150TH YEAR, NO. 5
DailyAstorian.com // TUESDAY, JULY 12, 2022
Off shore wind proposals
worry fi shing industry
Leases possible
off Coos Bay
and Brookings
Vacation
rental
critics
turn to
voters
A county referendum
would phase out rentals
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
N
EWPORT — From her home
overlooking Yaquina Bay , Kel-
ley Retherford can watch as com-
mercial fi shing boats arrive at the nearby
Port of Newport, delivering their catch
to one of several seafood processors that
line the waterfront.
Saltwater is in her family’s blood, she
said. Along with her husband, Mike, and
their four adult children, they own and
operate four fi shing trawlers, harvesting
everything from Pacifi c whiting to pink
shrimp to Dungeness crab.
“It’s a way of life,” Retherford said.
“We’re not boats on the water. We’re
families on the water. We’re families
feeding families.”
That way of life, however, may be dis-
rupted by a growing interest in off shore
wind generators to help achieve ambi-
tious government-mandated zero-carbon
energy goals.
Earlier this year, the federal Bureau
of Ocean Energy Management identi-
fi ed two call areas off the southern Ore-
gon C oast — one near Coos Bay and the
other near Brookings — to assess poten-
tial wind energy leases in federal waters.
Auctions for leases have already been
proposed in two areas off the California
coast, as the Biden administration aims
to deploy 30 gigawatts of off shore wind
generators by 2030.
The push to harness wind energy in
the Pacifi c Ocean has raised concerns
within Oregon’s $1.2 billion commercial
fi shing industry, with families such as the
Retherfords worried it will limit access
to highly productive fi sheries and impact
the marine ecosystem.
“There’s got to be better options,”
Retherford said. “I will fi ght to protect
my family, our community, our fi sheries
and our livelihoods.”
$1.50
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
U.S. Department of Energy
An off shore wind turbine off the coast of Portugal.
‘THERE’S GOT TO BE BETTER OPTIONS.
I WILL FIGHT TO PROTECT MY FAMILY,
OUR COMMUNITY, OUR FISHERIES
AND OUR LIVELIHOODS.’
Kelley Retherford | owner and operator of four fi shing trawlers,
harvesting everything from Pacifi c whiting to pink shrimp to Dungeness crab
See Off shore wind, Page A6
George Plaven/Capital Press
A commercial fi shing boat in Yaquina Bay.
A referendum is in the works to repeal
a new Clatsop County ordinance that
made vacation rentals a recognized use in
zones throughout unincorporated areas.
The county received a prospective
petition on July 1, just over a week after
county commissioners unanimously
approved changes to the development
code and formally allowed vacation rent-
als in commercial and residential zones.
If the referendum qualifi es for the
ballot and is approved by voters , vaca-
tion rentals of 30 or fewer days would
be banned in the county’s unincorpo-
rated areas excluding Arch Cape, where
vacation rentals have been permitted for
almost 20 years.
Vacation rentals would start to be
eliminated next year as owners would be
unable to renew their permits. More than
170 vacation rentals exist in unincorpo-
rated areas , including some that have
operated for decades.
The county has estimated that phasing
out vacation rentals would lead to the loss
of more than $500,000 in annual lodging
tax revenue .
Although the referendum would apply
only to unincorporated areas, all county
voters could vote on the ballot measure .
The petitioners — Charles Dice and
Jeff Davis, of Cove Beach, and Clare
Hasler-Lewis, of Surf Pines — have until
Aug. 10 to turn in signatures from 4% —
or 742 — of county voters to get the ref-
erendum on the November ballot. If they
want the referendum on the May ballot,
the petitioners have until Sept. 20 to turn
in signatures, according to the county.
“We are property owners and rent-
ers, housing advocates, business owners
and retirees from towns and rural areas
around Clatsop County,” Dice wrote in
a statement for the group North Coast
Neighbors United. “We are Republicans,
Democrats, independents and everything
in between. Above all, we are your neigh-
bors, united in our commitment to protect-
ing our North Coast residential neighbor-
hoods — because neighborhoods are for
families, not vacation rental businesses.”
When county commissioners passed
the ordinance in June, they directed
county staff to create a plan for capping
the number of vacation rentals allowed
in certain areas. The plan is expected to
arrive within the next few weeks.
So while the part of the regulation
involving the development code — zon-
ing for rentals — is fi nished, the part
involving the county code — regulating
rentals with caps — is not, County Man-
ager Don Bohn said at a work session on
Wednesday.
“In some regards, (the petition) seems
a little bit premature because we haven’t
See Ordinance, Page A6
Former department store worker fi nds creative outlets
Piippo expresses
her artistic interests
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
anet Piippo has always found
ways to express her creative
and artistic interests, whether it be
through work or hobbies.
Piippo spent over 40 years
working at J.C. Penney Co. down-
J
town . She was hired as a window
decorator and over time became a
permanent fi xture at the Commer-
cial Street department store, taking
on roles as a merchandiser and dis-
play advertiser.
The store closed in 2017 after
over 100 years in operation.
“Penney’s was a wonderful
place to work,” Piippo said.
She said the job gave her the
ability to be artistic, an alternative
to art school, which is what she
wanted to pursue after high school.
Piippo said she did not pursue
that path because her father did not
think she needed to go to college.
But over the years, she managed to
fi nd diff erent outlets.
She taught herself how to oil
paint and even started to sell her art-
work. But because her work at J.C.
Penney required so much creativ-
ity, she said she eventually reached
burnout and stopped painting.
Over the past year, she found a
new pursuit : photography.
See Piippo, Page A6
Janet Piippo worked at J.C. Penney Co. for four decades.