February 26, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 5A
LETTERS
Rename Broadway
I think Broadway in Sea-
side should be renamed Jason
Goodding Way. It’s where he
patrolled, it’s where he gave
his life, it’s the heart of the
city, it’s where he will be re-
membered now and forever.
Jim Spurr
Cannon Beach
In support of
cottage homes
As a broker and resident
of Cannon Beach, I would
like to compliment the Can-
non Beach City Council on
taking a stand supporting
the development of cottage
style homes on the Nicholson
property on Laurel. The City
of Cannon Beach has been
able to maintain its charm and
property values because of its
uniqueness. By not allowing
big box stores and corporate
retail places like Starbucks
we have attracted visitors and
property owners who wish to
escape to a distinctive village
atmosphere on the coast.
What does not make sense
is why it is taking two years
and hundreds of thousands
of dollars to be allowed to
build normal size cottage
style homes in a R2 residen-
tial zone. Is it not simpler and
less costly to simply follow
the Comprehensive Plan?
The City Council could
send a positive message to
the community in support of
maintaining our quaint cot-
tage style homes by having a
method in place for property
owners to get approvals in R2
zones for normal sized houses.
It is extremely unfortunate to
have a Planning Commission
who wants to limit the options
for property owners to only
be able to build a McMansion
style dwelling, which does
not follow the City of Cannon
Beach’s Comprehensive Plan.
Furthermore, it promotes the
disturbing long-term trend
of the destruction of historic
scale cottages to only be re-
placed with sprawling estates
— completely out of touch
with what has made Cannon
Beach the most desired des-
tination on the Oregon coast.
Ted Wood
Cannon Beach
Homeowner has
met requirements
I have had property in the
north end of Cannon Beach
for 25 years. I love Cannon
Beach and will retire fulltime
there someday. About two
years ago, I saw 532 N. Lau-
rel St. come up for sale. I had
noticed that property since
I was a child with the two
gigantic, old-growth spruce
trees and the stately old cot-
tage that you see from the
beach. Some of my acquain-
tances in town told me that the
people making offers on the
place planned to replace the
101-year-old home with a gi-
gantic new house. This didn’t
make any sense to me because
the property totals 25,000
square feet in an R2 zone
that calls for 5,000-square-
foot lots. In fact, the property
was already platted in 1890
with 5,000-square-foot lots.
I called the city and was told
that the new purchaser could
build a single 15,000-square-
foot house anywhere on the
property within the normal
setbacks with no variance or
public process whatsoever.
One can easily see the devas-
tating effect a home like that
would have on the neighbor-
ing properties. My own beach
house being only two blocks
away.
Too many family-sized
homes have been replaced
with “McMansions” in Can-
non Beach over the last 20
years. I do not like that word,
but I don’t have a better one
to describe the phenomenon.
You see an old house on the
block disappear and a new
house pop up that is many
times larger than any other
house on the block. I decid-
ed to buy 532 N. Laurel and
put three normal-sized homes
on the existing historic lots
and rebuild the 101-year-old
place. This ¿ts in perfectly
with the neighborhoods of
Cannon Beach and with the
feel that I like about Cannon
Beach.
Since buying the property,
I have been in the land use
process for over a year and
a half. This seems excessive
since a 15,000-square-foot
home is permitted on the site
with no public process. How-
ever, I have gone through
every step of the process and
provided the city with ev-
erything required under the
city’s code. The City Coun-
cil approved a four-home
planned development for the
site last year, which Oregon’s
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Is published monthly by the City of Cannon Beach
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CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING, February
2, 2016
• Approved a new bank account with Columbia
Bank;
• Approved the Parks & Trails Master Plan
Services Agreement;
• Approved the Water
Master Plan Services
Agreement;
• Approved the
Wastewater Master
Plan Services
Agreement.
CITY COUNCIL TEAM
BUILDING SESSION,
February 6, 2016
Facilitator Jan
Carothers led a team
building session for the
City Council and City
Manager.
