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THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, FEbRuARy 19, 2022
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
Founded in 1873
SHANNON ARLINT
Circulation Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
CARL EARL
Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
A reflection of Astoria’s policy values
A
storia has the best chance in
more than a decade to rede-
velop Heritage Square.
Edlen & Co., a Portland-based
developer, outlined a project that
would blend workforce housing
for people at the lower edge of the
region’s income range with support-
ive housing for people struggling
with mental illness and drug and
alcohol abuse.
The workforce housing units
would be tailored by income for
workers in hotels, restaurants and
retail, as well as some who are start-
ing out in education, emergency
response and social services.
The supportive housing units
would be reserved for Clatsop
Behavioral Healthcare to create a
more stable path from treatment to
recovery.
Beyond addressing a critical need,
the mental health component would
bring down the overall income aver-
age for all of the units and enable the
developer to qualify for low-income
housing tax credits and other state
financial help necessary for the proj-
ect to pencil out.
No one should expect a single
project to solve the housing crunch.
But workforce housing at Heritage
Square can serve as one of several
building blocks. Apartment proj-
ects in the works near Tongue Point,
Uppertown and Uniontown could
add units at different price points and
increase supply in a way that could
finally bring some rationality to our
rental housing market.
Unlike private developers, the
city, which would need to sell, lease
or otherwise transfer the land at Her-
itage Square to Edlen & Co., has to
answer to residents.
Turning an empty pit near City
Hall littered with trash and broken
glass into a housing project for some
of the most financially vulnerable in
our community would be a declara-
tion of Astoria’s policy values.
We urge the City Council to enter
into an exclusive negotiating agree-
ment with Edlen & Co. and col-
laborate on redeveloping Heritage
Square.
A substantive critique
The most substantive critique of
Edlen & Co.’s outline, in our view, is
that the income range for the work-
force housing units would leave out
many workers at businesses like Fort
George Brewery and Buoy Beer Co.,
which are part of the Clatsop Enter-
prise Zone.
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
Astoria should embrace workforce housing at Heritage Square.
Airport — is essential
The enterprise zone
NO ONE
so our region does not
offers tax breaks on
SHOuLd
become overly reliant
new investment in
EXPECT
on tourism. Our local
return for creating
jobs that pay at least
governments have a
A SINGLE
130% of the county’s
policy interest in help-
PROJECT TO
median income.
ing businesses in the
SOLVE THE
The income range
Clatsop Enterprise
for the workforce
Zone and others with
HOuSING
housing units at Her-
the potential to cre-
CRuNCH. buT
itage Square would
ate higher-paying jobs
WORKFORCE
be 60% to 80% of the
succeed.
area median income
Had a developer
HOuSING AT
— $14.74 to $19.65
stepped
forward with
HERITAGE
an hour, or $30,660
a housing project that
SQuARE CAN
to $40,880 a year,
would serve some of
SERVE AS ONE
using 2021 figures.
these higher-wage
The developer would
workers at Heritage
OF SEVERAL
leverage the support-
Square, it would have
buILdING
presented the City
ive housing units —
bLOCKS.
Council with a more
at 30% of the area
difficult choice.
median income —
But that is not the choice before
to keep the overall income average
the City Council.
for all of the units at 60% of area
The pit has languished at Heritage
median income.
Square since the foundation of the
While workers who earn more
old Safeway collapsed after heavy
money usually have more flexi-
rains in 2010. The City Council dis-
bility to find housing, the housing
crunch in Clatsop County hits nearly
cussed a mixed-use project with a
every price point and makes it harder
new library and housing at Heritage
for businesses to recruit and retain
Square in 2015 before abandoning
workers.
the concept in 2016 over concerns
We have noted for the past sev-
about cost and public support. The
City Council made housing at Heri-
eral years that as the North Coast
becomes a more attractive tourist
tage Square a policy goal in 2017.
destination and a popular place for
Last fall, the City Council called
retirees and transplants to live, the
for workforce housing at Heritage
cost of housing will likely increase
Square and invited developers to
and the gap between what many
pitch ideas.
workers earn and what they can
Developers have had ample time.
afford to pay for housing will con-
Even if someone were to come up
with a project today with hous-
tinue to grow.
Economic diversity — like the
ing units closer to market rates, the
production work at Fort George,
City Council would have to care-
Buoy Beer and Scoular, the new fish-
fully weigh the potential rewards
meal plant near the Astoria Regional
against the Edlen & Co. outline and
determine which workers should get
priority.
