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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 2019)
February 22, 2019 T he C olumbia P ress 7 Housing: Is there really plenty to go around? Senior Moments Continued from Page 1 able land unencumbered by wetlands. “When the rest of the coun- ty is not doing its share in the housing market, it puts more pressure on us. The city of Warrenton is doing all it can to meet the housing crisis, but Astoria, obviously, hasn’t been,” he said. “There’s a double standard. There’s a lot of NIMBY-ism (not in my back yard) in housing devel- opment.” The 25-page housing assess- ment, which was reviewed at the Feb. 14 Planning Com- mission meeting, must be re- vised or accepted by the City Commission by June. “It looks pretty solid based on the methodology they’re required to use by the state,” Community Development Di- rector Kevin Cronin said. The next step is for planners and commissioners to do an instense property review, see- ing how much property really is available and not subject to restraints. “Overall, we’re in pretty good shape,” Cronin said. “We have quite a bit of land and we are building quite a few units. But other cities in our county have to take more responsibility.” Balensifer is chairman of the county’s housing task force, which includes leaders from every community in Clatsop County. The group is look- ing at available land in every area, even on a parcel-by-par- cel basis. “I’ve been fighting this since I’ve been on the committee,” with Emma Edwards Big rent increase a concern Cindy Yingst/The Columbia Press Many of the city’s newest families are moving into the Forest Rim neighborhood, adjacent to property the school district is purchasing for a new middle school campus. Balensifer said, “this mental- ity of ‘we’ll just pass it on to Warrenton.’ It’s not a solution to say everything is going into Warrenton because we have the developable land.” Other communities have large swaths of undeveloped property. Warrenton’s top priority is to serve the resi- dents who already live here, Balensifer said. “Warrenton is not the savior of the county. We’re strug- gling to keep up with the in- frastructure needs that come with that growth.” Among the findings in the housing assessment study: • Warrenton had an estimat- ed 1,987 households in 2018 and an estimated housing stock of 2,456 units. While that appears to be a lot of empty dwelling units, many are vacation homes and in- vestment properties. The es- timated vacancy rate is about 19 percent. • Warrenton has a good Free Obituaries The Columbia Press has always run free obituaries for community members who pass away. These free obituaries are generally 7 to 12 inches long and include a photo. And we do the writing for you! Those who want to write their own obituaries to honor loved ones may do so. These are $7.50 per column inch and can include a photo. To place an obituary, please call 503-861-3331 from 1 to 5 p.m. weekdays or send an email to office@thecolumbiapress.com. balance of employment and housing. There are an esti- mated 2,550 jobs in the city of Warrenton and an esti- mated 2,525 residents in the labor force. Clearly, the city is no bedroom community. • Since 2000, Warrenton has added 1,250 people, a 30 percent growth rate. The county’s growth rate was 9 percent overall; the state av- erage was 21 percent. • Warrenton’s poverty rate is estimated at 12 percent, which is on par with the rest of the county. The state’s av- erage poverty rate is 17 per- cent. • The housing stock is varied in both value and character. About 75 percent of the hous- ing stock was built before 2000. A quarter was built in the 1990s, another quarter was built in the ‘70s and ‘80s, and another quarter was built in the 1960s or earlier. I saw a bumper sticker not so long ago that says it all. “God put me on earth to ac- complish a certain number of things; right now, I am so far behind, I will never die.” Many of us remember a line from one of my favorite chil- dren’s books that went some- thing like “Today is a terrible, horrible, no good day, very bad day, a day to move to Australia!” I think I had one of those days. And no, I have no plans to move to Australia. My bad day was when I re- ceived a letter from my land- lord increasing my rent from $625 to $850, effective in 90 days. Why now? You can imagine it was the talk of the month in our shared laundry and mail rooms in the apartment com- plex. It was a pretty big blow for some of us. With the number of “kids” I have, I know I won’t go homeless. But my heart goes out to those seniors who walk alone or almost alone at this stage of their lives. Besides that, I love living in an apartment complex with 30 units, which provides me with meaningful friendships and, most important, a feel- ing of independence. I did a bit of research and learned that a rent-control bill has passed the Oregon Senior lunch menu Monday, Feb. 25: Pork goulash, noodles, red cabbage, spin- ach salad, bread pudding. Thursday, Feb. 27: Spaghetti with meat sauce, garlic bread, green beans, minestrone soup, ice cream. The Warrenton senior lunch program is at noon (doors open at 10:30 a.m.) Mondays and Thursdays at Warrenton Community Center, 170 SW Third St. Suggested donation is $5 for ages 55 and older; $7 for those younger. For more information, call 503-861-3502. Senate limiting “annual rent increases to 7 percent above the annual change in the con- sumer price index.” Now it must pass the Oregon House. If passed, Senate Bill 608 would be the first statewide rent control law in the coun- try. Areas in several states, in- cluding California and New York, have rent control, but not statewide. We are not talking about “just seniors.” The proposed bill would benefit families, too. Re- search confirms that land- lords aren’t happy with the bill and maybe that’s why so many rent increases are be- ing handed out before the bill goes into effect, if passed. Had my $625 rent increase been 7 percent plus the con- sumer price index of 3 per- cent, it would have been a 10 percent increase of $63 instead of $225. That’s a big difference! What is done is done and we have no choice but to live with it and make do with it. We seniors have lived through worse in different stages of our lives, I’m sure. And remember, as you get up in the morning, that this is (still) the day the Lord has made and we will rejoice in it! And no one can take that away from us! Perhaps you would like to do as I did: Call 503-986- 1432 or write (I did both) to Rep. Tiffiny K. Mitchell, House District 32, 900 State St., Salem OR 97103, and ex- press your concern and share your feelings about proposed Senate Bill 608. As our state representative, I’m told Mitchell will listen to us and supports this bill so far.