CITY COUNCIL WORK
SESSION, February 9,
2016
• City Manager
introduced the new
Receptionist/Court
Clerk, Samantha
Palmieri;
• HRAP Coordinator
Melissa Keyser
introduced the
new Haystack Rock
Awareness Program
summer staff;
• Finance Director
Laurie Sawrey
presented the second
quarter FYE 2016
financial report;
• City Planner Mark
Barnes presented an update on the Ecola Creek
Forest Reserve;
• City Planner Mark Barnes presented
information regarding a forestry grant;
• City Planner Mark Barnes proposed some
Planning Department ‘house keeping’
measures that need to be made;
• Public Works Director Dan Grassick led a
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NOTICE OF VACANCIES
CITY COMMISSIONS, BOARDS & COMMITTEES
MARCH 2016
See Letters, Page 6A
503-436-0366 | elementsbythesea.com
M U N I C I PA L M E M O
MEETINGS
On March 1, the Cannon
Beach City Council will make
a ¿nal decision on Jeff Nichol-
son’s proposal to build a four
unit Planned Unit Develop-
ment on the north end of Can-
non Beach. As neighbors of
his property and members of
the Friends of Cannon Beach,
we believe it is imperative that
the council uphold the applica-
ble city codes and consider the
clear and decisive recommen-
dations of the Planning Com-
mission.
Because city codes gov-
erning steep slopes prevented
the applicant from developing
this small, half-acre parcel as a
regular development, Mr. Nich-
olson threatened the city with
legal action. He was then of-
fered the chance to resubmit his
plan as a PUD. Unfortunately,
he doesn’t want to follow those
rules, either, and is still trying
to gain approval as though this
were a regular housing devel-
opment. It isn’t. He applied as
a PUD. As planning commis-
sioner Lisa Kerr stated, “This
doesn’t comply with the pur-
pose and intent of the Planned
Unit Development code in the
least… it’s just a housing devel-
opment in disguise.”
In order to deal with Mr.
Nicholson’s threats and assist
him with his PUD request, pub-
lic records show that the city
has already spent approximate-
ly $30,000 of taxpayer money
to compensate the city’s land
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February 2016
Group against
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the City of Cannon Beach
Comprehensive plan.
Below are provisions from
the Cannon Beach Compre-
hensive Plan Vision State-
ment:
“Cannon Beach will con-
tinue to be a small town
where the characteristics of a
village are fostered and pro-
moted. Both the physical and
social dimensions associated
with a village will be integral
to Cannon Beach’s evolution
during the next two decades.”
The elements of the town’s
physical form, which the plan
will foster are:
“Buildings that are gener-
ally small in scale and appro-
priate to their setting,” and “A
rustic streetscape that permits
informal private landscaping
and irregular lines to roadway
improvements.”
As you can see, the building
of normal, cottage-sized homes
on 50-by-100-foot historic lots
are just like the other existing
homes in the neighborhood and
they would ¿t in exactly with
what is called for by the Com-
prehensive Plan.
My proposal meets ev-
ery code requirement as pre-
viously determined by the
council and LUBA. Nothing
has changed in my proposal
from the plan that was previ-
ously approved. I do not ask
for any special treatment from
the city, but I do hope and ex-
pect that the City Council will
follow its code in reaching its
¿nal decision on my applica-
tion.
Jeff Nicholson
Portland
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Land Use Board of Appeals
LUBA af¿rmed. I am now
in the third and ¿nal stage of
the approval process. It was
disappointing that the Plan-
ning Commission recently
disregarded both the City
Council’s and LUBA’s prior
decisions on the project and
recommended that the coun-
cil deny my application at this
very last stage. I have been
delayed for almost two years
and spent a half of a million
dollars in order to build nor-
mal-sized homes at a lesser
density than exists in most of
this R2 residential neighbor-
hood.
The City Council and
LUBA previously rejected
many of the reasons offered
by the Planning Commission
for recommending denial.
It truly borders on the ab-
surd to think of the amount
of resources that were spent
— by both the city and my-
self — to simply build a
normal-sized home in an R2
residential zone in complete
accordance to the City of
Cannon Beach Comprehen-
sive Plan.
The Planning Commission
and the small group called
“Friends of Cannon Beach”
are anything but that. They
would limit homeowners’
options for historic lots such
as these to a single, large Mc-
Mansion. What is the motive
of these misguided groups?
They certainly do not come
close to representing what
the vast majority of Cannon
Beach wants and they certain-
ly are not in alignment with
discussion of proposed changes to the City Hall
building and parking lot.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT -
• The City has hired a new Receptionist/
Municipal Court Clerk. Samantha Palmieri
began work at City Hall
on Monday, January 4,
2016;
• City Councilors
participated in a Team
Building session which
took the place of the
annual goal setting.
