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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 2015)
4A • October 23, 2015 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com Who will be there to save us if the big one hits? H ow scared are you? If “The Next Really Big One” in The New Yorker and “Unprepared” on Oregon Public Broadcasting, haven’t worked your nerves, please check your pulse. An overdue natural disaster could devastate our region — if the quake doesn’t get you, the tsu- nami will. While we’ve been trying to decide whether we’re living with Chicken Little or the Boy Who Cried Wolf,” it really doesn’t mat- ter. We need the answer to, “If the worst happens, where do we turn?” That’s where, state of¿ cials say, the Cascadia Playbook comes in. While it’s not exactly easy reading — the operational plan “doesn’t have any narrative, any context, a plan or format,” said Laurie Holein, deputy director of the Oregon Of¿ ce of Emergency Management — the Playbook is touted as the state and federal gov- ernment’s go-to document should the earth begin to move. But how valuable is it really? State Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scapoose, says it won’t make much of a difference if we’re not prepared at the local level. “I think there’s more to meet- ing this threat than putting up little signs saying, ‘We’re tsu- nami ready,’” she said. “It’s OK in a high-level document to say we take care of our disabled, but what’s the practical reality for get- ting some person who weighs 300 pounds down from ¿ ve stories?” The Playbook In 2014, state’s Adjutant Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson of the Ore- gon Of¿ ce of Emergency Man- agement had a very good idea: a tool to demystify “the very large mountain of things: that needed to be coordinated,” as described by Holein. “Break it down with all the different players.” The document would detail how state of¿ cials should respond in the ¿ rst 14 days following a magnitude 9.0 Cascadia Subduc- tion Zone earthquake and tsunami off the West Coast. The Playbook is “a quick refer- ence guide to what things need to be done,” Holein said. “It’s kind of like an aviator’s checklist before he ¿ res up the engine: what things need to make sure they’re getting done, check the fuel, check, have you done that with that gauge, check.” Hokanson proposed the Play- book to former Gov. Jon Kitzhaber and the ¿ rst Cascadia Playbook was born in 2014. Gov. Kate Brown liked the plan too and this summer the Of¿ ce of Emergency Management hailed the release of the updated docu- ment. The new Playbook, released with some fanfare for an agency usually in the shadows, provides a checklist for state of¿ cials based on federal, state and local emer- gency response plans, which will also be carried out during the earthquake and tsunami. This is not for the faint of heart. The Playbook considers the “worst disasters we would ever face in the state of Oregon,” she said. A Cascadia Subduction earth- quake — a full eruption of the 700-mile subduction zone — would be “absolutely the worst event we would face here,” Holein said. “We wrote it with that disas- ter in mind and tried to do a very comprehensive inventory of what kind of things are going to be re- quired.” There could be 25,000 fatali- ties, more than 10,000 buildings destroyed and damaged; 10,000 or C ANNON S HOTS By R.J. MARX Full disclosure: I don’t even own a go-bag. But I am purchasing fl ashlights, putting meds and tools in one place, and reviewing routes should the ground shake. more people in need of shelter and $50 billion in economic losses. Actions list how and when to trigger a federal disaster decla- ration, collect bodies, transport supplies, or provide help in areas destroyed by the quake. Shelter, feeding, medical care, animal care — all are critical elements. All that and a bag of chips? But Oregon State Senator Betsy Johnson said this week she doesn’t quite see it as the be-all end-all of emergency preparedness. “No, I’m not happy with the measures the state has taken,” she said. “We have too many agencies acting unilaterally. There is not a consistent coordination. It appears that the planning is episodic.” Johnson added the Legislature tried to rectify this in the last ses- sion, with a resilience person in Gov. Kate Brown’s of¿ ce, respon- sible directly to the governor. Many cities along the coast “have incredibly engaged constit- uents that have done a lot of for- ward-looking work,” Johnson