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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 2022)
»INSIDE WEEKLY RTAINMENT ARTS & ENTE THURSDAY JULY 21 2022 RAMA AN ASTORIA MELOD PAGE 8 AUDIENCE FAVO RITE RETURNS TO THE STAGE A LOFT FOR ARTISTS PAGE 4 G EXPLORIN BREW S COASTAL TRE’S LIBERTY THEA 150TH YEAR, NO. 9 DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, JULY 21, 2022 $1.50 City hears feedback on homeless camping locations Triggered by a lack of adequate shelter beds By NICOLE BALES The Astorian Lydia Ely/The Astorian A parklet outside of Street 14 Cafe was declared a nuisance by the city. City orders cafe owner to remove parklet Improperly installed outside Street 14 Cafe By KATIE FRANKOWICZ KMUN W hat goes up must come down. A covered parklet complete with chairs and a bar top that was built over a parking space next to the Street 14 Cafe downtown on Satur- day has been declared a nuisance. At a meeting Monday night, the Astoria City Council said it was not authorized by the city and needs to be taken down. Contractors hired by cafe owner Micha Lattek to build the parklet have told the city they will disassemble the structure. Parklets were a lifeline for some downtown businesses amid restric- tions on indoor dining at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. The city launched a parklet pilot program in 2015 and loosened the rules around out- door seating options because of the pan- demic. Some of the allowances made during the pandemic — such as cover- ings so the parklets would be comfort- able to customers even on rainy days — went away when the city’s emergency declaration over the pandemic ended. Picnic tables already sit on the side- walk outside of Street 14 Cafe at Com- mercial and 14th streets, but Lattek said that as the pandemic continues and shifts, his business needs more outdoor seating options in order to survive. He said he’s seen changes in cus- tomer behavior and an increased desire for outdoor seating. He argues that restaurants operate on slim margins and he needs to be able to accommo- date the fl ood of customers that typi- cally descend on the cafe on summer weekends. Current guidelines outlined in the city’s parklet pilot program set limits of one parklet per block. When the City Council reviewed the pilot program in March, councilors heard a recommen- dation from the Astoria Downtown His- toric District Association to deny Lat- tek’s request given that there is already a parklet in front of Curry & CoCo Thai Eatery, just across the street from the cafe. “It’s really unfortunate that the busi- ness owner willfully took this action not that long after we clearly explained why we would not support a second parklet on the block,” City Councilor Joan Her- man said Monday. But Lattek said he felt like he received mixed messages from the city before the overall conversation, in his words, “just ended,” and the city decided to stay with some of the guidelines in the pilot program that would prevent him See Parklet, Page A6 Astoria leaders heard public feedback Monday night as the city crafts a home- less camping ordinance and details places people can and cannot sleep outdoors. Local governments across Oregon are adjusting camping ordinances to respond to federal court rulings and state legis- lation that prohibit police from enforc- ing illegal camping on public property unless there are adequate shelter spaces available. Cities, like Astoria, that do not have adequate shelter space, have the option to regulate camping by detailing the time, place and manner people can sleep out- doors so camping can be enforced every- where else. The City Council approved a homeless camping ordinance in June that estab- lished the time and manner provisions, but the city chose to take on the place component separately to allow for more public feedback. Under the ordinance, people can set up temporary camps overnight from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. with bedrolls or sleeping bags, See Camping, Page A6 Voters to decide on gun measure A proposed ban on high-capacity magazines By PETER WONG Oregon Capital Bureau Katie Frankowicz/KMUN Oregon voters will decide in Novem- ber whether to require fi rearms train- ing and ban high-capacity ammunition magazines. The ballot initiative qualifi ed for the general election after t he state validated the required signatures submitted by sponsors. Voters will see four statewide measures on the ballot, two initiatives that qualifi ed by petition and two constitutional amend- ments referred by the Legislature. The owner of Street 14 Cafe defi ed city offi cials as the structure was being built on Saturday. See Gun measure, Page A6 Veterans clinic moving into Astoria A shift of service from Camp Rilea By ABBEY McDONALD The Astorian The North Coast Veterans Administration Clinic plans to relo- cate from Camp Rilea in Warren- ton to a newly-renovated building in Astoria. In early July, the city approved design plans from the VA Portland Health Care System for the remodel of a building off Marine Drive — near Safeway — formerly occupied by the Northwest Regional Educa- tion Service District . The health sys- tem is part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Aff airs. The plans to turn the building into an outpatient clinic involve remodeling a portion of the building and some exterior alterations, such as new lighting and adding accessi- ble ramps and stairs at every door. The clinic at Camp Rilea off ers primary care, mental health care, laboratory and pathology services for veterans. The clinic is available to around 1,300 veterans in the area and has over 7,000 appointments annually. The hope is to improve the patient experience with a more cen- tral location and a more modern facility, Daniel Herrigstad, a public aff airs offi cer for the health care sys- tem, said in an email . Veterans face long wait times at the Camp Rilea location, Josh Davis, the veterans service offi cer at Clatsop Community Action , said in an email. “Any increase in services for vet- erans in our community is a good thing. I wholeheartedly support the increase in availability for appoint- ments and specialized care for vet- erans,” he said . The VA Portland Health Care System plans to open the new loca- tion to patients in the fi rst half of 2023. A veterans clinic is relocating from Camp Rilea to Astoria.