Goals will be set at
the Strategic Planning
scheduled for later in
the spring;
• The Citizen Survey
will be mailed to every
household in Cannon
Beach soon. The
results of this survey
will help the City draft
its Strategic Plan.
DESIGN REVIEW
BOARD - At their
February 18, 2016
meeting the DRB
discussed:
• DRB 16-01, City
of Cannon Beach
application for
installation of a hand
carved “welcoming
pole” in the northwest
corner of NeCus’
Park. Approved with
Conditions
• DRB 16-02, City
of Cannon Beach
application for
landscape modifications adjacent to the pump
station building located at the southwest corner
of Spruce and Second Streets. Approved with
Conditions
PLANNING COMMISSION - Scheduled to meet
February 24, 2016 at 6:00pm
The City of Cannon Beach is seeking applications for the following vacancies:
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS COMMITTEE: THREE (3) vacancies
The primary responsibility of the Emergency Preparedness Committee is to plan emergency
response on a city-wide basis and make recommendations to the City Council. The
Emergency Preparedness Committee holds its regular meetings on the last Friday of each
month at 10:00 a.m. and may schedule work sessions as needed.
PLANNING COMMISSION: ONE (1) vacancy
The seven-member Planning Commission’s primary responsibility is to review and consider
land use matters and make determinations and recommendations regarding appropriate and
orderly physical development of the City through the application of accepted standards and
criteria. The term of office is four years. The Planning Commission holds its regular meeting
on the fourth Thursday of each month at 6:00 p.m. and work sessions are scheduled monthly
as needed.
TOURISM & ARTS COMMISSION: One (1) vacancy.
The seven-member Tourism and Arts Commission develops grant guidelines and
procedures and distributes and accounts for the monies in the “Tourism and Arts Fund” which
are to be used by local non-profit groups to promote tourism and the arts in Cannon Beach.
Each member shall have experience in one or more of the following areas: public relations,
marketing, advertising, tourism, lodging, promotions, events promotion, art and/or publicity.
The Tourism and Arts Commission holds its meetings as needed. Note: Tourism and Arts
Commission applicants are not required to reside in Cannon Beach and are eligible if he
or she has worked, at least part-time, within the City of Cannon Beach for at least one year
immediately preceding appointment.
To be eligible to serve on a City committee, applicants must have resided within the city or
its urban growth boundary during the one year immediately preceding appointment; or at
the time of appointment, shall have owned real property located within the city or its urban
growth boundary for at least one year immediately preceding appointment. Applications
are available at City Hall, 163 E. Gower Street, Cannon Beach, by email addressed to riggs@
ci.cannon-beach.or.us, or on-line at www.ci.cannon-beach.or.us. Applications should be
returned to Colleen Riggs, City Recorder, Cannon Beach City Hall, and P.O. Box 368, Cannon
Beach, OR 97110. For more information, please contact Colleen Riggs by email or phone at
(503) 436-8052.
Community Grants
Community Grants Applications are available at Cannon Beach City Hall or online at www.
ci.cannon-beach.or.us Community Grants are available for Non-profit organizations providing
programs/projects in arts, educational, recreational, environmental, community, or social
services in Cannon Beach. Applications must be received at City Hall no later than 2:00 p.m.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016. For more information contact Jennifer Barrett at (503) 436-8048.
Tourism & Arts Fund Grants
Tourism and Arts Fund Grant Applications will be available at Cannon Beach City Hall or
online at www.ci.cannon-beach.or.us beginning March 2, 2016. Non-profit organizations
providing programs/projects that further tourism and the arts in Cannon Beach are invited to
apply. Applications must be received at City Hall no later than 2:00 pm, Wednesday, May 4,
2016. For more information contact Colleen Riggs at (503) 436-8052.
Focus on Preparedness Forum
The City of Cannon Beach and the Oregon Office of Emergency Management urge you to
attend this forum on Thursday, March 3, 2016 at the Chamber of Commerce Community Hall:
5:30pm to 7:00pm. It is free.
Local and state guest speakers will help you understand how you can be ready in the event
of a major disaster.
Also, you find out how you may be able to help others through the newly established
Cannon Beach Medical Reserve Corps. See you at the forum!