said. “There are others that have done less so. While we have these silo-ed plans, we don’t have, in my view, a consistent expectation for what makes communities resilient.” She said she’s seen the Cascadia Playbook. “I was up at Camp Rilea when Gov. Kitzhaber rolled it out,” Johnson said. “I don’t want to crit- icize somebody else’s work prod- uct, but I don’t know how a high level planning document translates into on-the-ground action. “I think there’s a lot more to be done on the ground,” she added. State money is available for state retro¿ ts for public buildings she said, but in some cases these retro¿ ts make no sense — for ex- ample, when a school of ¿ rehouse is in a tsunami zone. That’s going to be more complicated,” Johnson said. “If you take Seaside as an ex- ample, they didn’t have site con- trol when they went out for their school bond.” In order to get site control, Sea- side needs to go outside the city’s urban growth boundary. “Expand- ing any Urban Growth Boundary is incredibly complicated,” John- son said, evidenced by the long, well-attended and voluminously documented meetings held in Sea- side over past months. Get your go-bag All these tsunami pieces seem to have a common thread, sort of like the ¿ nales of “The Titanic” or “The Towering Inferno.” Full disclosure: I don’t even own a go-bag. But I am purchas- ing À ashlights, putting meds and tools in one place, and reviewing routes should the ground shake. “We’re really glad the public is playing attention to the topic right now,” Holein said. “We want them to know we are working very dil- igently in our ¿ eld to make sure we are recognizing and addressing the needs of these type of event, and there’s a call to action for cit- izens as well. They need to realize this threat exists and they need to be prepared on their own to be re- silient for at least two weeks.” The only thing everyone seems to recognize now is the risk. “If residents live close to the coastal area, they need to be very aware, and if they happen to be someone near the shoreline, if and when there is that quaking they need to get to higher ground as soon as possible. They may have 10 to 15 minutes to get to higher ground. Everything else can be re- placed — but lives can’t.” The Playbook Initial response in the event of disasters. PLAY 1: Notifi cation, activa- tion and authorities PLAY 2: Life safety PLAY 3: Damage assessment PLAY 4: Mass Care and Shel- tering PLAY 5: Logistics and Re- source Management PLAY 6: Planning and Priori- tization PLAY 7: Emergency Repairs PLAY 8: Outside Assistance PLAY 9: Begin Recovery Council rushed Nicholson project to fi t own agenda I n the Gazette’s article “Cannon Beach property owner prevails in state land use board deci- sion,” (Oct. 9), Will Rasmussen, attorney for the property owner Jeff Nicholson stated, “The deci- sion was, frankly, a win for Can- non Beach.” We, the 66 members of Friends of Cannon Beach, a nonpro¿ t corporation founded and funded to oppose and expose this decision, strongly disagree. Nicholson bought his 1/2 acre parcel in 2014. It has steep slopes and had, therefore, been restricted to only the existing 100 year old “historic cottage.” Immediately, he asked to build “a couple of cot- tages.” The city denied him three times because it would violate our steep slope laws. Unfortunately, his lawyers found a loophole in our code. So Nicholson appealed and threatened a lawsuit. Instead of standing ¿ rm, the city endeavored to circumvent our laws and agreed to allow Nich- olson to re-apply to build FOUR FULL-SIZED homes on his steep- ly sloped parcel by simply calling it something different. That’s how the Planned Unit Development op- tion came about. The city created this option and gave it to Nich- olson in exchange for putting his lawsuit on hold. It’s that simple. The relabel had to ¿ rst get past the Planning Commission, which was not privy to the PUD–for-law- suit exchange. The Planning Com- mission decisively voted 6-1 to deny Nicholson a fourth time. The City Council, however, rushed the project to its own agen- da. Two days before the Planning Commission had even voted to deny, council had already called a “special meeting” solely to ac- commodate Nicholson and vote on the PUD scheme. The city sent out two À awed and confusing public notices. On Feb. 10, council held its rushed hearing. Opposition was light. People felt the Planning Commission had again done its job by its denial and remained confused about the process. Coun- cil