6A • September 9, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
Change could come to emergency Commission rejects
short-term rental
preparedness committee
ordinance change
Cannon Beach
panel studies
restructure
Council could
make inal
decision on
amendments
By Lyra Fontaine
Cannon Beach Gazette
A proposed restructure of
the Cannon Beach emergen-
cy preparedness committee
would make the city’s emer-
gency manager, police chief,
public works director, ire
chief, Community Emergen-
cy Response Team leader and
Medical Reserve Corps leader
permanent voting members.
But will there be enough
voices for residents?
Committee chair Karolyn
Adamson, who created the
committee in 1999, said she
strongly opposed the draft
ordinance because it would
reduce citizen input. “It’s ex-
tremely important to keep this
citizen advisory committee in
effect as it is now,” Adamson
said. “I think citizen commit-
tees are the bedrock of democ-
racy. People are starting to feel
right now like they don’t have
input in this city.”
Three council-appointed
community members and a
nonvoting City Council liaison
would complete the 10-mem-
ber group, which would be
renamed “emergency manage-
ment committee” if the pro-
posed ordinance is approved.
At a work session last
week, some members opposed
the creation of one emergency
management committee com-
bining citizens and city staff.
Others said bringing staff on
board could beneit the com-
mittee.
Adamson said citizen in-
volvement is key in neighbor-
By Lyra Fontaine
Cannon Beach Gazette
LYRA FONTAINE/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Paula Vetter, let, with Les Wierson, Police Chief Jason Schermerhorn and Karolyn Adam-
son.
hood outreach and recovery
planning, as most city em-
ployees do not live in Cannon
Beach.
City Manager and Emer-
gency Manager Brant Kucera
and Mayor Sam Steidel draft-
ed the proposed ordinance.
“If (staff) are going to have
to carry out this work, we need
to have input on the work,”
Kucera said. “I have limited
resources to do things. If we
want to accomplish something,
we need voices to say what we
can or can’t accomplish.”
Diferent views
The committee — which
provides evacuation planning,
public education and advice to
the council — has four com-
munity members and Cannon
Beach Rural Fire Protection
District Chief Matt Benedict.
“The way I see the restruc-
turing is that it’s beneicial for
the committee,” member Paula
Vetter said. “We’ve gotten to a
point where I think this com-
mittee needs to grow. We have
a lot of great ideas but we’re
splintered.”
Vetter said she would like
the committee to have a long-
term vision, and including city
staff and the ire chief could
help implement the commit-
tee’s ideas.
Member Herb Florer, a can-
didate for City Council, said
a “broad, general and long-
range” citizen advisory com-
mittee could coexist with the
city’s emergency management
command structure.
“We’re looking at two dif-
ferent things that are being
combined into one and not
very well,” he said, adding
that residents will be crucial
for education and long-term
planning for the months and
years after an emergency. “It
does take citizen involvement
for recovery and resiliency.”
The committee would
be “dead” if the changes are
made, and the new group
could be too large to effective-
ly make decisions, member
Les Wierson said. He suggest-
ed splitting the committee into
four divisions on emergency
preparedness, incident com-
mand, emergency preparations
and recovery.
“There are separate phases
to disaster response,” Wierson
said. “You can’t do everything
in one committee.”
Members pointed to the
committee’s success in cre-
ating evacuation routes and
advising the council on topics
like radios.
Kucera said the city’s stra-
tegic planning goals include
a long-term disaster recovery
plan, emergency response
communications and water
system resiliency.
“It incorporates what all of
you mentioned today,” he said.
The proposed changes will
be discussed again at a work
session in late September.
Gallery gets additional space
Art Exhibit from Page 1A
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Aerial view of 532 N. Laurel St. in Cannon Beach.
Nicholson gets green light
Nicholson from Page 1A
Harrison and others argued
that the inal plan was incom-
plete and failed to “indicate
fully the ultimate operation
and appearance of the devel-
opment,” including what the
constructed homes would look
like, the inal opinion stated.
The city’s lawyers and
Nicholson described the de-
tailed building plan, grading
plan and landscaping measures.
Petitioners also unsuccess-
fully argued the City Council
lacked jurisdiction to make a
inal decision on Nicholson’s
application, since the Plan-
ning Commission denied the
application.
The appeals board af-
irmed the council had author-
ity to make a inal decision
after holding a hearing on the
application.
The .57-acre property
where Nicholson intends to
rebuild the existing house and
construct new homes, located
at 532 N. Laurel St., has been
for sale since April.
Nicholson, who said he
agreed to about 18 different
conditions during the approv-
al process, plans to build the
driveway soon, then rebuild
the old home. The timeline
is uncertain due to costs from
lawsuits by the Friends of
Cannon Beach against the
city, he said.
natural world and personal-
ity — one piece by Jacque-
line Hurlbert is titled “Keep-
ing Her Mischief in Check.”
