6A • August 24, 2018 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
New housing goal is to focus on deed-restricted rentals
Housing from Page 1A
The incentives would have
only applied if a developer
agreed to put a deed restric-
tion on a project that would
forbid the units from ever
turning into vacation rentals
or condominiums. The two
argued the changes would
remove roadblocks from de-
velopers looking to build
affordable housing, as they
help drive construction costs
down, which would in turn
keep rents lower.
But in April the majority
of the City Council disagreed,
arguing that the changes in
no way guaranteed that rents
would be affordable and in-
stead would have led to de-
velopers tearing down and re-
building single-family homes
to rent at market prices in the
residential zone.
FILE PHOTO
A design option for affordable housing in Cannon Beach
from 2016.
At the urging of Mayor
Sam Steidel and City Council-
or Brandon Ogilvie, who both
voted for the original pack-
age, the city is considering
a scaled-back version of the
amendments. The new goal is
to refocus on encouraging de-
velopment of deed-restricted
long-term rentals.
“I feel there is a need for
long-term housing across all
strata,” Ogilvie said.
Under the new proposal, the
deed restriction is kept. Park-
ing requirements would still
be reduced and height restric-
tions for multifamily dwellings
would still be increased from
28 feet to 32 feet to match the
current standard for hotels —
but only for properties in the
limited commercial zone. Be-
cause multifamily housing is a
conditional use in this zone, the
Planning Commission would
still have discretion to approve
or deny variances related to
parking and height on a case-
by-case basis.
With almost 90 percent
of commercial land already
developed in Cannon Beach,
limiting changes to this zone
would be a relatively low-risk
way to experiment with new
regulations, City Planner Mark
Barnes said.
“It’s not identical to work-
force housing, but broadly in
the rental market, this kind of
housing is not made or mar-
keted for the upper market,”
Barnes said.
While City Councilors
Nancy McCarthy and George
Firefighters get to meet people they help
Firefighters from Page 1A
Over the next four days,
the main work for the task
force was to patrol for spot
fires and protect homes by
clearing out surrounding
brush and wetting down
yards and rooftops.
But during the night of
Aug. 2, the task force was
sent out to a road that turned
out to be one of the main
fronts of the now-contained
20,000 acre fire. Spencer re-
members all the firefighters
falling silent, as everyone
started to pull line and pre-
pare for the flames creeping
forward 200 yards away.
Eventually, the wind shifted
in their favor.
“We don’t normally end
up right in front of the flame
front,” Spencer said. “It’s a
very surreal experience to
have flames shooting up over
the tree line at you.”
One of the most reward-
ing aspects of the job is get-
ting to meet the people you
are serving, Savage said. In
Dufur, much of what was be-
ing protected was farmland,
and firefighters were often
working side by side with
ranchers.
“They don’t have a bunch
of rules and standards to
follow like we do. They are
just kind of winging it with
their own equipment,” Sav-
age said. “It was amazing to
see them risk their own work
trucks and lives to help out
their neighbors.”
Though the days and
nights are long, often ending
only in a few hours of sleep
in a tent, what makes going
on trips difficult is rarely the
firefighting itself.
For James Hutchinson, of
the Gearhart Volunteer Fire
Department, watching some-
one’s cash crop singe into
black dust was often a hum-
bling and somber experience.
“I remember on one fire
someone came up to me and
asked to use my phone to call
home. Their phone wasn’t
working and they needed to
let someone know the farm
was gone,” Hutchinson said.
“In those moments you take
a step into their shoes, and
it can be hard. But you have
to make it a motivation and
remember you are there to
help.”
Gearhart Fire Lt. Josh
Como, who has been de-
ployed three times, said leav-
ing home can be difficult.
Finding employers who are
flexible enough to allow un-
planned deployments, as well
as balancing family dynam-
ics, can be a challenge.
“Life goes on while you
Vetter both recognized the
need for long-term housing,
they remain lukewarm on the
changes. McCarthy said she
still takes issue with the fact
the proposal has no way to
guarantee rents on deed-re-
stricted properties would stay
affordable, which is ultimately
the problem the council set out
to address.
Vetter agreed, adding that it
is a gamble to possibly loosen
standards for a developer that
may not build housing that is
accessible to workers and year-
round residents.
“(Developers) are going to
rent out units at the highest val-
ue they can,” Vetter said. “Our
best hope is another employer
in town who wants to build
employee housing sees this and
says, ‘I could make this work
now.’”
Steidel urged the council to
Cleanup event got
‘huge response from
our employees’
Plastics from Page 1A
JOSH COMO
Ron Britton, left, works in the smoky haze of the South Valley Fire on Aug. 2.
‘I remember on one fire someone came up to me and
asked to use my phone to call home. Their phone wasn’t
working and they needed to let someone know the
farm was gone. In those moments you take a step into
their shoes, and it can be hard. But you have to make
it a motivation and remember you are there to help.’
