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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (July 11, 2020)
INSIDE — A8 Nonprofit DevNW begins building Oregon minimum 12 new affordable homes in Florence wage increases By Chantelle Meyer Siuslaw News By Lena Felt Siuslaw News I t is no secret that America has a housing crisis on its hands, and Oregon is no expectation. In fact, Oregon has the third least-afford- able housing of all 50 states, ac- cording to Moody’s Analytics 2018 report. That is why nonprofits like DevNW have dedicated a lot of time and resources to creating more affordable housing options. DevNW, a nonprofit organiza- tion that offers financial well-be- ing counseling and assistance to Northwest communities, partnered with the City of Florence in 2018 to create 12 new 1- to 3-bedroom homes in the community that are affordable for low- to medium-in- come families. Initial construction is underway at 1424 Airport Road, at the corner of 15th and Nopal streets, where the dozen homes will be located. “The project is exciting for a couple of reasons,” said Emily Rei- man, CEO of DevNW. “One is that we actually have not been able to do single-family home ownership development for probably 15 years because there haven’t been sources of funding available from either the federal government or the state government. And the cost of de- velopment was just so high that we couldn’t build anything that was af- fordable for the moderate-income families that we serve.” Reiman and her team worked for several years with partners around Oregon to get the state to create a funding source that supports af- fordable housing developments. Their efforts paid off in 2018, when the Oregon Legislature began allo- cating money from general obliga- tion Article XI-Q bonds towards what’s called the Local Innovation and Fast Track (LIFT) Housing Program. See DevNW page 8A Planning Commission to hold hearing on housing development project WEATHER Partly sunny with a high of 65 and a low tonight of 54. Full forecast on A3 COMMUNITY Boys & Girls prepare for Air Academy INSIDE — A3 LIFESTYLE The silver screen returns to City Lights INSIDE — B RECORDS Obituaries & emergency response logs Inside — A2 SIDE SHOW Activities and comics every Saturday Inside — B4 CLASSIFIEDS Listings and public notices Inside — B5 FOLLOW US FOR THE LATEST NEWS : /S IUSLAW N EWS Letters protest increase of 126 homes without adequate traffic, groundwater studies Y L O P O - E On Sale C N E R FLO Modeled after the world famous board game, Florence-Opoly is customized to our great city. Summer Fun for the whole family! Now off ering shipping Only $12.62 (Local only. Out of area, please call for pricing.) @S IUSLAW N EWS T HE S IUSLAW N EWS . COM ibrary.or iuslawL www.S 97-313 2 541-9 single-family detached homes, 49 single-family attached homes and 46 multi-family homes. The devel- opment will also include a “central green,” a pavilion, picnic areas, a children’s play area and walking trails. If approved, the project would develop in two phases with an es- timated start date of Oct. 1 and completion date of Feb. 1, 2022, for See DEVELOP page 7A OUT CHECK S.) (WE EVEN GAME BOARD g hearing by owners of property in close proximity to the proposed development. Many state they have concerns regarding the proposal. The development proposal has been submitted by 3J Consulting Services, located in Beaverton, Ore., on behalf of the property owner, APIC Florence Holdings of San Francisco, Calif. The proposed Planned Unit De- velopment (PUD) would include 31 S IUSLAW N EWS 2 S ECTIONS | 20 P AGES C OPYRIGHT 2020 The Florence Planning Commis- sion public meeting and hearing scheduled to take place Tuesday, July 14, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Flor- ence City Hall, has drawn an unusu- al amount of attention as commis- sioners consider a resolution which would approve preliminary devel- opment of a major housing complex on a 9.3-acre plot located on the cor- ner of 35th Avenue and Rhododen- dron Drive. The meeting will be held via tele- conference and in compliance with Gov. Kate Brown’s executive orders mandating physical distancing and restricted public attendance at meet- ings. In the past weeks, Siuslaw News has received copies of letters sent to city officials for inclusion in the rd aboa g Climb readin ad! the real railro By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News $ 24. 