The works also include ig-
ures of humans, animals and
mythical creatures.
Half of the artists are
based in Oregon, and others
hail from Washington and
California.
The exhibit will be on
display until Oct. 16.
Temporary
new space
Cannon Beach Gallery
will also be temporarily
expanding, using an addi-
tional space in Sandpip-
er Square for education,
workshops and additional
displays during October
through December.
“The space will give us
an education area, studio
Friday, Sept. 30
Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protec-
tion District, 6 p.m., Fire-Rescue
Main Station, 188 Sunset Ave.
Cannon Beach Emergency Pre-
paredness Committee, 10 a.m.,
City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Tuesday, Sept. 13
Tuesday, Oct. 4
Cannon Beach City Council, 5:30
p.m., work session, City Hall, 163 E.
Gower St.
Cannon Beach City Council, 7 p.m.,
City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Thursday, Sept. 15
Cannon Beach Parks Committee,
9 a.m., 163 E. Gower St.
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Sandwiches, Espressos, Beer,
Wine, Ice Cream and our
Homemade Desserts
We have a fabulous patio
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weather and your meal.
Cannon Beach Public Works
Committee, 9 a.m., City Hall, 163
E. Gower St.
Thursday, Sept. 22
Cannon Beach Planning Commis-
sion, 6 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
improper traps and drains. To
minimize the smoke entering
your house, pour water into
all drains prior to the testing.
The smoke is non-toxic, non-
staining, non-lammable and
is harmless to people, ani-
mals, and plants.
If you notice smoke in
your house or on your prop-
erty please report it immedi-
ately to the personnel con-
ducting the test or call the
City of Cannon Beach Public
Works Department at 503-
436-8068 or 503-0436-8048.
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UPCOMING
TASTINGS
Monday, Sept. 19
Tuesday, Sept. 20
The City of Cannon
Beach has contracted with
Civil West Engineering
Services to perform smoke
testing of the sewer lines.
Smoke testing is sched-
uled to occur from Sept. 14
through Sept. 16.
Smoke testing is a way
to identify system leaks and
locations where unwanted
storm water is entering the
sewer lines.
During testing, residents
may notice smoke entering
the house through faulty or
“TO-GO”
Orders Welcome
Cannon Beach Design Review
Board, 6 p.m., City Hall, 163 E.
Gower St.
Ecola Creek Watershed Council,
4:30 p.m., City Hall, 163 E. Gower St.
Sewer smoke-testing ahead
NORMA’S SEAFOOD & STEAK
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Monday, Sept. 12
and workshop space and
develop what we’ve tried
to do in the gallery but ha-
ven’t had space for,” Brum-
ield said. “It’s exciting.”
The arts association
will organize a series of
talks that will take place in
the annex, which could be
available for other arts-fo-
cused events.
“We want to have it as
a vibrant, active space,”
Brumield said. “If anyone
needs to have a space for
a workshop or demonstra-
tion, that would be the kind
of extra activity we would
like to see there.”
Later this fall, the space
will host numerous work-
shops aimed at helping art-
ists share their experience
in areas such as printmak-
ing, photography, gallery
representation, the arts
market, art appraisal and
more.
The City Council hopes to
make short-term rental regu-
lations “clear and understand-
able” by the end of the year.
The city is working on code
amendments to streamline
permitting processes.
A proposed change would
stop short-term rental deci-
sions from being considered
land-use issues, shifting re-
view from the Planning Com-
mission to the City Council.
The amendment seeks to
make the permitting and ap-
peals process smoother for
property owners and admin-
istrators, City Planner Mark
Barnes said Tuesday. Appeals
would likely go to Circuit
Court instead of the Land Use
Board of Appeals.
Planning commissioners
considered the change at their
Aug. 25 meeting.
“I believe that it would
have a serious adverse effect
on due process rights of local
citizens on what is a very im-
portant issue,” said Commis-
sioner Lisa Kerr, who made a
motion to deny the ordinance
change.
“I think the whole commu-
nity should be more involved
in that decision and you’re
eliminating one of the steps,”
Commissioner Robin Risley
said.
During public testimony,
resident and City Council
candidate Herb Florer said the
consequences of the proposed
change are uncertain and
could “remove local avenues
for hearings and appeals.”
“Without full knowledge
of the potential ramiications
of the change, we feel that this
is unnecessary,” Florer said.
“I think there’s some value
in streamlining and simplify-
ing this process,” Barnes said
at the meeting.
Short-term rentals are
more similar to business li-
censes than planning or zon-
ing decisions, he said.
The Cannon Beach Plan-
ning Commission voted to
keep short-term rental regula-
tions in the zoning ordinance.
The council could reject the
recommendation.
The City Council will
likely hold a work session in
October to discuss more sub-
stantive changes to the city’s
short-term rental program.
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