T he C olumbia P ress
1
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C latsop C ounty ’ s I ndependent W eekly n eWspaper
www.thecolumbiapress.com
County targets
businesses selling
vaping products
August 9, 2019
Vol. 3, Issue 32
Plan to improve downtown enters new phase
B y C indy y ingst
The Columbia Press
A lack of oversight is contributing to
one of the biggest health threats fac-
ing Clatsop County’s teenagers: vap-
ing.
Oregon requires a license to own a
dog or sell Christmas trees, but retail-
ers selling tobacco and nicotine aren’t
regulated. Oregon is one of just nine
states without a licensing system.
“This is something we know as a tre-
mendous problem among our young
people,” County Commissioner Pa-
mela Wev told Warrenton city com-
missioners recently.
“It’s become an epidemic,” add-
ed Public Health Director Michael
McNickle. “Each one of our school
superintendents is just flabberghast-
ed by the in-class usage.”
Vaping products are often candy
flavored, packaged to look like treats
and sold in stores adjacent to snack
foods, McNickle said. The devices
can look like thumb drives and some
students use them in class because
they’re easy to conceal.
A study conducted by the Oregon
Warrenton
Urban
Renewal
District
boundaries
B y C indy y ingst
The Columbia Press
Warrenton has had success funding
its multi-year plan to improve down-
town and is doubling down on efforts
to raise even more money during the
final years of the plan.
With plenty more to do and more
tax money coming in than original-
ly expected, the city must take legal
steps to put additional projects and a
spending plan in place.
“The original purpose in 2007 was
to fix up downtown,” said Kevin Cro-
nin, Warrenton’s Community Devel-
opment director. “They largely have
not done that.”
A huge portion of the early tax mon-
ey was spent at Warrenton Marina.
See ‘Downtown’ on Page 4
Plans to revive downtown include plac-
ing power lines underground, paving
the lot between the fire station and the
future home of Arnie’s Cafe, shown here
under construction, providing loan guar-
antees for expanding businesses, and
adding landscaping and lighting.
See ‘Vaping’ on Page 7
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“We have to make good on our
promise to the folks who supported
the original urban renewal plan,”
Cronin said.
The Urban Renewal District was
created in 2007, carved out of 870
acres in the heart of downtown.
The district’s 1,106 parcels repre-
sent 7.6 percent of the city’s acre-
age. Yet those parcels bring in 11.4
percent of the city’s property tax
revenue.
During its first 12 years, the dis-
trict has “outperformed” or raised
more money than expected. As
property owners within the bound-
aries built and made improvements
– and as the economy improved –
additional tax money flowed into
urban renewal district coffers.
The idea behind an urban renew-
al district is to use tax money raised
in the district to improve public fa-
cilities such as streets, sidewalks,
the sewer system and parks. The
improvements are designed to
encourage rehabilitation of both
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