A16
News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
COUPLE
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very social and she talked to
Sharon two or three times a
day. She said she and Sharon
have known Terry since they
were in their early teens in
Springfield and often went
camping together.
Hinshaw also said the
Smiths sometimes let peo-
ple stay on the 80-100 acre
property on Nan’s Rock
Road they bought in the
mid-1990s, but the man who
served as a caretaker for the
property was gone at the time
of the fire.
Two men who said they’ve
known the Smiths for several
decades contacted the Eagle
about the missing couple.
James Parker said he lived
near the Smiths’ home in Ha-
waii, and Magnus Julleryd
of Sweden said he knew the
Smiths from their business
trips to Bali, Indonesia.
According to Parker
and Julleryd, the Smiths
Contributed photo
A photo Sharon Smith posted on Facebook of her ‘hunting cabin in Eastern Oregon.’
Terry Smith, 67, and Sharon Smith, 65, are missing along with their pickup after a fire
destroyed their cabin on Nan’s Rock Road.
had made a living import-
ing clothes from Bali and
selling them in Birch Bay,
Washington. Hinshaw said
the Smiths got out of that
business about 1998, and
Terry got involved in other
businesses including real es-
tate. Sharon volunteered for
COUNCIL
POT
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Over time, the Oregon
Parks and Recreation De-
partment acquired about
1.5 acres at the Kam Wah
Chung site, and a mas-
ter plan was developed in
2009 and updated in 2012.
Ultimately, the state wants
to build a new interpretive
facility at the Kam Wah
Chung site to replace the
current museum across the
street.
As approved by the state
parks planning commis-
sion, the plan calls for the
state to acquire the three
acres of city park land sur-
rounding Kam Wah Chung
in exchange for cash that
could be used to leverage
grants for a new city pool.
“The city would like
to pursue this option with
the state in order to create
a world-class heritage site
in our community,” Green
said. “The age and condi-
tion of our current pool,
coupled with the strategic
opportunity to create new
recreational facilities with
improved street access
along the John Day River,
make this a logical time to
reopen negotiations.”
Green recommends that
the city approve spending
$17,500 for a feasibility
study by Counsilman-Hun-
saker, a leader in planning
and design of aquatic cen-
ters. He would like to have
three viable pool options:
a basic one similar to the
current facility, an interme-
diate option and “what we
want,” he told the Eagle.
“Our goal in this pro-
cess should be to create an
all-season facility that will
provide year-round oppor-
the business shifts from regula-
tions under the Oregon Health
Authority to the Oregon Liquor
Control Commission.
Nobody under 21 will be
allowed in the store, she said.
People with a medical mari-
juana card who are 18-20 will
have to rely on a caregiver to
purchase their medical marijua-
na, she said. This could a create
a hardship, she said, but she
didn’t know of any customers
at the John Day store who were
under 21.
Rocky Mountain Dispensary
managed to get state approval
despite a tremendous backlog of
OLCC applications. On May 30,
the agency announced it would
set aside marijuana business li-
cense applications received af-
ter June 15 so the commission’s
13 employees could catch up
with 1,423 applications.
But the agency received
1,001 more applications follow-
ing the announcement, increas-
ing the backlog to about 2,295
applications. Ninety-two appli-
cations were approved follow-
ing the announcement, bring-
ing the statewide total of active
marijuana business licenses to
1,964.
Olson’s family already
grows medical marijuana in
Grant County using hydropon-
ics, and they plan to eventually
grow recreational marijuana,
Olson said.
“We’re waiting to see what
happens with Grant County zon-
ing,” she said.
Eagle file photo
Kam Wah Chung and Company Museum in
John Day. The city will consider selling the park
surrounding the museum to the state for a heritage
site while developing a new city park and pool
elsewhere.
tunities for recreation that
is achievable within our
financial constraints,” he
said.
In any case, planning
should start now to avoid
a time in the future where
the pool is closed and no
viable options exist to re-
place it, he said.
Hill properties
The council will also
consider buying 10 acres
of land along the John Day
River from Colleen and
Celeste Hill for $115,000.
Seven acres on the north
side of the river would
be acquired using money
from the Sewer Fund, as
part of that land would
be used by the city’s new
sewer treatment plant.
Located between Val-
ley View Drive and the
river, the property in-
cludes the Davis Creek
ravine, which is currently
overgrown with junipers
and inaccessible to the
public.
According to Green,
the city could improve the
land with trails and park-
ing to connect residents in
the Charolais Heights, Val-
ley View Drive and Bridge
Street neighborhoods to
the riverfront. The land
also would be an ideal lo-
cation for a botanical gar-
den using reclaimed water
from the new sewer treat-
ment plant, he said.
The four acres along the
south side of river would
be held in the Street Fund
until the park design, in-
cluding the trail system
and bridges, for the site
is completed by consul-
tant Walker Macy as part
of Transportation Growth
Management grant-funded
planning and these plans
are approved by the city
planning commission.
The land is located im-
mediately west of the new
cul de sac being construct-
ed as part of the current
Canton Street extension.
Through lot line adjust-
ments, the city could ac-
quire enough land along
Canyon Creek to connect
this new city park with a
trail system to Kam Wah
Chung.
