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DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2022
$1.50
City advances
code changes
for housing
Amendments are tied to state law
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
The Astoria Planning
Commission
approved
development code amend-
ments
Tuesday
night
designed to remove bar-
riers for new housing
construction.
The amendments, which
are expected to go before
the City Council in Sep-
tember, are in response to
recent changes in state law
intended to increase hous-
ing aff ordability and avail-
ability across Oregon.
Astoria became recog-
nized as a medium-sized
city when its population
tipped over 10,000, which
means it must comply with
new rules that include allow-
ing duplexes on residential
lots that allow single-family
homes. The city must also
expand opportunities for lot
divisions for middle hous-
ing, which enables units in
duplexes and triplexes to be
sold individually.
To avoid the state
code automatically taking
eff ect, the changes must be
adopted by the end of the
year.
Since most of the city’s
buildable land has been
developed, the city said
the changes would encour-
age infi ll. The amendments
also incorporate recom-
mendations made in Clat-
sop County’s 2019 hous-
ing study.
During a public hear-
ing on the amendments,
Megan Leatherman, the
city’s community devel-
opment director, reviewed
adjustments made since
the last P lanning C ommis-
sion meeting in June.
“The state legislation is
defi nitely more specifi c in
what we have to do, and
we made those changes in
the draft that I presented
at the last meeting,” she
said. “And so where we
have a little bit of wiggle
room and room for dis-
cussion and input from the
community and the com-
missioners is with some of
the county housing study
components.”
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
A 2020 survey of Jewell School District families found that less than 40% of people in the area had reliable internet.
Expanding access to
broadband in Jewell
proves to be diffi cult
See Housing, Page A6
A project between the county and the school district faces challenges
Eviction worries
intensify as
protections end
Many struggle with high cost of rent
By ALEXIS WEISEND
The Astorian
SEASIDE — Patricia
Cook, who manages a Dol-
lar General, has been liv-
ing in her car since she was
evicted in June .
Paying her rent wasn’t
a problem until her mother
moved out and she began
to struggle without the
extra income. Then, she
said, her rent was raised.
Cook is looking for a
new place to stay at a time
when rents are high, hous-
ing options are scarce and
applying for rental assis-
tance no longer keeps her
safe from eviction.
“There’s so many peo-
ple in this town that are
working, but there’s no
housing that they can go to
because they can’t aff ord
it,” she said.
During the coronavi-
rus pandemic, a series of
moratoriums on evictions
and foreclosures in Oregon
helped prevent evictions
from surging.
Oregon extended pro-
tections for tenants who
applied for rental assis-
tance by the end of June. If
tenants receive an eviction
notice for nonpayment of
rent and show their land-
lord they applied for rental
assistance before the dead-
line, they cannot be evicted
while their application is
pending.
The safe harbor protec-
tion expires at the end of
September.
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
A
project to bring broad-
band to the Jewell area is
undergoing a reboot.
Last year, Clatsop County
and the Jewell School District
signed an intergovernmental
agreement to deliver improved
internet access to areas where
service, if it exists at all, tends to
be spotty and sluggish. A 2020
survey of school district fam-
ilies found that less than 40%
of people in the Jewell area had
reliable internet.
The task of upgrading inter-
net service in this remote corner
of the county has proven more
diffi cult than the proposal ini-
tially suggested.
Meanwhile, the school dis-
trict — the project’s community
anchor — has faced upheavals
in leadership.
Steve Phillips, the former
superintendent who originally
presented the broadband idea
to the county Board of Com-
missioners in September, was
placed on administrative leave
pending an independent investi-
gation. In May, Phillips became
the new superintendent at New-
berg Public Schools.
Brian Gardner — who served
‘IT’S A
COMPLICATED
ISSUE. THERE’S
NOT AN EASY
ANSWER (TO)
HOW TO GET
INTERNET TO
VERY RURAL
AND SECLUDED
PLACES, YOU
KNOW? THAT’S
WHY IT HASN’T
BEEN DONE.’
Brian Gardner | former acting
superintendent who is serving as a
consultant on the broadband project
as acting superintendent ear-
lier this year before Cory Peder-
son was hired along with a new
principal — continues to work
as a consultant on the broad-
band project.
Gardner said he has put a
stop to spending any additional
money on it.
“It’s not a boondoggle,” he
said, “and I’m trying to make
sure that it doesn’t become
one.”
An early phase of the proj-
ect called for a $500,000 con-
tribution from the county and
$250,000 from the school
district.
A little over $140,000 has
gone into the project so far,
Gardner said. That amount has
paid for a trunk line — a ded-
icated fi ber-optic cable — con-
nected to Jewell School, a tower
— called “tower zero” — atop a
school building, and a roughly
$80,000 deposit with Ameri-
can Tower Corp. to build tow-
ers to serve the wider region.
If the project doesn’t pan out,
about $50,000 of that $80,000
is recoverable, since there is a
$30,000 restocking fee on mate-
rials already purchased .
In total, roughly $90,000 has
been spent, Gardner said.
The
intergovernmental
agreement stipulates that the
county pays for two-thirds, the
school district the other third. If
the project were to end at this
point, the county would be out
roughly $60,0000, the school
district about $30,000, Gardner
said.
See Broadband, Page A6
See Evictions, Page A6
WARRENTON
Crockett chooses not
City to put transfer of preschool building on ballot to run for City Council
Community Action Team
would take over
An open seat in
downtown’s Ward 3
By ETHAN MYERS
The Astorian
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
WARRENTON – Voters will
decide in November whether the
city can transfer a preschool build-
ing that has become a fi nancial
burden.
Head Start, a federally funded
preschool program, operates at
several locations across Clatsop
C ounty, including one on S.W.
See Preschool, Page A6
Joshua Bessex/The Astorian
Warrenton is looking to transfer a Head Start building to Community
Action Team.
Jennifer Crockett, the execu-
tive director of the Liberty The-
atre, will not run for the
Astoria City Council in
the November election .
Crockett, who was the
fi rst person to announce
her candidacy for the
downtown Ward 3 seat,
said her choice was prompted by
family matters.
City Councilor Joan Herman,
who holds the seat, has chosen
not to seek a second, four-year
term.
“I recognize the importance of
local individuals stepping up and
taking part in local government,
and what an awesome opportu-
nity that would be,” Crockett said
in a statement. “Unfortunately,
my situation has changed and that
is no longer an option for me at
this time.
“But, I look forward to
continuing to participate
in my community as an
advocate for the arts and
economic development
as the e xecutive d irector
of the Liberty Theatre.”
In an interview with T he Asto-
rian earlier this year, Crockett said
she wanted to be part of the dis-
cussion in deciding how the city
See Open seat, Page A6