A6
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2022
Heritage Square: Code changes under review
Continued from Page A1
include up to 75 housing
units serving households
primarily earning 60% of
Clatsop County’s median
income. Some units could
serve households earn-
ing up to 80% of median
income or be rented at mar-
ket rate.
The income range would
mean most workers would
need to earn around $14.74
up to $19.65 an hour, or
$30,660 and up to $40,880
annually, to be eligible.
The building would include
common areas on the
ground fl oor, retail, a pos-
sible child care facility and
55 parking spaces.
A four-story building on
the block’s smaller lot at
11th Street and Exchange
would provide 33 micro
units of supportive hous-
ing for clients of Clatsop
Behavioral Healthcare, the
c ounty’s mental health and
substance abuse treatment
provider. Services for resi-
dents would be on the fi rst
fl oor, and there would be an
outdoor area for residents.
Since Heritage Square is
challenging and expensive
to develop, Edlen & Co.
has proposed using income
averaging. With income
averaging, the project can
receive tax credit equity
for all the units if the aver-
age aff ordability is at or
below 60% of area median
income.
Because
the
proj-
ect would include Clat-
sop Behavioral Healthcare
units at 30% of area median
income, the project can also
have units for people earn-
ing wages up to 80% of
median income.
Jill Sherman, of Edlen
& Co., indicated that if
the city approves an exclu-
sive negotiating agreement,
the developer could adjust
some of the details in the
initial concept. However,
she said the average aff ord-
ability has to remain at or
below 60% of area median
incomes for the project to
qualify for the fi nancial
support necessary to be
feasible.
While the county’s 2019
housing study showed a
need for housing for peo-
ple who earn between 60%
to 80% of the area median
income, some Astoria busi-
ness leaders have argued
that the range in the Edlen
& Co. concept is too low
and would not capture
enough of the workforce
downtown.
And while the mental
health component of the
project has drawn broad
support among the City
Council, the county Board
of Commissioners and
social services agencies
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
The City Council held a public hearing Monday night on the
development of Heritage Square.
such as Clatsop Commu-
nity Action, it has also pro-
voked some strong reaction
from people opposed to
having more social services
concentrated downtown.
‘True workforce’
David Reid, the exec-
utive director of the Asto-
ria-Warrenton Area Cham-
ber of Commerce, has
called the mental health
component the “bright
spot.” But he has urged the
city to consider a housing
project that would serve
workers earning higher
wages, which he referred to
as the “true workforce.”
“We have a pinch on
our ability to build living
wage, higher-income jobs
because of housing,” Reid
said. “This is a chance to
address that. I think the city
is in a unique spot to do
that.”
Mayor Jones asked Reid
for his defi nition of “true
workforce.”
Reid said there is no defi -
nition. However, he said he
would like to see workers at
businesses like Fort George
Brewery and Buoy Beer
Co. prioritized. Both brew-
eries are part of the Clat-
sop Enterprise Zone, which
off ers tax breaks on new
investment in return for
creating new jobs that pay
at least 130% of the coun-
ty’s median income.
“Those are the jobs that
are going to help to build the
AMI (area median income)
for everybody in the county
— if we can get those high-
er-wage jobs fi lled,” Reid
said. “We can’t do that if
they don’t have any place
to live.”
Jones agreed that there
needs to be equal eff ort
in developing housing for
workers earning higher
wages.
“I do fi nd the term ‘true
workforce’
problematic
in that it seems to suggest
that working people, work-
ing full time, who make
less than 80% AMI are
not part of the ‘true work-
force,’” the mayor added.
“That would include a new
EMT (emergency medical
technician ) hire right out of
EMT school.”
Jones said a new teacher
or new EMT would qual-
ify within the income
range proposed at Heritage
Square , “but by your defi ni-
tion is not part of the ‘true
workforce.’”
Reid acknowledged the
income range in the Edlen
& Co. concept would cap-
ture a number of people
working in the community.