To suggest lower-wage workers
are not part of the “true workforce”
— or that it would be better for the
city to wait or even do nothing than
to help them with housing — mis-
reads the economic realities of our
community.
Preferences
If the city enters into an exclusive
negotiating agreement with Edlen &
Co., the contours of a project at Heri-
tage Square could be shaped over the
next year.
We hope the city and the devel-
oper would immediately reach out
to the American Legion about the
long-term plans for Clatsop Post
12. Redeveloping the entire block
between Duane and Exchange streets
and 11th and 12th streets opens up
more possibilities.
We accept that a project would
likely prompt changes to Astoria
Sunday Market and make it less con-
venient to park in the neighborhood.
We should not paper over the con-
cern that Clatsop Behavioral Health-
care’s supportive housing units could
draw more people struggling with
mental illness and drug and alco-
hol abuse downtown. For the men-
tal health component to work, the
agency has to follow through with
the staffing and program-based struc-
ture described in the outline.
The Not In My Backyard gene is
in all of us — it often comes out the
closer new development is to where
we live and work.
But since the city is a partner at
Heritage Square, the City Council
has an obligation to hear everyone’s
views. The public should have mean-
ingful chances to participate at every
stage before a final decision is made.
Our preference would be to sac-
rifice parking for more community
space.
Edlen & Co.’s outline envisions
ground-floor space with the poten-
tial for child care or community
activities.
We believe the addition of a small
plaza or park with a covered band-
stand would complement the Garden
of Surging Waves. An open space
component would be a nod to some
of the original ideas for the block. It
would also function as a reminder
that the public has a stake in the
vitality of the neighborhood.
Done right, Heritage Square can
be a reflection of Astoria’s policy
values and unique aesthetic.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Slow down, pause
storia has an opportunity to retain the
last open space in downtown, Heritage
Square, a great space for our Astoria Sun-
day Market, a venue for music, art, speak-
ers, various seasonal events and a gathering
place for seniors and families to enjoy. All
great cities have had an open plaza.
After considerable discussion, Heri-
tage Square has been left vacant, a parking
lot with a hole. There are endless possibili-
ties for an urban plaza, a safe and attractive
space that we can take pride in for genera-
tions to come — even an amphitheater, no
digging required.
Developers build it, then they are gone,
and the opportunity for Astoria will be
gone. If more low-income housing, addic-
tion services, other free services for those in
need are required, is there not another prop-
erty besides Heritage Square?
The name “heritage” does not ring true
for what is being proposed. Compassion,
yes; housing, yes; but downtown areas that
are unsafe, unsightly hangouts, no. Consider
the negative effect on downtown businesses.
Another location, another solution?
Decision-makers: Slow down, pause.
Only a partial inventory of what we do
have: The Helping Hands yellow build-
ing in Uniontown for those in need; the
Merwyn, recently restored for workforce
and low-income housing; Clatsop Behav-
A
ioral Healthcare, established on 12th Street;
LiFEBoat on Commercial Street; the Asto-
ria Warming Center; the low-income Astor
apartments; Emerald Heights affordable
housing; and Edgewater at Mill Pond senior
living.
Additional housing and services down-
town? Or an urban plaza for all residents
and visitors to enjoy, supportive of down-
town businesses? Call your Astoria City
Council member.
LaREE JOHNSON
Astoria
Opportunity
regon has the opportunity to sup-
port its future workforce in achieving
our dreams. Across the state, hurdles like
affordability of transit, housing and tech-
nology make it difficult to find good-pay-
ing careers. I know firsthand how hard it
is to get the credentials needed, while also
working to pay the bills.
Before I finished high school, I knew
I wanted to work as a maritime engi-
neer. But it was a struggle to do my mari-
time program and finish high school at the
same time, and I also needed to work night
shifts in order to support my family.
It’s hard to describe how exhausting
it is to juggle so much, but many Orego-
nians across the state live this struggle. My
O
GED program advisers at Clatsop Com-
munity College connected me with Ore-
gon’s Youth Development Division and
Northwest Oregon Works. I gained access
to rent assistance, and got the computer
I needed to complete my school work
during the pandemic.
The support I got was crucial in get-
ting where I am today. Now, I’ve earned
my GED and am enrolled in a seamanship
program.
Every Oregonian should have the
opportunity to work hard and achieve their
dreams, just like I am doing. That’s why
I hope the state of Oregon makes more
investments in the education, apprentice-
ship programs and support services I was
able to access so that anyone across this
state, in the same situation as I was in, has
the same shot at success that I did.
ADA GUTIERREZ CASTANEDA
Astoria