A6
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2022
Heritage Square: Vote represents a big step forward
Continued from Page A1
which is that people that
can’t even dream of ever
owning their own house will
never be able to. They’ll be
paying too much rent wher-
ever they are.”
Over the next several
weeks , Edlen & Co. and the
city plan to host a series of
open houses to collect pub-
lic input and refi ne the con-
cept. The developer will also
prepare an application for
the government fi nancing
needed to launch the project,
which is due by late April .
The project faces several
hurdles — both fi nancial
and political — before the
city makes a fi nal decision .
In a last-minute amendment
to the negotiating agree-
ment, t he city or the devel-
oper can terminate the talks
at any time before a disposi-
tion and development agree-
ment is fi nalized .
The vote on Tuesday,
however, represents a signif-
icant step forward.
Continued from Page A1
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
People gathered in front of City Hall on Tuesday night in a demonstration against a workforce
housing project at Heritage Square.
‘THIS MONSTROSITY OF A
PROJECT WILL NOT SOLVE THE
COUNTY’S HOUSING CRISIS.’
‘We need this housing’
The empty pit at Heritage
Square left from when the
foundation of the old Safe-
way collapsed after heavy
rains in 2010 has long been
an eyesore downtown. Over
the years, the city had dis-
cussed a plaza to enhance
the Garden of Surging
Waves and a mixed-use
project with a new library
and housing.
The City Council made
housing at Heritage Square
a policy goal in 2017. Last
year, the council called for
workforce housing and
invited proposals from
developers.
“I believe as we move
forward with the negotia-
tions with Edlen , we will
be able to deal with some
of the issues that people are
most afraid of,” said City
Councilor Roger Rocka,
who made the motion to
enter into the agreement
with the developer. “I don’t
believe that we should make
our decisions based on
social media. I believe we
should make our decision
based on what we believe
is the right thing to do. We
need this housing. The peo-
ple who work here need this
housing.
“I think fi ve years from
now, we will all be looking
back at this project and say-
ing, ‘I don’t know why we
were ever afraid of it. We
are proud of it. This is just
what our city needed.’”
City Councilor Joan Her-
man, who represents the
downtown ward that covers
Heritage Square, spoke out
against the way some oppo-
nents have portrayed the
project and the City Coun-
cil’s actions, particularly on
social media.
“I appreciate the strong
feelings this issue has
caused in our community,”
Herman said. “I’m very dis-
tressed, though, by the dis-
sension, some of which I
Day care: County
has lost over half of
its licensed child care
capacity since 2017
Cindy Price | Planning Commission member
believe has been done delib-
erately, both on social media
and at large. And there has
been a great amount of mis-
information and fear-mon-
gering — some of it delib-
erate, in my opinion — by
members of our community
who should know better.
“It’s not befi tting the
town that we all love.”
City Councilor Tom
Brownson, who in January
had voted to move forward
with Edlen & Co.’s outline,
voted “ no” on entering into
the negotiating agreement.
He wanted to pause the pro-
cess to give the city time to
try to get buy-in and under-
standing from neighbors
who oppose the project.
Brownson also raised
concerns about the mental
health component involving
Clatsop Behavioral Health-
care, Clatsop County’s
mental health and substance
abuse treatment provider .
He questioned whether the
agency, which is partner-
ing with Edlen, could prop-
erly manage the supportive
housing units .
“I’m not convinced
that placing it as proposed
wouldn’t lead to more prob-
lems than it solves,” he said.
City Councilor Tom
Hilton, who voted against
entering into the agreement
with the developer, said the
mental health component
and the public input on the
project left him torn.
“Torn for the compassion
I have for my community,
and torn for the desire for
our community to thrive,”
he said.
Hilton, who grew up in
Uniontown, refl ected on the
changes he has seen in Asto-
ria. W hile change is inevita-
ble, he said, it is important
that the community evalu-
ates how to move forward.
‘Save Our Astoria’
Before the City Coun-
cil met, people opposed to
the housing project fi lled
the sidewalk outside of City
Hall, many waving “#Save
Our Astoria” signs.
Save Our Astoria, the
group that organized the
demonstration, created a
Facebook page this month to
rally the community about
“unhealthy development.”
Over the past few weeks,
critics of the Edlen & Co.
outline have taken to social
media and have described
the project in increasingly
disparaging terms.
One memo being circu-
lated — called “The Heart of
Downtown Astoria,” drafted
by Cindy Price, who serves
on the Planning Commis-
sion — includes a section on
the potential impact to the
downtown core.
The memo claims that
concentrating
lower-in-
come and mental-health
housing would do nothing
but degrade the surround-
ing business district. It ques-
tions the eff ect of the Mer-
wyn Apartments, the Astoria
Warming Center, a LiFE-
Boat Services drop-in cen-
ter downtown and a Helping
Hands facility in Union-
town on police and nearby
businesses.
“If you build it,” the
memo said, “they will
come.”
Price, who used to repre-
sent downtown on the City
Council, is one of the most
active critics of the Edlen &
Co. outline on social media.
Back in 2016, Price was
part of a 3-2 vote by the City
Council against advancing
a mixed-use project with a
new library and housing at
Heritage Square.
