February 26, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 7A
Nicholson hearing
could be final one
Nicholson from Page 1A
would include rebuilding the
100-year-old home on the
property.
This week, Nicholson
said that the 3lanning Com-
mission¶s unanimous rec-
ommendation is unlikely to
sway the City Council be-
cause the commission has
“no decision-making capa-
bility.”
“Me spending half a mil-
lion dollars is not so some-
body else can¶t make a Mc-
Mansion,” he said. “I¶m Must
trying to get it so I can build,
on these lots, normal-sized
houses.”
A city staff report issued
this week responded to con-
cerns raised at the 3lanning
Commission hearing by stat-
ing that the City Council has
the “ultimate authority to
approve or deny this request
for ¿nal approval.”
Among the more con-
tentious issues during the
council¶s deliberations was
whether the property qual-
i¿ed for a “planned devel-
opment overlay zone,” a
tool that allows for zoning
changes on a parcel of land
based on the land¶s natural
features. In this case, the
overlay allows for greater
housing density on proper-
ty that, because of its slope,
would otherwise allow for
only one structure, which
the property already has.
Additional conditions
for the building include
measuring building height,
compensation for repairs
should construction work
cause damage and shared
driveway plans, among oth-
ers.
The city¶s decision to
place a 3lanned Develop-
ment and overlay zone des-
ignation on this property re-
mains in effect, the city said
this week.
The city recommended
a decision at the March 8
meeting of the council, af-
ter the closing of the public
hearing.
Since the city determined
the application was com-
plete in November, it must
make a ¿nal decision within
120 days, or by March 17.
Chamber hopes new
marketing will draw
‘shoulder’ season tourism
Tax increase to
fund $72,000
marketing
campaign
By Lyra Fontaine
Cannon Beach Gazette
Cannon Beach Chamber
of Commerce members un-
veiled a new destination mar-
keting campaign, to the tune
of $72,000, that aims to bring
more overnight visitors to the
city during between Septem-
ber and mid-June.
“We¶ve assembled a
great group of people over
the last year, stronger than
I¶ve ever seen,” Chamber of
Commerce Executive Direc-
tor Court Carrier said. “I¶m
excited to work with them
to make some progress on
this new eventuality to bring
Cannon Beach more business
during the shoulder and the
off-season.”
The marketing contract
that the chamber signed with
the city includes larger ads
on more platforms, attract-
ing business conferences and
meetings, and hiring a mar-
keting specialist.
The plan will use 70 per-
cent of funds from the recent-
ly added 1 percent transient
room tax, designated for tour-
ism development and promo-
tion. At the Feb. 2 meeting
of the Cannon Beach City
Council, Carrier and Cham-
ber of Commerce 3resident
Steve Sinkler presented mar-
keting and spending plans for
the ¿scal year.
Sinkler said the chamber
has set aside $20,000 on des-
tination advertising such as
larger ads across more plat-
forms; $15,000 for marketing
to conferences and meetings;
$13,000 for “more robust”
web content with images and
up-to-date information; and
$6,000 for a branding guide
for businesses with consistent
colors, words and imagery.
The chamber also plans
to spend $5,800 on expand
Cannon Beach¶s social media
presence to Instagram and
eventually 3interest, $5,000
on familiarization trips for
travel writers, and $3,900 on
email marketing. There is a
$2,800 reserve for future op-
portunities that may come up,
Sinkler said.
In addition to marketing,
the chamber will spend mon-
ey on staf¿ng and facilities.
The chamber is recruiting a
destination marketing spe-
cialist and expects the full-
time position, which includes
bene¿ts and “comparable”
pay, to be ¿lled within the
next 45 days. The specialist
would help promote meetings
and conferences.
The chamber plans to add
new resources to the 9isitor¶s
Center, such as streaming
video and a self-service kiosk
for guests to eliminate wait-
ing times. The 9isitors¶ Cen-
ter currently has an improved
lobby and accolades wall,
Carrier said.
“We¶ve done a great Mob
of bringing leisure travelers
to Cannon Beach,” Carrier
said, “but the primary time
that business travelers hold
their meetings and confer-
ences for both associations
and corporations is during the
fall through the spring.”
The goal is to drive peo-
ple to the chamber¶s website
“with the expectation that
they¶ll come to visit Cannon
Beach,” Sinkler said.
The chamber will hold
a meeting to discuss how to
reach marketing goals and
obMectives.
Marine mammal strandings on
North Coast concern experts
By Lyra Fontaine
Cannon Beach Gazette
The humpback whale
stranded in Seaside in January
may have become entangled
or struck by a boat, according
to 'ebbie 'uI¿eld, a 3ortland
State University biology pro-
fessor.
More than 30 people gath-
ered for a lecture, “Marine
Mammals, the Marine Mam-
mal Stranding Network and
Marine Reserves,” Feb. 10 at
the Cannon Beach Library.
