»INSIDE
THURSDAY
AUG. 11
2022
JAZZ AND ON
OYSTERS U
THE MEN
K it es in the sk y
FLYING HIGH
AT WASHINGTO
N STATE INTERN
ATIONAL KITE
FESTIVAL
PAGE 8
PAGE 6
BEACH
LL
VOLLEYBA
T
TOURNAMEN
RETURNS
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GS
‘CLUE’ BRIN
TO
MYSTERY BEAC
H
CANNON
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150TH YEAR, NO. 18
DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2022
$1.50
State
plans
to seize
ferry
Historic Tourist No. 2
could be crushed
By NICOLE BALES
and KATIE FRANKOWICZ
The Astorian and KMUN
The state plans to seize the historic
Tourist No. 2 and pursue enforcement
action against the ferry’s owner to try to
recover some of the costs of emergency
removal.
The estimate is already over $1
million.
When the ferry capsized at a fl oating
dock near the Sixth Street v iewing p lat-
form in late July, the priority was to con-
tain the fuel leaking from the vessel . T he
state has since taken the lead on a fi nal
disposition of the ferry in conjunction
with the city and the owner.
See Ferry, Page A6
Ilwaco
RV park
owners
sued
Washington state
takes legal action
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
KMUN
ILWACO, Wash. — The state has
fi led a lawsuit against the new owners of
Beacon RV P ark, alleging the owners are
ignoring their tenants’ legal protections.
The fi ling by the Washington Attor-
ney General’s Offi ce for a preliminary
injunction comes on the heels of a cease-
and-desist order issued in late July. Only
a few days after the order, Michael and
Denise Werner of Deer Point Meadows
Investments LLC ordered the demolition
of several trailers at the RV park at the
Port of Ilwaco.
All of this follows what the state, ten-
ants and local advocates say have been
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
Clatsop County is updating its comprehensive plan.
County Planning Commission signs
off on comprehensive plan update
amid concerns about late changes
Some involved in the process wanted more time for review
Commission should have a second opportunity to
review the drafts before forwarding to the Board
of County Commissioners,” according to the staff
n eleventh-hour legal review and modifi -
reports for the plans, except for Southwest Coastal.
cation of six community plans — a major
Policies that the Planning Commission had
part of Clatsop County’s updated compre-
already approved and sent to the board had been
hensive plan — has rankled people who helped
removed.
craft them.
Some policies were general enough that they
The county Planning Commission on Tuesday
could apply to other zones or countywide. These
voted to recommend that the Board of Commis-
were moved from community plans to the land use
sioners approve the draft community plans for the
goals.
county’s six planning areas.
Other policies, such as proposed regulations and
The votes, all unanimous, marked a crucial
development criteria, were specifi c enough that
moment in the overhaul of the
county staff may move them to
county’s comprehensive plan,
the Land and Water Develop-
which has not been fully revised
ment and Use Code.
COUNTY STAFF
in over 40 years. The docu-
A handful of policies were
IS CREATING A
ment will guide development
deleted because they were already
— from housing and transpor-
elsewhere in the com-
FEATURE FOR THE mentioned
tation to urbanization and natu-
prehensive plan. Additional poli-
ral resource management — in
C OUNTY WEBSITE cies were cut because the county
unincorporated areas over the
lacked jurisdiction over them, or
THAT WILL REVEAL the policies ran afoul of state law.
next two decades.
The comprehensive plan
County staff is creating a fea-
THE FATE OF THE
includes the community plans
ture for the c ounty website that
for six regions — Northeast,
MISSING POLICIES. will reveal the fate of the miss-
Clatsop Plains, Lewis & Clark
ing policies.
Olney-Wallooskee, Elsie-Jewell,
The abrupt intervention by
Seaside Rural and Southwest Coastal — as well as
legal counsel stunned members of community advi-
statewide land use goals.
sory committees who had volunteered on the plans
In recent months, the Planning Commission had
over the last three years.
approved all community plans except Southwest
Patrick Corcoran, a member of the countywide
Coastal, which the commission ran out of time to
citizen advisory committee, said, “The last-minute
review.
striking of so much text by legal counsel felt like a
Meanwhile, the Portland-based fi rm Beery,
gut punch.” He praised the work of county staff on
Elsner & Hammond fi nished its legal review of the
the comprehensive plan and said the legal review,
plans later than the county had anticipated, county
which he believed should have happened much ear-
staff explained.
lier, was a rare process fumble.
“Subsequent revisions by counsel were signif-
See Plan, Page A6
icant enough that staff determined the Planning
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
A
See RV park, Page A5
Chipotle, MOD Pizza on track in Warrenton
The new restaurants
faced lengthy delays
By ETHAN MYERS
The Astorian
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
The former Dooger’s Seafood and Grill in Warrenton has been demolished.
WARRENTON — Construc-
tion is underway at the North Coast
Shops to prepare for the arrival of
Chipotle Mexican Grill and MOD
Pizza.
The restaurants are set to
replace the former Dooger’s Sea-
food and Grill, which is being
demolished after a survey revealed
that the structure was not viable,
Van Wilfi nger, the city’s building
offi cial, said.
Plans for the restaurants were
announced years ago but holdups
with permitting and city concerns
about traffi c delayed the projects .
Five Guys Burgers and Fries
was originally part of the plans
but the chain has since backed out,
Mayor Henry Balensifer said.
An eviction dispute between
Atlas Investments — the owner
of the complex formerly known
as Youngs Bay Plaza — and Ross
Stores also slowed the addition of
new businesses and development,
The Astorian previously reported.
Dooger’s closed its Warrenton
location in 2019 after 15 years.
Doug Wiese, the founder of the
seafood restaurant, cited diffi cul-
ties in reaching an extension with
Atlas at the time.
As conditional approval for
the new restaurants, traffi c in and
out of the North Coast Shops onto
E. Harbor Drive will be right-in,
right-out only.
“That intersection has been a
key focus of ours for several years,
as it has at least one near miss a
week and multiple wrecks a year,”
Balensifer said in a Facebook post.
Pending construction, both
restaurants are expected to open
around the fi rst of the year, RTG
Property Management, the com-
pany that manages the North
Coast Shops , said in a statement.
But weather and supply chain dis-
ruptions will dictate the timeline,
Wolfi nger said.
Several other new tenants are
also planning to join the shopping
center, the property manager said,
and will be announced in the near
future.