James Hutchinson,
of the Gearhart Volunteer Fire Department
are out there,” Como said.
“Everything is going on at
home, plus the people you
love are worrying about
whether you’re OK. That’s
why it’s important to take
lots of photos to let them
know you’re safe.”
But the challenges are
overshadowed by what ev-
eryone agreed was the best
part of the job: gratitude.
“You see these things hap-
pen on TV, but until you’re
actually there, meeting the
people you’re helping face to
face … that kind of gratitude
you can’t understand or see
unless you’re there.”
A new reality
With conflagration calls
on the rise, local fire depart-
ments are adjusting to a new
reality. Every request from
the state means a local chief
is making a judgment call
on whether the department
can afford to lose person-
nel — often at the height of
the summer tourism season,
when first responders are the
busiest.
“The biggest challenge is
making sure that when we
send crews out we’re making
sure there’s enough crew to
respond to our own emergen-
cies,” Lewis and Clark Fire
Chief Jeff Golightly said.
Fire departments have yet
to face any issues answering
emergency calls, as they all
have an interagency agree-
ment to help each other. But
whether the department has
enough people available is
something Gearhart Fire
Chief Bill Eddy always has
on his mind.
“That’s always a concern
with a volunteer department.
In a volunteer department
you have no way to backfill
when people go,” Eddy said.
“You just plan, train and pre-
pare the best you can.”
Fire departments have
also had to adjust how they
budget as the costs of con-
flagration continues to rise.
While the state reimburses
local departments, local de-
partments have to be ready
to foot the bill ahead of time
— some now even creating
a line item in the budget in
anticipation. Some depart-
ments, like Gearhart, are still
waiting on some portions
of reimbursement for work
done at the California fires,
and have had to request tem-
porary general fund transfers
to make it through.
Golightly estimates more
than half a million dollars
was paid out to Clatsop
County departments last
year.
While there may be some
inconvenience,
Cannon
Beach Fire Chief Matt Ben-
edict thinks the connections
and skills volunteers bring
back from these trips make
the county more prepared.
“A lot of the citizens are
thanking us for helping out,
and offering to be there for us
if we ever need help,” Ben-
edict said. “I love getting to
send people out. You don’t
get to use all those skills
you train for until you’re out
there.”
see the amendments as a frame-
work they could build upon in
the future to incentivize afford-
able projects. Without some
regulatory shifts, Steidel said,
the city won’t get developers
even interested in coming to
the table.
“For a developer, these
changes could make a project
pencil out,” the mayor said.
Councilor Mike Benefield,
who voted against the original
package, said he is willing to try
the changes in the commercial
zone, since it would not impact
the majority of residential areas.
But the council needs to call
it what it is, he said.
“Let’s stop calling it afford-
able housing amendments. I
don’t see this as affordable
housing — this is long-term
housing,” Benefield said. “We
still need a long-term effort to
address affordable housing.”
“We believe social re-
sponsibility as a commer-
cial entity is very import-
ant,” Wolfington said. “The
other part of it is that our
employees, they come here
to Cannon Beach. They do
a lot of day trips here …
We’re not just helping Can-
non Beach, but our employ-
ee family.”
Wolfington said the com-
pany met Sea Turtles Forev-
er at their annual weeklong
Earth Day fair, where they
saw the buckets of plastics
the team had already re-
moved from previous clean-
ups. With 35 nieces and
nephews herself, Wolfing-
ton couldn’t help but think
about them and other chil-
dren who play in that sand
and how putting contami-
nated plastics in their mouth
could affect them.
Professional Affairs Man-
ager Sharon Sipprell also felt
compelled to help after see-
ing the group’s demonstra-
tion.
“I’m a native Oregonian
and I’ve watched the beach
change over the years. There
is more garbage and fewer
birds, seals and even shells
than I saw as a kid,” she said.
“This event has gotten a huge
response from our employees
and I think it’s because we all
want to do something that’s
going to make a difference,
even if it’s a small impact on
a much larger problem.”
Although their day at the
beach came to a close, the
company volunteered to do-
nate video services to help
Sea Turtles Forever develop
some content to promote on
social media.
“We want to help them
get the word out,” Wolfing-
ton said.
Fire danger shuts Ecola
Creek Reserve to public
Public will be
notified when
conditions are
safe for go in
Cannon Beach Gazette
The Ecola Creek Forest
Reserve has been closed to
public entry. Cannon Beach
City Manager Bruce St. De-
nis announced the closure
Tuesday because of high fire
danger. A statement will be
released once conditions are
safe enough for public entry.
The forest reserve typi-
cally closes this time of year.
The city often times closures
with Greenwood Resources,
the company who manages
neighboring timber proper-
ties.
“They do a lot more forest
management than we do, so
they are very knowledgeable
about assessing this,” St. De-
nis said, “So we rely on them
as a partner.”
The reserve will be re-
opened when the city deems
there has been enough con-
sistent rainfall to reduce fire
danger.
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