County zoning
The Grant County Planning
Commission met July 19 to re-
view a proposed amendment
to the county’s land develop-
ment code that would address
time, place and manner regula-
hospice when she was in Ha-
waii, Hinshaw said.
In January 2011, Sharon
posted a celebratory note on
her Facebook page, marking
her and Terry’s 41st anniver-
sary together. She noted that
she enjoyed traveling to Bali
each year for clothes and
selling them seasonally on
San Juan Island, Washing-
ton. Another post described
a “hunting cabin in Eastern
Oregon” believed to be the
structure that burned.
Locating the fire initially
proved difficult, John Day
Fire Chief Ron Smith told
the Eagle. A “glow” was
observed by people west of
Mt. Vernon and reported to
authorities about 10:15 p.m.
on July 17, but the reporting
party thought there was a
fire on Canyon Mountain.
According to John Day
dispatch, crews from the
Forest Service, Oregon De-
partment of Forestry, John
Day fire and Mt. Vernon fire
responded to Nan’s Rock
Road around 12:15 a.m. in
tions related to all marijuana
businesses, from growers and
processors to wholesale and re-
tail sellers of both medical and
recreational marijuana.
Grant County planning di-
rector Hilary McNary told the
Eagle marijuana growing is
considered an agricultural use
and not currently subject to a
land-use permit, but growers
must obtain a land-use compati-
bility statement from the county
office.
“We have signed one land-
use compatibility statement for
production of marijuana in a
farm zone,” she said.
McNary told the coun-
ty planning commission that
OLCC has lengthy, detailed
and extensive regulations for
marijuana businesses, but they
didn’t address three land-use
issues that she learned about
from talking to planners in oth-
er counties – odor, noise and
light pollution.
She noted that the state agri-
culture department regards mar-
ijuana growing as just another
crop, and without the county
imposing regulations on odor,
noise and light pollution, “it
would be a free for all.”
Olson told the commis-
sion she supports the proposed
county regulations because they
could prevent a very large mar-
ijuana-growing business from
coming to Grant County and
setting up operations in the West
Bench or Marysville areas.
According to the proposed
amendment, the draft standards
do not apply to homegrown or
homemade marijuana as al-
lowed under state law, to in-
dividuals who are registered
medical marijuana cardholders
or to designated caregivers at
their primary residence who are
providing services to a single
registered medical marijuana
cardholder. The regulations also
do not apply to recreational use
an attempt to locate multiple
fire reports.
By the time initial at-
tack crews from ODF ar-
rived, the house on Nan’s
Rock Road was completely
burned to the ground, Smith
said. John Day fire crews
secured the perimeter to
prevent the fire’s spread to
the surrounding area, which
includes heavy timber and
open meadows covered with
dry grass, he said.
The road off Laycock
Creek Road is in a very iso-
lated area, and the road was
in rough condition, Smith
said. There were no nearby
neighbors who might have
seen the fire and called it in
right away, he said.
Smith said he saw remains
of solar panels indicating the
house may have been off the
grid. He said many people
who live in this area are not
year-round residents.
Palmer encouraged anyone
with information to contact
the sheriff’s office at 541-
575-1131.
or possession of marijuana as al-
lowed under state law.
Primary owners or operators
of marijuana businesses will be
required to obtain a $120 annu-
al permit issued by the county
planning department. Marijua-
na businesses will be required
to have a license or certificate
from the Oregon Liquor Con-
trol Commission or the Oregon
Health Authority and hold a
land-use permit from the county.
Explosive issue
Under the amendment, mar-
ijuana businesses of all types
will be prohibited from all res-
identially zoned districts and
the county’s rural service center
district.
Marijuana growing will be
allowed outright as a farm use
in primary forest and agricul-
turally zoned districts and be al-
lowed under a Type II review in
the county’s general industrial
or general commercial districts.
Marijuana production is prohib-
ited as a home occupation in any
zoning district.
Marijuana processing busi-
nesses will be allowed as a
conditional use in agriculturally
zoned, industrial and commer-
cial districts. But the risk of
explosion from use of butane or
other gases in the processing of
marijuana into oils, as explained
by Olson, led to lengthy discus-
sion by the commission.
Commission member Steve
Parsons, an electrical contractor,
expressed concern that the pro-
posed amendment did not spec-
ify that the design and construc-
tion of marijuana processing
facilities using explosive gases
be signed off by the appropriate
officials.
Because of the technical na-
ture of Parson’s concerns, Mc-
Nary was directed to look into
the matter and bring the amend-
ment back at the planning com-
mission’s Aug. 23 meeting.
Thank you
to
Boyd & Bonnie Britton
Boyd - thanks for:
Being the pyrotechnician for the 4th of July fireworks in
Prairie City for 8 years;
Conducting church services at the nursing home once a
month for 10 years;
Filling in as announcer for the 4th of July parade in Prairie
City for many years;
Dropping everything and rushing the eclipse signs for the
celebration in Prairie City;
Helping Charlie with his presentation at Lewis and Clark
college. The class loved the slide show, proving logging
could help save our forests. You were such a great friend
to him.
And thanks, Bonnie, for always being one of the first to
organize food and services for those injured or sick.
You both will truly be missed!
Jan & Jake O’Rorke
70146