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THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022
Port: ‘The dawn
of a new era’
Continued from Page A1
Commissioner Dirk Rohne
praised the city for the support and
the collaborative eff ort .
“By having a third party talk to
all parties considered and involved,
it has helped bring clarity and cre-
ated a practical roadmap that we
can all support and move for-
ward with in advancing our collec-
tive interest — making our region
more workable, usable and attrac-
tive,” he said. “There are a million
things about the plan that I think
are positive.”
Frank Spence, the president
of the Port Commission, echoed
Rohne’s comments and reiterated
the Port and city’s commitment
to getting the plan implemented,
assuring that it will not “sit on the
shelf.”
“This is the fi rst day, like I said,
‘the dawn of a new era.’ When the
city approves it in their May meet-
ing, then we get the wheels roll-
ing,” he said.
Commissioner Robert Stevens
voiced support but questioned the
fl exibility within the plan moving
forward.
Developers will get more clar-
ity on what is possible after the city
weighs potential code changes in
consultation with the Port.
Will Isom, the Port’s executive
director, added that while some
elements of the plan are specifi c,
other aspects, like the fi shing vil-
lage, leave room for fl exibility.
The potential “early wins” in
the plan include replacing the Chi-
nook Building with interim uses,
implementing lighting and way-
fi nding along the Astoria River-
walk and improving access and
amenities at the West Mooring
Basin.
“It’s a positive step,” Isom said
after the meeting. “It’s been a long
process and a lot has gone into this.
But I’m excited to get moving on
actual implementation.”
The Port of Astoria and the city are collaborating on
a master plan for the waterfront in Uniontown.
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
The city is weighing public places where homeless people can camp.
Homeless camping: The
city plans on identifying
places people can sleep
Continued from Page A1
Mayor Bruce Jones
agreed with the approach.
“Because that is going to
be the most challenging for
the community to fi nd — I
won’t even say the accept-
able places for camping —
but the least objectionable
places for camping,” he said.
City Councilor Roger
Rocka
suggested
get-
ting input from social ser-
vices providers on the man-
ner component. He also
urged the city to move for-
ward with a plan to provide
a place for people to store
their property.
“Whether we’re home-
less or housed, we have
stuff , and that has to be
accounted for,” Rocka said.
“So expecting someone
to not bring their stuff to
a sleeping place probably
isn’t objectively reasonable.
I think our service provid-
ers can help with that. And
I’m sure some of our home-
less population will want to
chime in on what that might
be.”
The city plans on iden-
tifying places people can
sleep, which would make
the rest of the city off lim-
its. The city may also be
required to include restroom
and shower facilities and
even security .
During a work session
last month, the city pre-
sented a list of more than a
dozen potential locations,
along with pros and cons for
each site. The places iden-
tifi ed include the Pacifi c
Power property near Youngs
Bay, the parking lot of the
Astoria Aquatic Center and
the parking lot at Shively
Park.
The City Council on
Monday also moved for-
ward with ordinances deal-
ing with quality of life con-
cerns that stem from the
city’s homeless population.
City councilors unani-
mously approved an ordi-
nance designed to incentiv-
ize the return of stolen and
abandoned shopping carts.
The
ordinance
will
declare shopping carts a
public nuisance and require
Safeway and the Asto-
ria Co+op — the city’s two
biggest grocery stores — to
pick them up within a few
days.
The businesses may be
subject to a $50 fee after the
fi rst courtesy notice if the
carts are not picked up.
In the coming weeks, the
City Council is also expected
to approve an expansion of
its ordinance that prohib-
its abandoned vehicles and
storing vehicles on streets.
The ordinance will spell
out ways to handle diff erent
situations, including vehi-
cles that are unregistered,
derelict or hazardous. The
ordinance will also address
people who live in recre-
ational vehicles and period-
ically move a short distance
away to avoid being towed.
Trio: ‘It was not an easy decision for us’
Continued from Page A1
T he festival had sched-
uled a concert titled the “The
Siege of Leningrad,” which
included pieces by two
Russian composers pres-
ent during the World War
II attack on what is now St.
Petersburg.
On
Monday,
Presi-
dent Joe Biden joined sev-
eral world leaders in calling
for Russia President Vlad-
imir Putin to be tried for
war crimes following evi-
dence of civilian casualties
in Ukraine .
“In light of the horrifi c
news coming from Ukraine,
we have decided to make
adjustments to the program-
ming of our upcoming Third
Dimension Festival,” Jen-
nifer Crockett, the Liberty
Theatre’s executive director,
said in an email. “The orig-
inal premise of the ‘ Siege
of Leningrad’ performance
was to demonstrate how
the tragic circumstances of
World War II were made
into art by Shostakovich.
“Given recent events, we
no longer feel it is appro-
priate to make this state-
ment, given the very active
and current terror being
infl icted on the people of
Ukraine. ”
The “Siege of Lenin-
grad” performance, set to
take place on June 25, has
been changed to “Hermitage
Piano Trio,” and will include
pieces from their repertoire.
The p iano t rio, whose
members are from Rus-
sia, have been outspoken
against the war in Ukraine.
The musicians and the-
ater worked together when
deciding to change the
program.
Sergey Antonov, the
t rio’s cellist, said he values
community feedback.
“Even though I think the
intent and the idea behind
this program is close to my
heart, it’s just that the world
situation becomes too sharp
and too intense to do this
program,” Antonov said. “It
was not an easy decision for
us to do, but we decided that
there’s probably going to
be another year and another
time for this program to see
the light.”
Another recent change
to the program was a much
easier decision.
Asiya Korepanova, a pia-
nist who debuted last year
in Astoria, will be return-
ing after previously being
unable to join. Along with
joining some of the cham-
ber music concerts, she will
have a solo performance and
will also play a four hand
duet with the p iano t rio’s
Ilya Kazantsev.
Beyond that, the festival
will proceed as planned.
“Regardless of what’s
going on in the world, we’re
still intensely looking for-
ward to it. We are excited.
Hopefully everything is
going to go as planned,”
Antonov said.
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On April 13th the Board of
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DO YOU REALLY WANT TO BE
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Contact YOUR County Commissioner TODAY!
Email them at commissioners@co.clatsop.or.us
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