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149TH YEAR, NO. 102
DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2022
$1.50
HERITAGE SQUARE
Astoria takes
a step closer
to workforce
housing
City, developer to
negotiate details
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
A closely divided Astoria City Coun-
cil voted 3 to 2 on Tuesday night to enter
into an exclusive negotiating agreement
with a Portland-based developer to create
workforce housing at Heritage Square.
Edlen & Co. has proposed workforce
housing for lower-wage workers and sup-
portive housing for people in treatment
for mental health and substance abuse on
the downtown block next to City Hall .
The agreement will allow the city to col-
laborate with the developer on details
such as the income mix, building confi gu-
ration, parking and ground-fl oor uses like
child care and retail.
The City Council also voted unani-
mously to adopt changes to the city’s com-
prehensive plan and development code to
support housing at Heritage Square and
other parts of the downtown core.
“It’s not an easy decision,” Mayor
Bruce Jones said during deliberations
that took more than two hours. “There’s
lots of arguments against any location in
town you want to do something. But we
have a crisis in this town of housing. It’s
undeniable.
“And unless somebody does some-
thing big and bold about it, we’re going to
have the same problem that we have now,
See Heritage Square, Page A6
City makes
code changes
in response to
hotel project
Appeals court
backs developer
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
The Astoria City Council on Tuesday
adopted amendments to a section of the
city’s development code in response to a
state ruling in favor of a developer who
was denied a permit extension for a riv-
erfront hotel.
Last fall, the state Land Use Board of
Appeals reversed a decision by the City
Council to deny Hollander Hospitality’s
request for a one-year extension on build-
ing permits for a Fairfi eld Inn and Suites.
The state ordered the city to grant the
request.
The appeals board argued that the
city’s code lacked clear and objective
standards for the applicant, and that the
city’s decision “was outside the range of
discretion allowed it under its code.”
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
The Southwest Coastal committee is wrestling with Clatsop County over a comprehensive plan update.
In South County, an advisory
committee looks to carve
out more autonomy
Some seek to bend the scope of a comprehensive plan update
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
A
s Clatsop County over-
hauls its comprehensive
plan, a citizen advisory
committee tasked with updating
its own community plan around
Arch Cape has turned in a docu-
ment that may violate state stat-
ute, according to county staff .
The county’s comprehen-
sive plan, which hasn’t been
revamped since 1980, will shape
the direction of development —
from natural resource manage-
ment to housing to transportation
— in the county’s unincorporated
areas for the next two decades.
The plan is composed of state-
wide land use goals, as well as
community plans for six regions:
Northeast, Clatsop Plains, Lewis
& Clark Olney-Wallooskee,
Elsie-Jewell, Seaside Rural and
Southwest Coastal. Citizen advi-
sory committees were formed to
update each plan.
Last April, the county Board
of Commissioners chose to press
pause on the update process. They
were concerned about the pace of
the advisory committees’ work
and with some of the policy pro-
posals emerging from them.
The update resumed in
August. In December, the com-
mittees submitted the results.
As drafted, the community
plans contain aspirational goals
— a number mention ways to
mitigate the local impact of cli-
mate change, a goal some county
commissioners have expressed
misgivings about .
But the Southwest Coastal
plan, which covers the wealthy
enclaves around Arch Cape, pres-
ents distinct problems and may
run afoul of Oregon law.
The new committee plan may
curtail the rights of property own-
ers and constrain how their land
may be developed.
The plan would expand vege-
tated buff er zones from 25 to 50
feet from stream banks. Areas
identifi ed as tsunami inundation
zones may be closed to devel-
opment. The plan recommends
vacating old undeveloped plats,
essentially dissolving owners’
property lines, drawn up before
communities were sensitive to the
natural topography.
In addition, the plan includes
a section for handling vacation
rentals, appearing to get ahead
of a process already underway at
the county level for regulating the
controversial enterprises in unin-
corporated areas. As the North
Coast becomes a popular tourist
destination, certain areas have felt
the pressures of parking, noise
and other nuisances more than
others.
In its proposed plan, the
Southwest Coastal committee
recommends that short-term rent-
als be defi ned as commercial ven-
tures that should be confi ned to
commercial zones. They also rec-
ommend that the county adopt a
plan to phase out short-term rent-
als in Coastal Residential zones
by not allowing property owners
to renew or transfer their licenses,
and to consider rewarding with
tax credits those property owners
who end their licenses early.
Narrative
Charles Dice, the chairman
of the Southwest Coastal citi-
zen advisory committee, who
lives in Cove Beach, said the
short-term rental language was
included because the expedited
deadline to submit the updated
See Committee, Page A2
THE COUNTY’S COMPREHENSIVE PLAN WILL SHAPE THE DIRECTION
OF DEVELOPMENT — FROM NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
TO HOUSING TO TRANSPORTATION — IN THE COUNTY’S
UNINCORPORATED AREAS FOR THE NEXT TWO DECADES.
See Hotel, Page A6
County loses another child care option
A Seaside day care to
close on March 31
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
The closure of day care centers in Astoria and Seaside are considerable
blows to child care in Clatsop County.
After Astoria announced plans
last week to close Sprouts Learning
Center , a second day care followed.
Mrs. Tami’s Daycare & Pre-
school in Seaside, which pro-
vides care for nearly 30 children,
announced Monday that it will
close its doors at the end of March .
Tami Williams, who opened the
facility nearly a decade ago, said
burdens brought on by the corona-
virus pandemic, including trouble
hiring and retaining staff , led to her
decision.
“It really just breaks my heart
to have to close,” she said tearfully
after describing eff orts to stay open
over the past two years. “I hate it.
I’m hurt. I don’t want to do this.”
But after learning of two more
staff ers who have plans to leave,
she said she has run out of options.
Prior to the pandemic, nearly 80
children were enrolled at the day
care and preschool. After govern-
ment restrictions went into eff ect
to help control the spread of the
virus, Williams said she closed the
facility for about two months.
When she reopened, Williams
said she downsized to serve 13
children in order to stay in line with
state virus restrictions . Meanwhile,
she said some of her employees
decided not to return right away
because they were earning more
on unemployment.
See Day care, Page A6