VOL. 42, ISSUE 17
WWW.CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM
MICROPLASTICS,
MACRO PROBLEM
AUGUST 24, 2018
Affordable
housing
amendments
reconsidered
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
A pared-down version of an affordable housing package
that was rejected by the City Council earlier this year will
be presented at a public hearing in September.
The original proposal, brought to the council by Mike
Clark of Coaster Properties and former City Planner Rain-
mar Bartl, asked the city to reduce parking and landscap-
ing requirements, as well as relax height restrictions in the
residential zone designated for multifamily housing. The
proposal would have also allowed multifamily housing in
a commercial zone as an outright use.
See Housing, Page 6A
JOSH COMO
BRENNA VISSER PHOTOS
Heidi Perez scoops sand through a microplastic filter during a beach cleanup event Aug. 15 with her
Acumed co-workers Rick Lauricella and Karen Krueger.
Hillsboro volunteers help to clean up Cannon Beach sands
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
T
he sands in front of Hay-
stack Rock are a little
cleaner than they were a
week ago.
About 80 pounds of
microplastics were sifted and
removed by 50 volunteers on
Wednesday, Aug. 15. The event
was sponsored by Sea Turtles For-
ever, which has been removing the
tiny, colored plastics from the area
since the beginning of summer.
Usually, the team consists of the
nonprofit’s founder, Marc Ward,
and his small team of about a doz-
en volunteers. But last week, em-
ployees from the Hillsboro-based
medical supply company Acumed
came to help out.
“I just love the beach,” Acumed
employee Jesse Ramirez said while
sifting sand through a specially de-
signed microplastic screening de-
vice. “I grew up in Oregon, and we
came down here every weekend.
So I like to do what I can.”
Doing environmental volunteer
projects is a part of Acumed’s mis-
sion, CEO Sharon Wolfington said.
In the past, the company has partic-
ipated in various cleanup projects
with Hillsboro Parks and Recre-
ation and other wetland mitigation
projects.
See Plastics, Page 6A
From left: Josh Como, James Hutchinson and Lindsey
Wolfe take a break while fighting the Memaloose2 Fire
on Aug. 12.
FIRED UP
Clatsop County firefighters
respond to blazes across the state
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
Cannon Beach volunteer firefighter Jordan Spencer re-
members watching the Eagle Creek Fire on TV last year,
feeling frustrated as he saw the blaze ravage the Columbia
River Gorge.
All he wanted to do was help.
So when Spencer got the call to respond to the South
Valley Fire earlier this month, he was excited.
“It was my chance to do something,” he said.
Spencer was one of dozens of Clatsop County firefight-
ers deployed to fires around the state this summer. So far,
four task forces have been sent to help combat the Substa-
tion, South Valley and Memaloose 2 fires.
Before 2017, it was uncommon for a local firefighter to
get called out to a fire outside the county. Last year was
a record-setting year, with more than 50 firefighters sent
to fight multiple fires in Oregon and California. Now, with
three conflagration calls already under their belts before
mid-August, this year is on pace to be just as busy.
‘It’s surreal’
The South Valley Fire in Dufur was Max Savage’s first
fire outside of the county. When his name was called out at
a drill practice and he had a half hour to get ready, Savage
wasn’t sure what to expect.
But when he showed up to the scene about 1 a.m., he
didn’t have to wonder long. The task force was immediate-
ly sent out to patrol, where Savage encountered a large spot
fire and got his first chance to engage a wildfire directly.
Scott Kaiser
and Jesse
Ramirez sift
microplastics
out of the
sand.
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
See Firefighters, Page 6A
Cannon Beach opens its doors
Partake of the
Cottage and
Garden Tour to
peek inside local
living spaces
By Nancy McCarthy
For Cannon Beach Gazette
Maybe it starts with a
question: What is it like to
live in Cannon Beach?
Or maybe the question is:
What’s inside that house?
Whatever spurs the inter-
est, the Cannon Beach Cottage
and Garden Tour answers both
questions and many more for
the hundreds of participants
who tour the village’s homes
and yards every year.
NANCY MCCARTHY
The front door of a house
on the Cottage and Garden
Tour invites visitors. The
home once was owned by
Cannon Beach postmaster
Marie Marshall.
When the tour started 15
years ago, it lasted one after-
noon and drew 30 visitors.
Now, the activities begin Fri-
day night with a concert and
end Sunday afternoon with
a garden tea. More than 700
people participated last year.
This year’s tour on Sat-
urday, Sept. 8, includes 10
homes in midtown and the
Presidential area, all within
walking distance.
“All of them offer some-
thing different,” said Liz
Johnson, outreach coordinator
for the Cannon Beach Histo-
ry Center & Museum, which
sponsors the tour. “People
will get a taste of what it’s
like to live in Cannon Beach.
The houses range from small
cottages – the smallest is
432 square feet – to dream
homes.”
See Cottage, Page 7A
FARMERS MARKET
Born of a disaster, Cannon Beach Farmers
Market is going strong a decade later,
PAGE 10
CLATSOP WORKS
New summer internship program to give
local students an introduction to the work-
force, PAGE 3