closed the record and tentative- ly approved the project. At the March 3 council meet- ing, 36 angry citizens appeared ready to be heard. Mayor Steidel had already approved my speaking during the public comment section on behalf of our large group. How- ever, city land use attorney Bill Kabeiseman advised the mayor NOT to allow us to speak saying the record was closed (although they had the option to reopen). The mayor silenced the opposition, and the council voted 4-1 to approve. Only Councilor Bene¿ eld voted to deny. Friends of Cannon Beach then formed. We grew to 66 members quickly, with members citywide and in four states. We raised over $13,000 in donations ranging $25- $1,000. This was a grassroots effort by citizens who feel their local government let them down. This isn’t a local squabble or “not Uncorked Ramblings G UEST C OLUMN By JEFF HARRISON President, Friends of Cannon Beach in my backyard” grousing. This diverse group is dismayed by the pro-development climate and ti- midity displayed by four of our councilors who bowed to a threat and assisted a single developer in circumventing our code. That’s not the Cannon Beach way; at least it didn’t used to be. Varianc- es, rule bending or stretching, and favorable interpretations should bene¿ t the good of the whole « not a single developer. The Cannon Beach Historical Society supported Nicholson’s original plan because he promised to save the 100 year old “historic cottage”, thereby “preserving a piece of Cannon Beach’s history.” Some members even signed boil- er-plate letters of support. When they read in The Gazette that the project would “allow him to tear down and rebuild a decrepit 100-year-old home,” they quietly backed off their support. Our code requires PUDs to be at least 3 acres, unless the Plan- ning Commission ¿ nds the prop- erty “unique.” Rasmussen claimed the 1/2-acre parcel’s steep slopes (the thing that prevented building under zoning code) was the very feature that made it unique. Our code also says this PUD should have 41 percent shared outdoor living space. Rasmussen argued that the 125-feet-long, 12-feet-tall, interlocking concrete driveway counted towards this percentage. When challenged, he stated the code says “should.” not “shall,” so he didn’t have to provide the space anyway. The April 14 City Council agenda shows staff was directed to draft an amendment to “close the loophole” Nicholson used. A city of¿ cial said, “the issue is relatively straight-forward: how do we make it unambiguously clear that the slope-density restrictions in [our code] apply to situations like Nich- olson’s?” The amendment is on hold because Nicholson’s lawsuit hasn’t been dropped. His threat is still out there. The city says he’s unlikely to drop his appeal against them until his PUD is complete. After the amendment, other small property owners with steep slopes couldn’t use this loophole again. During one hearing, Nicholson claimed Sierra Club membership, and said, “that says something that I like trees.” In May 2015, nineteen of his spruce trees were hacked (limbed and topped) for view enhancement. The results are proudly posted on “Lucie’s Cottages” Facebook page. Trees north of Ecola Creek and west of Laurel are protected by code. Alert citizens noti¿ ed the City and Nich- olson initially faced a $9,500 ¿ ne. In another letter from his lawyer, Nicholson took responsibility for only four trees and placed most of the blame on the previous proper- ty owner, David Ingalls. The City Manager cut the ¿ ne in half. During deliberations, Council- or Cadwallader stated, “Change is always dif¿ cult, and people have gotten used to the property being empty.” This is just not the case. The concern of Friends of Cannon Beach is primarily the disconnect that exists between the values of the citizens as reÀ ected in the code and comprehensive plan versus the apparent pro-development cli- mate in city government. No one wins in this scenario, except of course, Nicholson and his law- yer. The 66 members of Friends of Cannon Beach certainly don’t consider this decision “a win for Cannon Beach.” Rather, we view it as dangerous precedent. Thank you, planning commis- sioners, for correctly denying this project three times. Thank you, Councilor Bene¿ eld, for your courage to vote “no” and your common sense to see this project for what it is: a bypass of regular zoning provisions, solely to max- imize density on a parcel of land that has unbuildable or unusable areas (see city code 17.40.010.C). In