Zetty Nemlowill, a for-
mer Astoria c ity c ouncilor,
expressed similar concerns
as Reid, and asked the city
to take more time to fi nd a
developer that would cre-
ate housing that better
serves the workers of Asto-
ria. Nemlowill is married to
Chris Nemlowill, the owner
of Fort George Brewery,
and used to work in market-
ing for the Astoria Co+op.
“We’re hearing from
economic
development
leaders that this housing
won’t serve a large part of
the Astoria workforce due
to the ceiling on income,”
Nemlowill said. “So I won-
der who it will support. My
concern is that the employ-
ers who will benefi t will be
big-box retailers and fast-
food chains that pay work-
ers as little as possible.
“Representatives from
the chamber, CEDR (Clat-
sop Economic Develop-
ment Resources), Craft3,
Fort George, the c o+op and
Hyak (Maritime) have all
said the current proposal
won’t serve many local
workers,” she said. “The
city would reap the bene-
fi ts of being more proactive
about economic develop-
ment. The only way to con-
tinue providing the level
of city services that we all
need and enjoy is by grow-
ing the tax base.
“We can do that by sup-
porting our businesses.
Workforce housing is one
way to do that.”
Others took issue with
the mental health compo-
nent of the housing project,
warning that it would attract
more homelessness and bad
behavior downtown.
The potential loss of
parking and open space
were also issues for some
people.
Seniors gathered at the
Astoria Senior Center to
watch and participate in
the meeting remotely. The
senior center is located on
Exchange across from Her-
itage Square, and many
seniors are concerned about
the impact of development
on parking.
Many of the people who
spoke in opposition to the
housing project said they
supported the idea, just not
downtown.
‘NIMBY-ism’
Arline LaMear, a former
Astoria mayor , has been
vocal about the need for
more workforce housing .
“One of the things that
was very frustrating to me
when I was leader was real-
izing how slowly the gears
of government turn,” she
said. “And one of the rea-
sons that they grind so
slowly is NIMBY-ism —
not in my backyard.”
LaMear said Astoria is
a working-class city that
does not have the fund-
ing to build a city plaza or
a surplus of buildable land
for housing.
“We have Heritage
Square,” she said. “Our
heritage is working class.”
Teresa Barnes, the exec-
utive director of the Asto-
ria Warming Center, also
addressed the perception
that the housing project
would not serve enough
of the workforce. She said
most people she knows
would qualify within the
income range .
“That has been my real-
ity for the 20 years that I’ve
lived in Astoria,” she said.
“That has been my reality
for most of my adult life.
And it kind of feels wildly
out of touch for people
to think that that’s not the
experience of a lot of peo-
ple living here.”
While Barnes said she
is proud of the work at the
Astoria Warming Center ,
she is disappointed more
has not been done to sup-
port people.
She pointed to Maslow’s
hierarchy of human needs,
a theory in psychology that
people are motivated by
basic needs.
“I don’t think parking is
anywhere on there,” Barnes
said. “I mean, when we’re
talking about where people
can live and how we can
take care of our fellow citi-
zens who maybe can’t take
care of themselves, that to
me is on a completely dif-
ferent scale than if we have
to walk a few more blocks
or park a little bit further
away from something than
we’d like to.”
Housing: ‘We are very
dependent on the rest of the
county to help us for housing’
Continued from Page A1
the ball moving, and used
examples from a few des-
tination towns in Colorado
and Utah that have success-
fully increased aff ordable
and workforce housing .
The city, for example,
could incentivize building
accessory dwelling units
as workforce housing and
increase regional coordina-
tion with the county, cities
and the Northwest Oregon
Housing Authority.
Adams said he has
started conversations with
planning offi cials through-
out the county, but he
would like conversations
to include elected offi cials
and become more regular
and focused.
Over the next couple
of years, the city will also
conduct a code audit to
review and update policies
to better support the city’s
vision in the comprehen-
sive plan.
