce housing objectives,
“but if the commission fi nds that the
proposed income range is consis-
tent with its objectives, they like-
wise would recommend Edlen over
Related.”
Southgate added, “It will be
important for council to discuss their
defi nitions of workforce and aff ord-
able housing and who this project
intends to primarily serve, ideally
acknowledging that Edlen’s proposal
serves the widest range of incomes.”
The City Council, acting as the
Astoria Development Commission,
will discuss the proposals and rec-
Edlen
CITY COUNCIL
The City Council will review de-
velopment proposals at Heritage
Square at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
Code changes to enable develop-
ment are scheduled for a public
hearing on Feb. 7.
ommendation on Tuesday night. The
council will consider code changes
to enable development at Heritage
Square at a public hearing on Feb. 7.
The panel that reviewed the pro-
posals included City Manager Brett
Estes; Megan Leatherman, the city’s
community development director;
Assistant County Manager Mon-
ica Steele; David Reid, the execu-
tive director of the Astoria-Warren-
ton Area Chamber of Commerce;
Jessamyn Grace West, the execu-
tive director of the Astoria Down-
town Historic District Association;
and Walt Postlewait, a developer and
the executive vice president for non-
profi t lender Craft3.
City councilors decided last year
to use Heritage Square, a block
located between 11th and 12th Street
and bordered by Duane Street and
Exchange Street , to help address a
shortage of lower-cost housing.
The block includes the Garden of
Surging Waves, a park that honors
Astoria’s Chinese heritage, and Clat-
sop Post 12 of the American Legion.
A parking lot along 12th is used by
the Astoria Sunday Market from May
to October. Another smaller lot sits
at the corner of 11th and Exchange .
A pit where the foundation of a for-
mer Safeway collapsed dominates
the middle.
Edlen & Co.’s team, made up of
several local partners, including Clat-
sop Behavioral Healthcare, pitched
two scenarios covering the open
spaces of the block.
The fi rst scenario involves 53 to
75 workforce housing units, depend-
ing on whether the building is three or
four stories tall, along with 55 park-
ing spaces and a ground fl oor devoted
to a mix of residential uses and com-
mon rooms.
The second scenario involves 44
to 66 workforce housing units with
common areas on the ground fl oor,
retail concentrated near the corner of
12th and Duane and a possible child
care facility at 12th and Exchange .
Both scenarios would serve house-
holds primarily earning 60% of the
county’s median family income,
although some could be targeted at
households earning up to 80% of
median family income or rented at
market rate.
Two-thirds of the units in both sce-
narios would be studios or one-bed-
room apartments. The rest would be
two- or three-bedroom units.
Both scenarios include a separate
four-story building on the smaller lot
at 11th and Exchange in partnership
with Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare,
Clatsop County’s mental health and
substance abuse-treatment provider.
The building would include offi ces
for the agency and wrap around ser-
vices on the ground fl oor. Thirty-three
micro units on upper fl oors would be
reserved for the agency’s clients.
The building would not include
parking, since the agency’s clients
typically do not drive. The micro
Offi cials look
for lessons
from tsunami
advisory
Message issued Saturday
after Tonga eruption
By R.J. MARX
The Astorian
Local leaders who oversee emergency
response on the North Coast looked for
lessons from a tsunami advisory over the
weekend.
The advisory was issued early Satur-
day after an underwater volcanic eruption
near Tonga .
T he National Weather Service fi rst
issued a statement about 4 a.m. announc-
ing the eruption was being evaluated for
a tsunami .
Initial tsunami advisories are not
uncommon when a distant earthquake
has occurred, Clatsop County Emergency
Manager Tiff any Brown said. Wave
arrival takes some time, so local govern-
ments sit tight after the alert to see what
comes out next.
“Generally speaking, we are supposed
to hear something 30 minutes later, when
they brief the state, then every hour there-
after,” Brown said. “What’s happening
See Heritage Square, Page A6
See Advisory, Page A2
Montanan fi nds artist’s paradise in Astoria
Dillon has a gallery
on Commercial
By GARY HENLEY
The Astorian
O
riginally from Montana, Con-
nie Dillon and her husband,
Brian, have lived in Astoria since
the spring of 2020 , and the North
Coast has not disappointed.
Dillon loves painting — land-
scapes, forests, old homes — and
struck artistic gold in Astoria .
“A pleasant surprise were the
forests,” she said. “I love hiking
through forests, taking photos,
and I use the photos as the basis
for my paintings.”
There’s also “all the gardens,
the forests, the architecture. I have
paintings of some of the local
homes. I love the architecture.”
The Dillons had visited Asto-
ria previously, but only in sum-
mer months.
“When we came out on a
house-hunting trip in Decem-
ber, we found a house that we
wanted,” Dillon said. “But we
had only seen Astoria in the beau-
tiful summer, and thought we
should really stay and see what
it’s like in winter.
“And that winter, there was a
huge storm with power outages,
and we had to read our house con-
tract at the library where they had
electricity. We thought if the win-
ters are this harsh, maybe we’ll
rethink it.”
The couple still decided to
make the move , and haven’t
regretted it.
“We just felt it was beauti-
ful, and the people here are super
friendly. My husband was a
retired English l it professor, and
being an artist I could do my work
anyplace, so we decided to move
to a place close to the ocean.”
Dillon, who had her own art
gallery in Billings, opened the
See Dillon, Page A6
Astoria artist Connie Dillon stands with some of her work at the ARTstoria
gallery downtown.