VOL. 42, ISSUE 18
WWW.CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM
SEPTEMBER 7, 2018
‘The
Bottle
Collector’
BRONZE COAST GALLERY
Cannon Beach Gazette
“T he B ottle C olleCtor ” by Don Dahl-
ke, giclée on canvas, from the Bronze Coast
Gallery.
Bronze Coast will be among galleries to
celebrate Stormy Weather Arts Festival events
coming to Cannon Beach in November.
Over the past few years, the event has
grown to include a spotlight concert that
showcases accomplished or up-and-coming
musicians in the Coaster Theatre Playhouse;
the Dancing in the Rain Fashion Show fea-
turing apparel and accessories from local and
national designers; and Brews, Blues & Bar-
becues where guests can sample local beers
while enjoying live blues and a barbecue
lunch.
Bronze Coast Gallery is located in The
Landing at 224 North Hemlock St.
Answers prove elusive for Health advisory
affordable housing fixes lifted for Cannon
Councilors cool to
lifting commercial
building height
restrictions
By R.J. Marx
Cannon Beach Gazette
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
The hope for councilors was to
improve the availability of hous-
ing stock, especially affordable
or workforce housing. But before
evening’s end, the city shied from
adopting two measures, fearing
that unintended consequences
would fail to meet the goals the
ordinances were meant to address.
Two amendments — raising the
building height in a commercial
zone and off-street parking amend-
ments to address variance criteria
— went before the public at Tues-
day’s City Council meeting.
The original proposal asked
the city to reduce parking and
landscaping requirements, as well
as relax height restrictions in the
residential zone designated for
multifamily housing. The propos-
al would have also allowed mul-
tifamily housing in a commercial
zone as an outright use.
Robin Risley, a candidate for
City Council, said in the public
comment period that downtown
density and parking could worsen
if the amendments were adopted.
“My suggestion is to really think
about this,” Risley said. “It will
change the complexion of what is
already a concern.”
Resident Jan Siebert-Wahr-
mund urged the council not to
weaken height regulations as pro-
posed in the draft ordinance.
“Why would we allow our city
to lose its village character by al-
lowing potentially every building
in our C-1 zone to add potential-
ly another story?” Siebert-Wahr-
mund asked. “This is not an ac-
ceptable risk. Please think of the
unintended consequences of loos-
ening these regulations.”
The proposed parking ordi-
nance would have amended the
variance process to include mul-
tifamily residences used for long-
term rentals as a factor to address
one of three variance criteria.
According to the proposed
height ordinance, building height
would have been raised as from
24 to 28 feet. The ridge height of
a pitched roof would not have ex-
ceeded 32 feet. This would have
opened the way for developers
to add a third story to be used
for permanent housing for mixed
residential and commercial down-
town buildings. The proposed
zoning ordinance amendments
sought to encourage the develop-
ment of long-term rental housing
— the housing type needed to
help meet the needs of groups that
lack resources for owner-occupied
housing or require rental housing
for other reasons.
City Planner Mark Barnes said
some graded sites may be able to
meet those height requirements, he
said, but space would be tight on
a level property. “With a 28-feet
height limit, I doubt you would see
three stories,” Barnes said.
See Housing, Page 6A
Beach ocean waters
Fecal bacteria levels
have subsided
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
A recreational use health advisory was
lifted in Cannon Beach in time for Labor
Day weekend after recent testing showed
fecal bacteria levels have subsided. The
state continues to monitor local beaches.
The Oregon Health Authority is-
sued the advisory Wednesday, Aug.
29, after water samples showed high-
er-than-normal levels of fecal bacteria
in ocean waters. A specific source was
never identified, however.
High readings in ocean waters can
come from sources such as stormwater
runoff, sewer overflows, failing septic
systems, as well as animal waste from
livestock, pets and wildlife, according
to the health authority.
Contact with ocean water no longer
poses a health risk, though officials rec-
ommend staying out of large pools on
the beach that are frequented by birds
and runoff from those pools as the wa-
ter may still contain increased bacteria
from fecal matter.
The advisory — the first of the year
— comes weeks after the city decided
to reinstate a water testing program
following high bacteria readings at the
Chisana Creek and Gower Street out-
falls. While the city has seen high read-
ings on-and-off throughout the summer
at these outfalls, advisories are only
issued for contaminated marine waters.
City Manager Bruce St. Denis said
water samples have shown a few high
readings at the outfalls after rain events
but can’t confirm whether or not this is
a contributing factor to the current ad-
visory in marine waters.
The city is unaware of any specific
events that would trigger the reading,
St. Denis said.
Contact with waterborne bacteria
can cause diarrhea, stomach cramps,
skin rashes, upper respiratory infec-
tions and other illnesses, according to
the health authority.
Meet the new owners of Cannon Beach Bakery
Iconic ‘Haystack bread’ to remain a hometown staple
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
BRENNA VISSER
Gib and Deanna Hammond of the Cannon Beach
Bakery.
Before moving to Cannon
Beach, Gib Hammond, a mas-
ter baker, spent the last 30 years
baking for corporations like
Dave’s Killer Bread and Bob’s
Red Mill. Deanna Hammond
spent the past two decades
working in finance in Vancou-
ver, Washington.
But after decades of climbing
the corporate ladder, the couple
decided it was time to combine
their talents and start working
for themselves.
“I had been running other
people’s businesses for years,”
Deanna Hammond said. “We
felt the need to go on our own.
We had climbed the corporate
ladders: Where do we go from
here?”
Where they landed was at
Cannon Beach Bakery, which
the couple took over in April.
With their kids grown, the Ham-
monds were looking along the
coast for an ideal place to even-
tually retire. So when the Can-
non Beach Bakery was listed
for sale, the two jumped on the
opportunity.
“We didn’t want to change
everything. We just enhanced
what was already here,” Deanna
Hammond said.
Many of classics at the bak-
ery located at 240 N. Hemlock
St. are still there, like the iconic
Haystack bread and other sta-
ple baked goods. But some new
items have entered the case,
as well, like fresh fruit tarts,
marionberry crumble bars and
“Sneakerdoodles,” which are
snickerdoodles named after the
family dog.
Gib Hammond always knew
he had a passion for food, but
“didn’t want to get stuck in a
kitchen.”
“I heard horror stories,” he
said.
At 17 he was offered a chance
to work at Dave’s Killer Bread,
where he learned the art of bak-
ing from scratch — a rare oppor-
tunity.
It’s an experience that drove
him to start an internship pro-
gram at the bakery for go-getter,
aspiring bakers.
See Bakery, Page 6A