During a meeting in
January, the City Council
unanimously adopted an
ordinance prohibiting the
combination of lots for the
purpose of building larger
homes. The council also
repealed the city’s planned
unit development chap-
ter, blocking any future
proposals.
Mayor Sam Steidel told
The Astorian he hopes the
City Council can address
aff ordable housing through
the code audit.
And while he wants to
continue the conversation
around aff ordable housing,
he said he would like to see
the county take on more of
a leading role.
Steidel said Cannon
Beach has several con-
straints, including a lack of
buildable land.
“We are very depen-
dent on the rest of the
county to help us for hous-
ing,” the mayor said. “I
would hope that the county
itself is looking more into
what they can do in S outh
C ounty rather than depend-
ing ... on the cities.”
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Harned: The news is tearing open old wounds
Continued from Page A1
Supervision confi rmed.
Harned, who baby-
sat Carlson , hid the girl’s
body, then participated in
law enforcement’s search
for her. He was convicted of
aggravated murder in 2000
and sentenced by Clatsop
County Circuit Court Judge
Philip Nelson.
The sentence was later
upheld on appeal, District
Attorney Ron Brown said,
“because of how heinous the
crime was.”
Harned, who has changed
his name to Jessie Davin
Payne-Rana, is among the
inmates whose sentences are
under reassessment in light
of Oregon’s changing pol-
icies and attitudes toward
criminal justice. The state has
reformed how the judicial
system prosecutes and pun-
ishes young off enders.
A 2019 law allows youths
Ashley Ann Carlson was
murdered in Astoria in 1999.
who commit Measure 11
off enses — the most severe
crimes, such as murder and
rape, that demand manda-
tory minimum sentences —
to have their age and the cir-
cumstances of their crimes
considered by judges before
sentencing.
A spokesperson for Gov.
Brown told The Orego-
nian that the governor’s plan
is meant for some off end-
ers who were imprisoned as
teenagers before the law was
passed and therefore could
not benefi t from it.
The governor’s decision
to commute sentences for
people whose crimes were
serious enough to warrant
decades or life in prison has
provoked fi erce backlash
from some prosecutors and
from victims’ families who
feel the original sentences
brought a sense of justice, if
not closure.
Carlson’s mother, Tessa
Carlson, is “suff ering big
time” by the idea that her
daughter’s killer could be let
out, Ron Brown said. The
news is tearing open old
wounds for her, he said.
“We strongly hope that
they will not just let (Harned)
out with the fl oodgates,” the
district attorney said.
Harned’s hearing has not
been scheduled, but he will
likely have one later this year,
according to the parole board.
He is housed at Snake River
Correctional Institution in
Ontario.
Carlson’s mother is incar-
cerated in Idaho on drug
charges. In an interview with
KOIN 6 News that aired this
month, Tessa Carlson said she
was frustrated. “It’s all really
hard right now. It’s all bring-
ing up everything all over
again,” she said. “He helped
me look for her, we found her
on the 15th and we buried her
on the 20th. So February’s a
really, really hard month.”
“The irony isn’t lost on
anybody that she is doing
time in the pen in Idaho for
a small amount of meth, by
all accounts, and (Harned) is
being considered for parole
after murdering her daugh-
ter,” Ron Brown said. “That
is just … Something wrong
with that picture.”
Emergencies: Center ‘makes us a much safer community’
Continued from Page A1
A former American Red
Cross trailer in need of
repair was refurbished and
put into use as emergency
supplies storage.
An additional parking
area will allow room for
operations and staging out-
side of the tsunami inunda-
tion zone.
The time frame for the
alternate center’s opening
has yet to be established,
McBride said. “Our next
project is to ground the poles
and place the four antenna
brackets, ” she said.
Mayor Jay Barber said
the alternate center “makes
us a much safer community.
Even in the worst-case sce-
nario, there will be people
up there making sure that
we’re communicated with.
It’s a great thing to have in
place.”
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