MARCH 13, 2015 • VOL. 39, ISSUE 6 Council tackles gravel roads Councilors debate how much public should be involved WWW.CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM COMPLIMENTARY COPY TIMBER! By Nancy McCarthy Cannon Beach Gazette ,I neiJhboUs on a lo- cal JUavel Uoad Zant theiU stUeet Saved theiU SUoSos- al Zill be consideUed in a Sublic heaUinJ ZheUe ev- eUyone can discuss it and the Cannon Beach City Council Zill PaNe a ¿nal decision 7hat SUovision is con- tained in Uevised stUeet stan- daUds Juidelines consideUed by the council at its ZoUN session 7uesday niJht While the guidelines say that e[isting ³unSaved´ Uoads aUe to UePain gUav- el the City Council Zill have the Uight to deteUPine Zhen conditions such as a sloSe oU otheU SUoblePs Ue- TuiUe that a Uoad be Saved NeighboUhoods hoZeveU can UeTuest that theiU stUeets be Saved BeIoUe a neighboU- hood’s gUaveled stUeet can be Saved SUoSeUty oZneUs Pust subPit a UeTuest to the city’s Sublic ZoUNs diUectoU shoZing that at least tZo- thiUds oI the oZneUs suSSoUt the SUoject and aUe Zilling to Say IoU it 7he city Zill contUibute SeUcent oI the asShalt Saving and SUoS- eUty oZneUs Zill Say SeUcent 3UoSeUty oZneUs could oSt out oI Saying but the cost Zould have to be SicNed uS by the otheU SUoSeUty oZneUs (ven one SUoSeUty oZneU could agUee to Say IoU the entiUe SUoject said 3ublic WoUNs 'iUectoU 'an *UassicN 3UoSeUty oZneUs Zho Iail to Say theiU shaUe Zith- in days aIteU the SUoject is coPSleted Zill have a lien ¿led against theiU SUoS- eUty accoUding to the stUeet standaUds guidelines A neighboUhood Peet- ing to discuss the SUoject including stUeet design and cost Zould be conduct- ed )olloZing the neigh- boUhood Peeting a Sublic heaUing beIoUe the City Council Zould occuU +oZeveU the counciloUs debated the need IoU a Sub- lic heaUing ³, don’t liNe the idea that a neighboUhood can coPe uS Zith an agUeePent and PAID PERMIT NO. 97 ASTORIA, OR PRSRT STD US POSTAGE See Roads, Page 14A ERICK BENGEL PHOTO Bill Taylor, a timber feller with Trails End Recovery, chainsaws through a log to make it fit for transport. Most of the tree-thinning took place on the east side of U.S. Highway 101. Residents wish process had ‘played out differently’ By Erick Bengel Cannon Beach Gazette A s an 2UeJon 'eSaUtPent oI 7UansSoUtation cUeZ sys- tePatically cut doZn tUees neaU heU SUoSeUty alonJ 86 +iJh- Zay Cannon %each Uesident .iUsten 0assebeau tooN out heU i3- hone to docuPent the deSaUtPent’s 0aUch tUee-thinninJ SUoject ² and to SUotest it AccusinJ 2'27 oI ³destUoyinJ ouU scenic byZays´ she videoed the ZoUNeUs and theiU Pachines IellinJ aldeUs saZinJ theP and haulinJ aZay the debUis %etZeen aP and SP ¿ve 2'27 ePSloyees and thUee con- tUactoUs IUoP 7Uails (nd 5ecoveUy a :aUUenton-based tiPbeU Uecy- clinJ coPSany UePoved about tUees oU PoUe inches in diaPeteU betZeen the city’s noUth entUance and 6unset %oulevaUd ASSUo[i- Pately tZo-thiUds oI those tUees ZeUe taNen IUoP the hiJhZay’s east side neaU .iUsten 0assebeau’s hoPe on (lNland CouUt ,n addition the cUeZs cleaUed to sPalleU ³bUush´ tUees Uesult- inJ in the total UePoval oI about tUees that 2'27 oI¿cials had deteUPined ZeUe leaninJ SeUilously oveU the hiJhZay SosinJ a Soten- tial thUeat to dUiveUs 7he cUeZ ³Àush cut´ the stuPSs to PaNe theP even Zith the JUound and then coveUed theP Zith IoUest PateUial to disJuise theP 7he UoadZay Zas ³JUooPed clean´ 3ublic :oUNs 'iUectoU 'an *UassicN ZUote in an ePail to a UeSoUteU ³,I you didn’t NnoZ the ZoUN Zas done today you Zould be challenJed to NnoZ any tUees ZeUe actually UePoved´ (ventually 2'27 Pay Slant neZ tUees in that stUetch oI hiJhZay coUUidoU ZheUe about tUees cuUUently stand accoUdinJ to an es- tiPate by %ill -ablonsNi PanaJeU oI 2'27 'istUict Kirsten Massebeau documents ODOT’s tree-thinning on her iPhone near the property she shares with her husband, Phil Massebeau, who stands behind her. With some trees gone, they fear they have lost the noise buffer between themselves and the highway. ERICK BENGEL PHOTO ‘Hazard trees’ %ecause the tUees ZeUe in a state UiJht oI Zay state laZ alloZed 2'27 to UePove theP Zithout ¿Ust obtaininJ a city SeUPit ,t Zas the ¿Ust Uound oI a tUee-thinninJ SUoject e[Sected to taNe seveUal yeaUs +oZeveU 2'27 Zill not UetuUn IoU IuUtheU thinninJ until ne[t yeaU said .evin :eUst the deSaUtPent’s tUansSoUta- tion Paintenance PanaJeU IoU the :aUUenton 6ection oI 'istUict A yeaU aJo the deSaUtPent PaUNed IoU UePoval about dead and dyinJ tUees consideUed to be in danJeU oI collaSsinJ onto the hiJhZay :hen 2'27 identi¿es ³ha]aUd tUees´ :eUst said ³:e’Ue obliJated to taNe caUe oI it ³:e have a UesSonsibility to Paintain the UiJht oI Zay´ he said ³And soPe SeoSle don’t Zant it Paintained to the level that Ze See Trees, Page 4A Laurel Street neighbors unhappy Notifications errors, disregard for city code cited By Erick Bengel Cannon Beach Gazette As the City Council JDYe ¿nDl DSSUoYDl oI -eII 1icholson¶s GeYeloSPent SUoSosDl IoU 1 /DuUel 6t 0DUch the counciloUs IDceG Dn e[DsSeUDteG DuGi- ence that believed an injus- tice had taNen Slace %eIoUe the council¶s ¿nal vote oI to CounciloU 0iNe %ene¿eld ² the only counciloU Zho in the end voted no on Nicholson’s Slan ² Poved to deny Nicholson’s thUee UeTuests the Slanned develoSPent oveUlay ]one the IouU- house develoSPent Slan and the sloSe-density vaUi- ance 7he UooP eUuSted in aSSlause and cUies oI ³