A6 • Friday, March 22, 2019 | Cannon Beach Gazette | CannonBeachGazette.com
Escape Lodging, city
maintain RV partnership
By CARA MICO
For Cannon Beach
Gazette
Imagine what Cannon
Beach would have expe-
rienced if the Rajneeshees
had settled in Cannon
Beach.
After a renewal of the
contract between the city
and Escape Lodging to
manage the city-owned
RV Park, on Wednesday,
March 6, members of the
City Council met with rep-
resentatives of the lodging
company for a look back
and update of the RV Park
and how it went from a
potential cult site to a thriv-
ing visitor destination.
Escape Lodging Pres-
ident Patrick Nofi eld dis-
played a 1985 Eugene Reg-
ister-Guard article about
how the Rajneeshees were
scoping land in rural Can-
non Beach for their center
which prompted the city’s
quick purchase of the 52
acres for $2 million.
The RV Park’s his-
tory was a part of Escape
Lodging’s annual report in
preparation of their con-
tract renewal with the city.
Nofi eld brought key mem-
bers of his team to discuss
how the RV park fared
over the last year, and
shared the parks storied
history as well.
The city later pur-
chased the land and con-
tracted with Escape Lodg-
ing in 2002 to manage
the RV park and resort.
Since that time, the city
has reimbursed the private
business for any expenses
incurred while income
goes directly into the city
bank accounts.
Nofi eld said that there
were “no regrets” in the
site purchase and shared
wisdom from the Steve
Martin, his business part-
ner and mentor in the ven-
ture. Martin died in 2000.
“Steve said that the
money is a ‘report card’
as to how well we’re
serving people,” Nofi eld
remembered.
In exchange Escape
Lodging gets a small
monthly fee and a per-
centage of the profi ts, and
during the winter months
sometimes those profi ts
are slim to none. This past
year the net profi t for the
site was close to $500,000,
although January and
February bookings were
“extremely low.”
The city put prof-
its to use, Nofi eld said.
Recent upgrades included
improvements to sanita-
tion, electrical and wire-
less communications.
The park has also
recently added an electric
vehicle charging station
which is being used one to
two times per day.
Bigger projects com-
ing up will need council
approval, Escape Lodg-
ing CFO Becki Filan said,
but the park needs con-
stant maintenance. Small
ongoing needs like a new
HVAC unit for the pool
and picnic table repairs are
on the list, but the roadbed
needs major repairs and
that won’t be a cheap fi x.
“We take expenditures
over a certain level to the
council,” Filan said.
City Councilor Nancy
McCarthy asked Nofi eld’s
input regarding the ongo-
ing discussions of alterna-
tive uses for the site.
The city has added land
adjacent to the RV Park
as a possible location for
a future city hall or pub-
lic safety building. The
land has also been consid-
ered as a site for affordable
housing.
Nofi eld said Escape
Lodging would like “a
seat at the table,” whether
future uses on neighboring
land include tiny homes or
a new city hall.
Warren Way reconfi guration ahead
Safer intersection
is sought
By CARA MICO
For Cannon Beach Gazette
The Warren Way Hem-
lock intersection has been
problematic since the instal-
lation of the candlestick bar-
riers, considered eyesores
by many.
Public Works Director
Karen LaBonte is hoping to
provide a remedy that will
satisfy residents and help
visitors to make safer traffi c
choices.
After the intersection
was redesigned in 2013 by
Lancaster Engineering, the
City has received a num-
ber of complaints. A single
point in time assessment by
the engineering fi rm sug-
gested that the intersection
was working as designed,
but the major complaints are
around aesthetics and con-
gestion out of Tolovana Inn.
While the latest cross-
walk additions are an
improvement, and ample
street lighting and low speed
limits minimize accidents at
the intersection, it’s still an
issue from a public safety
perspective.
Police Chief Jason Scher-
merhorn said at the March
12 City Council work ses-
sion meeting that a lot of the
traffi c accidents at the inter-
section are from confusion,
“people treat the intersec-
Google Maps
The Warren Way/Hemlock intersection is getting a fresh look.
tion like it’s a four-way stop,
even though it isn’t.”
Those familiar with the
intersection know that on
peak summer days, the
intersection is a problem.
In addition to speeding cars
exiting the highway, wan-
dering pedestrians trying
to navigate poorly placed
crosswalks and blocked
traffi c out of Tolovana Inn
make the intersection one
of the most dangerous inter-
sections in town.
Public Works asked
Lancaster Engineering to
reevaluate the situation to
determine if the candlestick
confi guration was the only
option for traffi c control
and engineer Brian Davis
brought a few example solu-
tions for the council to con-
sider, including extend-
ing the south crosswalk on
Hemlock, narrowing the
right hand turn off east-
bound Warren with paint or
planters, and a roundabout
or a four-way stop.
“This is a great example
of things that keep engineers
awake at night. There’s a lot
of asphalt and not a lot of
guidance,” said Davis.
According to Davis, the
intersection currently is
considered functional by
engineering standards, even
though a 2016 evaluation
gave it only a passing grade.
“There is slight conges-
tion at peak hours and vol-
ume to capacity is about half
full,” Davis said.
But traffi c volumes at
this intersection have grown
over the past two years,
largely thanks to economic
growth, and if that trend
continues Cannon Beach
will have six years at most
before major changes will
have to be made.
There was general coun-
cil support for a four way
intersection, as it would
require the fewest resources
to solve one of the major
safety concerns, but Davis
believes that a four way stop
has the potential to cause
more traffi c on Hemlock
making operations worse,
adding that safety concerns
were an overriding factor.
Doug Neely of the Tolo-
vana Inn weighed in and
suggested that extending the
southern crosswalk would
help people cross more con-
fi dently. He also offered to
extend irrigation into the tri-
angle in between the Inn’s
driveway and Hemlock
should the city decide to
remove the asphalt and plant
the strip with landscaping.
LaBonte will get esti-
mates for the proposed work
and bring the project back
to the council for consider-
ation sometime in the near
future.
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