99 each ͘͘͘ PHOTOS BY LENA FELT/SIUSLAW NEWS (Above) DevNW has begun its initial phase of construction on its community land trust development in Florence off 15th Street. Tucker Hines, left, and Drew Strout, EITs with Branch Engineering’s design team, use a GPS to set surveying pins on the site. On July 1, Oregon’s minimum wage increased by .50 cents as part of Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s three- tiered system established in March 2016. In “standard” counties, including Lane, minimum wage is now $12. Portland metro areas have reached $13.25 per hour, and “non-urban” counties are now $11.50 per hour. In January 2016, Brown stated, “The costs of essentials such as food, childcare and rent are rising so fast that wages can’t keep up. Many Oregonians working full- time can’t make ends meet — and that’s not right.” The system was devised after the governor met with businesses, working families and the legislature about the rising cost of living. This led to the passage of SB 1532. Under this bill, the counties of Benton, Clatsop, Columbia, Deschutes, Hood River, Jackson, Josephine, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Polk, Tillamook, Wasco, Yamhill and parts of Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Coun- ty are considered “standard” coun- ties. Non-urban counties are Baker, Coos, Crook, Curry, Douglas, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, Klamath, Lake, Malheur, Morrow, Sherman, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa and Wheeler. Between 2016 and 2022, standard counties will see an increase from $9.75 to $13.50; non-urban counties will see an increase from $9.50 to $12.50 and Portland metro areas will see an increase from $9.75 to $14.75. See WAGE page 7A VOL. 130, NO. 55 F LORENCE , O REGON D\ P +LJKZ WUKXQWHUFR ZZZ online — preempting an onsite visit by Census workers later this summer. “We are thrilled that we have surpassed our initial goal of 60.5 percent of households that have self-responded to the census. Currently, our national response rate is at 62.0 percent, which is 91,600,000 households that self-re- sponded to the 2020 Census. How- ever, our job is not yet complete. See CENSUS page 6A ͕ er-than-anticipated household responses are in some part due to the pandemic’s restrictions, in ad- dition to the emphasis of multiple online platforms for respondents to utilize when answering Census questionnaires. Misty Slater, Census Media Spe- cialist for Oregon, Nevada and Idaho, wants all residents that have not responded to this point to know that there is still plenty of time to fill in the questionnaire NEWS & VIEWS THAT DEFINE OUR COMMUNITY Ăƚ Under previously normal cir- cumstances, the U.S. Census would be a much higher profile under- taking than it has become in the post-COVID world. However, the 2020 Census is fully underway and changes in the manner in which the Census is being conducted have led to unexpected response results so far in the process. “The Census Bureau would like to extend our congratulations to the people of Oregon for their high response rate,” said Julie Lam, regional director of the Los Angeles Regional Census Office of the U.S. Census Bureau. “Your re- sponse matters and will help your community get the accurate count it needs to secure federal funding for critical public services and po- litical representation.” The reasons for the high- Siuslaw News Local Census response rate higher than expected ŝƚƵ Ɛ ‘Shaping the future of communities’ By Mark Brennan Siuslaw News Special Section Inside — A11 & 12 sŝƐ 0 Y B usiness Quarterly ŝƐĐ ŚŽ ŽǀĞƌ ŵĞ ǀ ŝŶƚĞ ŝŶƚĂ ƌŝŽ ŐĞĐů ƌƐ͕Ă Žƚ ŶĚ ŚŝŶŐ ĐŽ ͕Ă ŽŬ ŶƟ ŝĞƐ͊ ƋƵ ĞƐ RS SIUSLAW NEWS: A LOOK B ACK AT 130 Y EARS ͘͘͘ƚŽ Ě 2020 EA SIU E AT I N G 1 3 Greater Florence Area S CEL SN BR SATURDAY EDITION | JULY 11, 2020 | $1.00 THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM W 1890 AW NE L S Framing es Fram ence Quality Custom of Flor • Mirrors s • Needlework • Watercolors Shadowboxe Photography Oils • 43 97-20 G 541-9 101, Suite Hwy. 2285 OR 97439 Florence, *Off er expires July 30, 2020