Cannon Beach, steep slopes and slippery slopes are very close- ly related. STEVEN SINKLER Introducing one of Oregon’s most decorated wineries You may not have heard the big news, but Reustle Prayer Rock’s 2012 “Masa- da Block” Syrah was named the Best Syrah at the 6 Na- tions Wine Competition, which was held last week in Australia. The Six Nations Wine Competition is one of the most prestigious wine competitions in the world as top-rated wines from the U.S., Australia, New Zea- land, Chile, Argentina and South America are evalu- ated by some of the most distinguished wine judges in the world. The other thing that’s unique about the Six Nations Wine Competition is that the wines are invited to compete by the judges, and then the wines are eval- uated by the entire judging panel. For Reustle Prayer Rock to win this competition is amazing for a number of reasons. First, being invited to compete is a great accom- plishment considering Re- ustle Prayer Rock is a small and relatively unknown winery on the international scene. Second, Syrah (also known as Shiraz) is Austra- lia’s signature wine. Imag- ine for a second if an Aus- tralian pinot noir came into a competition in Carlton and walked away with “Best of Class” pinot noir. Reustle Prayer Rock is a small, family-owned win- ery in Roseburg, but they are quickly becoming one of Oregon’s most decorat- ed wineries. With a total production of around 8,000 cases annually, all of Reus- tle Prayer Rock’s wines are made with estate fruit, which gives them strict quality control over the grapes that are used in the winemaking. Stephen doesn’t purchase fruit from any other source; he only uses fruit he grows. It is this dedication to ex- cellence that sets Reustle STEVEN SINKLER Prayer Rock apart. I ¿ rst met Stephen Reus- tle, owner and winemaker, at the 2013 Savor Northwest Wine Competition, held here in Cannon Beach. Ste- phen was a wine judge on the panel that I was moder- ating. Reustle Prayer Rock wines have a great reputa- tion and I was honored to be working with him for a cou- ple of days. Stephen and I hit it off immediately. On the ¿ rst day of the Savor North- west event, his malbec was named “Best of Class,” beat- ing out my Puf¿ n malbec. Yet when Stephen walked in to the room, he was talking about how good the Puf¿ n wine was. We introduced ourselves and he asked me if I had any wines in the competition and I told him that “Yes I do, Puf¿ n mal- bec.” We both had a good laugh and from that point on, we’ve been friends. It should also be known that during that competition, three other Reustle Prayer Rock wines; Syrah, Tem- pranillo and pinot noir, were named “best of class.” I had never seen a single winery earn four “Best of Class” ti- tles in a single competition. When the competition was ¿ nished, I asked Ste- phen if he would be willing to let me carry his wines at the Wine Shack. This was a big ask, as Reustle Prayer Rock wines were only sold at their winery and to their club members. At ¿ rst, Stephen was hesitant. He explained to me that their distribution strategy did not include wine stores. While I respect each winery’s sales and marketing strategy, I asked him to come into my store and look at the quality of wines that I carry at the Wine Shack. My thought was that if he saw the Wine Shack carried Oregon’s ¿ n- est wines, he would deem our store worthy. Stephen agreed and came into the Wine Shack. He walked around the store, looking at each section carefully be- fore saying “You, can carry my wines.” Since that day, the Wine Shack is one of the few places in Oregon you can ¿ nd Reustle Prayer Rock wines. Coincidentally, you can come into the Wine Shack’s tasting room and sample Reustle Prayer Rock wines on Saturday, Oct. 31, from 1 to 5 p.m. We’re pouring Reustle Prayer Rock Grun- er-Veltliner, Syrah, Tempra- nillo and malbec that day. Four delicious wines from this amazing winery. As I’m writing this, I’m not sure if Stephen will be behind the counter pouring the wines. Since winning this presti- gious competition, he sched- ule has been very busy. However, you can check our Facebook page “Cannon Beach Wine Shack” for up- dates. One last thing about last week’s 6 Nations Wine Competition, in the Syrah division, not only did Reus- tle Prayer Rock earn “Best of Class” for their 2012 “Masada Block” Syrah, their 2012 Reserve Syrah took third place. Incredible. Please remember to drink responsibly and if you do drink, please don’t drive. We’ll see you at the Wine Shack.
