OCTOBER 7, 2016 • VOL. 40, ISSUE 21
Arch Cape
committee
dissolved
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Group called
‘unnecessary,’
‘expensive’
By Kyle Spurr
EO Media Group
Arch Cape residents interest-
ed in local land use issues will
have to fi nd another outlet.
The Clatsop County Board
of Commissioners unanimously
voted Wednesday, Sept. 28, to
dissolve the Arch Cape Design
Review Committee, a citizen
group that makes recommenda-
tions on development within the
unincorporated town south of
Cannon Beach.
In February, the Board of
Commissioners originally dis-
continued the Arch Cape com-
mittee, calling the group un-
necessary,
time-consuming,
expensive and a potential legal
liability.
Former interim County Man-
ager Rich Mays accused the
committee of harassing a coun-
ty employee about her disabil-
ity. Despite her requests, Mays
claims, the group voted to move
its meetings to a building that is
not a federal Americans with Dis-
abilities Act-approved facility.
After supporters challenged
the decision to the state Land
Use Board of Appeals, the coun-
ty went through a new public
process that led to the Board
of Commissioners’ decision
Wednesday.
“This is an issue that I have
not taken lightly, and staff has
not taken lightly,” Scott Lee,
Board of Commissioners chair,
said. “We are doing what I be-
lieve is best for the county.”
Commissioner Dirk Rohne
said it is a fair outcome for all
county residents. No other part
of the county has a design review
committee. Other residents bring
proposals directly to the county
planning staff, without having to
seek input from a local committee.
Rohne said all county resi-
dents, including in Arch Cape,
have opportunities for citizen
involvement. One proposal for
Arch Cape is applicant-neigh-
borhood meetings for projects
such as subdivisions or rezoning
requests.
“No public process is being
short-changed,” Rohne said.
Supports of the Arch Cape
Design Review Committee, also
known a the Southwest Coastal
Citizens Advisory Committee,
could try to appeal the board’s
decision again. More than 50
people signed a petition in sup-
port of retaining the group.
During public testimony
Wednesday, a half dozen sup-
porters urged the board to change
their minds. They said the com-
mittee has been meeting for the
SUBMITTED PHOTO/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Kathleen and Dave Zunkel of Warrenton were two of 50 participants on the inaugural three-day
CoastWalk Oregon.
First CoastWalk Oregon marks
land conservancy’s 30th year
By Lyra Fontaine
Cannon Beach Gazette
heryl Lund embarked on CoastWalk
Oregon solo, without much knowledge
of the North Coast Land Conservancy.
By the end of the three-day adventure,
she had made friends, seen new sights
and gained a better understanding of the
conservancy’s work.
“The friendships that I made in those three
days were just wonderful,” said Lund, of Portland.
“I went down as a solo hiker. The next thing you
know, I’d met some of the best people.”
Lund was one of the 50 participants who hiked
30 miles for the inaugural CoastWalk, which
marked the conservancy’s 30th year of helping to
protect land on the Oregon coast. Participants from
fi ve states and staff members hiked from Astoria
See CoastWalk, Page 7A
SUBMITTED PHOTO/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
CoastWalk Oregon participants hiked 30 miles
over three days, from the Columbia River to
Cannon Beach.
“People were really prepared, but I don’t think people
knew what it meant to walk 10 miles in sideways rain.
Now they know.”
— LORRAINE ORTIZ , conservancy development director
PAID
By Katherine Lacaze
For EO Media Group
Seaside School District Su-
perintendent Sheila Roley report-
ed the district received a $60,000
one-year preschool startup grant
from the Oregon Department of
Education for the 2016-17 school
year.
“There is indisputable evi-
dence that children who have
preschool experiences … will
thrive in school at a higher lev-
el than if they didn’t have those
experiences,” Roley said at the
district’s September board meet-
ing. “A lot of our students don’t
have those naturally provided for
them.”
In applying for the grant, the
school dis-
trict
did
not intend
‘It’s really
to compete
exciting
with other
that
providers
in the area,
we’re
but to aug-
getting
ment the
this
services so
there would
off the
be enough
ground.’
spots for all
preschool-
Sheila Roley,
ers,
she
Seaside
said.
School District
The dis-
superintendent
trict is part-
nering with
the Sunset
Empire Park and Recreation Dis-
trict, which previously offered a
limited preschool option.
The district is taking their par-
tial, three-day-per-week Learn-
ing Ladder Preschool program
and helping them grow it into a
fi ve-day-per-week, full-day pre-
school, which is a requirement
of the grant, Roley said. The stu-
dents must have access to at least
900 hours of instructional time,
similar to what a primary student
would receive.
“It’s really exciting that we’re
getting this off the ground,” she
said, adding if the program is
successful, the district can re ap-
ply for sustaining grants.
Part of this initiative will en-
tail monthly professional meet-
ings involving the preschool and
kindergarten teachers so they can
collaborate and “try to build a
very smooth transition from pre-
school into kindergarten, so the
preschools are aligned with what
kindergarten readiness requires,”
Roley said.
The board unanimously ap-
proved a memorandum of under-
standing to work with the recre-
ation district on this program.
“The funds are channeled
through us; they’re doing most of
the labor,” Roley said.
Aerial spraying rattles
some coastal residents
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
See Arch Cape, Page 7A
District
receives
preschool
startup
grant
Concerns raised
about pesticides
used by timber
companies
By Lyra Fontaine
Cannon Beach Gazette
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Jamie Taylor of Manzanita at Oswald West State Park. She and others seek
an end to aerial spraying by timber companies.
Nancy Webster became con-
cerned about aerial spraying af-
ter smelling pesticides in the air
near her Rockaway Beach home.
“That began the growing concern
of what’s happening with our drink-
ing water and our air,” Webster said,
adding that the spraying could affect
birds, fi sh, soil and more. “This is hap-
pening up and down the coast.”
Webster, a member of the Rock-
away Beach Citizens for Watershed
Protection, is pushing for more timely
public notifi cations, since currently,
“the notifi cation is seeing a helicop-
ter.” The group also seeks an end to
aerial spraying on the Oregon Coast.
At Short Sand Beach in Oswald
West State Park, local activists and
area surfers gathered in late Septem-
ber to raise awareness about pesticides
that would be sprayed on harvested
forest land nearby.
According to the citizens group,
Weyerhaeuser recently clearcut parcels
of forestland, including several border-
ing Oswald West State Park, Arch Cape
and Neahkahnie Mountain. Weyerhae-
user completed the aerial spraying on
the harvested forest land near Oswald
West on Wednesday, according to the
Oregon Department of Forestry.
See Spraying, Page 7A