The topic was particularly
timely. In the past few weeks,
a humpback whale washed
ashore in Seaside, and a har-
bor porpoise and two striped
dolphins were found on the
North Coast. Experts are still
waiting on necropsy results
for the whale to see whether
it was infected or if it had an
accident.
The humpback has bruis-
ing that could have been from
entanglement or a boat strike,
'uf¿eld said. It also carried a
fairly heavy parasite load for
a whale not more than 2 years
old.
The presentation — a part-
nership between 'uf¿eld and
Keith Chandler, the Seaside
Aquarium general manager
— was part of Haystack Rock
Awareness 3rogram¶s lecture
series.
The Oregon Marine Mam-
mal Stranding Network,
which 'uf¿eld and Chandler
belong to, responds to mam-
mal strandings from Tilla-
mook to Long Beach, Wash-
ington. They see 149 stranded
animals a year on average.
The most common animals
include California sea lions,
harbor seals and Steller sea
lions.
Strandings allow research-
ers to evaluate otherwise
inaccessible animals, and
necropsies tell scientists vital
physiological and biological
information. Marine mam-
mals¶ tissues are sampled and
used for studies on ocean pol-
lution, biotoxins and other en-
vironmental changes.
Once they evaluate a
stranded animal, research-
ers take samples back to the
university to study it in a
controlled area and test for in-
fections. After they ¿nish the
necropsies, they might pre-
pare the bones for students to
piece together.
“Every once in awhile we
have species that, because of
their charismatic value, are of
great interest to everybody,”
'uf¿eld said.
For example, a killer whale
was stranded in Long Beach
several years ago, drawing
veterinaries, researchers and
onlookers alike. 'uf¿eld
also recalls when a Baird¶s
beaked whale came in live in
Seaside during a volleyball
tournament. “Luckily, peo-
ple weren¶t around it when
it started to die and thrash,
because it could have killed
somebody,” she said.
Why do these animals
appear on shores? Seals,
sea lions, whales, dolphins
and porpoises are primarily
stranded due to human in-
teraction, such as gunshots,
¿sheries interaction and net
entanglement. Bacterial dis-
ease, cancer and infections
also cause strandings.
Sometimes the human-re-
lated interactions are extreme.
'uf¿eld displayed a Marring
photo of a California sea lion
that had part of its face de-
stroyed by an explosive de-
vice.
She also showed a picture
of plastics and debris on the
Seaside beach. Sea lions get
entangled in plastic bands,
but since they bite, it¶s dif¿-
cult for humans to help them
remove bands and recover
from wounds. In 2010, a dead
whale stranded in Washing-
ton¶s 3uget Sound beach had
50 gallons of material in its
stomach that was mostly al-
gae, but also human debris,
such as sweatpants, plastic
bags, duct tape and towels.
The Oregon Marine Mam-
mal Stranding Network works
to improve treatment and dis-
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lions starving on California
beaches.
Rehabilitating the animals
raises a question, 'uf¿eld
said. “It¶s easy to feed and res-
cue the pups, but what do you
do with them next? Let them
go out into the same area they
couldn¶t get food out in the
¿rst place?”
Several in the crowd asked
why we don¶t not let nature
dictate the animals¶ lives.
Rehabilitation efforts have
been in California, while the
Northwest does not rehabili-
tate seals and sea lions, Duff-
ield responded. Oregon state
policy aims to minimize dis-
turbance from humans and let
nature take its course.
However, in cases like As-
toria, sea lions are crowding
ports, perhaps drawn to food
like smelt ¿sh in the Colum-
bia River.
“We¶ve gone from having
a few sea lions to having a lot,
from 100 or 200 sea lions to
over 2,000 last year,” she said
as the crowd murmured in
agreement. “It will be inter-
esting to see if their numbers
get quite as high this year, and
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entangle marine mammals
from debris and ¿shery gear.
'uf¿eld said that the an-
imals are resilient. Seals and
sea lions often carry worms
in their stomach that can form
ulcers. “They Must live with
that,” she said. “Their parasite
loads are tremendous.”
The strandings may also
point to larger forces at work.
The El Niño climate pat-
tern that¶s increasing coastal
temperatures, along with the
warm “blob” of water in the
north 3aci¿c Ocean, affect the
animals¶ prey.
“We¶re at the apex of these
changes that we can actually
follow annually,” 'uf¿eld
said. “It¶s a fascinating change
that we¶re living through.”
Last year, in California,
increasing water tempera-
tures affected sea lions and
their pups in California. The
animals normally feed on an-
chovies and sardines, which
disappeared to another loca-
tion due to warming water.
The remaining ¿sh may not
have had adequate nutrition,
leading females to leave their
pups earlier, which resulted
in more than 2,000 young sea
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