In 2017, Price was part
of the City Council when
the council made housing
at Heritage Square a policy
goal.
In December, before the
Edlen & Co. outline was
publicly released, Price
urged the Planning Com-
mission to delay the code
changes for housing at Heri-
tage Square, citing concerns
about parking. She was the
dissenter in a 4-1 vote for an
amendment to the develop-
ment code that would move
multifamily housing down-
town from conditional use to
permitted use.
On her Facebook page,
Price has said she favors a
small number of market-rate
townhomes, row houses or
condos at Heritage Square,
with open space lead-
ing to the Garden of Surg-
ing Waves and some public
parking. On Facebook and
Nextdoor, she has raised a
series of objections about
the Edlen & Co. outline and
suggested other locations in
Astoria and Warrenton for
housing projects.
“This monstrosity of a
project will not solve the
county’s housing crisis,”
Price said in a Facebook post
over the weekend. “There
will be as many or more peo-
ple on Astoria’s streets, in
dilapidated vans, and on the
Riverwalk as there are now,
and we’ll have a monstrosity
in the center of downtown.”
In response to a com-
ment from a reader who
hoped another stalemate
would not leave the empty
pit at Heritage Square for
another decade, Price stated,
“Agreed. And yet 10 more
years of the hole would be
better than this project. As
is, at least there is parking
for businesses.”
She said navigating
changing regulations and
staffi ng challenges have
taken its toll. She increased
pay in an eff ort to attract
and retain workers .
Williams said she went
from making a living from
the day care to draining her
savings and using her hus-
band’s income to keep the
facility afl oat .
As virus restrictions
lessened, Williams said she
was able to bring back more
staff and children. How-
ever, uncertainties around
staffi ng prevented her from
being able to maintain and
expand the number of chil-
dren served.
While hiring and retain-
ing quality employees has
always been challenging ,
Williams said, it became
worse during the pandemic.
Williams, who has been
working in child care for
20 years, recalled when
she purchased the Seaside
property with her husband
nearly a decade ago. She
had been running her busi-
ness out of her home, but
decided to expand to meet
the need.
The building was dilap-
idated and she and her hus-
band used reclaimed items
to build out the facility on a
tight budget.
“We worked for nine
months and created this
amazing space,” she said.
“It is such a successful
business if you can get the
qualifi ed teachers and keep
them. That’s what the prob-
lem is, and it’s even worse
now.”
The closure of Mrs.
Tami’s Daycare & Pre-
school and Sprouts Learn-
ing Center are considerable
blows to child care in Clat-
sop County . Since 2017,
the county has lost over
half of its licensed child
care capacity — more than
1,000 slots at licensed care
centers, care homes and
family homes. Both facil-
ities off er care for infants,
which is particularly diffi -
cult to fi nd.
Melissa Westley, who
owns Coast Kids Academy
in Warrenton, had recently
informed parents that she
would close its infant room
after determining it was not
profi table.
But Westley shifted
gears after hearing the
news about the other two
day cares.
“When we became
aware that the second day
care was closing, we just
thought it would be a good
idea for the community to
just keep it open,” she said.
Westley bought Coast
Kids Academy, formerly
Soar With Us, a year ago.
The center serves nearly
40 children, which includes
eight slots for infants, but
Westley said she had trou-
ble fi lling the infant slots.
When a teacher announced
his plans to leave, she deter-
mined ending the service
was her best option. He has
since decided to stay.
After posting her deci-
sion to keep the infant room
open on Facebook, Westley
said nearly all the infant
slots were fi lled within a
day.
Most families are com-
ing from Mrs. Tami’s Day-
care & Preschool and
Sprouts Learning Center,
she said.
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Q: Does the Oregon
Hotel: ‘The city is
working with Hollander’
Continued from Page A1
The city appealed the deci-
sion to the Oregon Court of
Appeals in an eff ort to uphold
the city’s prerogative to inter-
pret its own code reasonably.
The court affi rmed the
state’s decision .
In the meantime, the city
worked on amending the
code to guide future projects.
City staff told the City
Council earlier this month
that the code amendments
still leave room for interpreta-
tion, allowing the city to rea-
sonably interpret the code.
“It is not necessarily very
black-and-white,”
Megan
Leatherman, the city’s com-
munity development director,
said. “But overall, we think
with all the changes that it
does address their concerns.”
Mark Hollander’s pro-
posed Fairfi eld Inn and Suites
— a four-story, 66-room
Marriott-brand hotel at the
base of Second Street — was
approved in 2018.
Hollander requested a
one-year extension on his
permits in April 2020, citing
economic hardship during the
coronavirus pandemic.
The City Council denied
the request, arguing Hol-
lander had done nothing to
advance the project. The city
also questioned his claim that
the pandemic was the reason
for the delay.
The city said the code
asked applicants to show
why economic conditions
prevented them from mak-
ing an eff ort to proceed with
a project.
However, the appeals
board argued that, as writ-
ten, the city could only con-
sider
economic
condi-
tions that existed at the time
of the request for a permit
extension.
“The city is working with
Hollander on the possibil-
ity of approving a modifi ed
design for the building that I
hope will please a few folks,
but probably not everybody,”
City Attorney Blair Hen-
ningsgaard said in an email.
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