8A • April 3, 2015 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com
Hyak Building project faces a new challenge
for the building’s ¿rst-Àoor
independent living units
through a U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban De-
velopment program called
Continuum of Care.
Some people are unhap-
py with that prospect and
are asking that Helping
Hands ¿nd a new location.
At last week’s Clatsop
County Housing Authority
meeting, Rosemary Bak-
er-Monaghan, who lives
near the building on Edge-
wood Street, said the non-
conforming use of the Hyak
Building as a multifamily
dwelling has lapsed and is
no longer allowed.
“I think the project that
is planned for this proper-
ty is going to have to ¿nd
another location,” said
Baker-Monaghan, a former
Seaside mayor and the ex-
ecutive director of Astoria’s
Liberty Theater.
The property, she said,
must now conform to the
residential medium density,
or R2 zone, which only al-
lows a single-family dwell-
ing or duplex.
A nonconforming use,
according to Seaside’s Zon-
Organization and
partners say project still
will move forward
By Katherine Lacaze
Seaside Signal
The Hyak Building proj-
ect in Seaside is facing yet
another challenge, this time
in the form of soon-to-be
neighbors who don’t want
the facility nearby.
The building in question
is a large multi-unit dwell-
ing on the corner of Edge-
wood Street and Avenue S
that is currently possessed
by the Clatsop County
Housing Authority. The
county authority is ready
to transfer the property and
building to the Northwest
Oregon Housing Authority,
which has partnered with
Helping Hands to use part
of the building to house men
who are in the last phase
of the Seaside-based non-
pro¿t’s re-entry program.
Clatsop Community Action
also plans to contribute to
the project by providing
rental assistance funding
KATHERINE LACAZE PHOTO
The Hyak Building is located on on the corner of Edgewood
Street and Avenue S, and some of the neighbors are not
happy with the prospect of Helping Hands using the building
for a project.
ing Ordinance, is the use
of a structure or lot, which
existed prior to the adop-
tion or amendment of the
ordinance, that does not
conform to the new zone
regulations. However, if a
nonconforming use is dis-
continued for a period of 12
months, subsequent uses of
the lot, parcel or structure
have to conform to the zon-
ing ordinance. No one has
occupied the Hyak Build-
ing for a couple years. The
property was purchased by
Clatsop County Housing
Authority in early 2012,
and a few months later it
was of¿cially intended for
use by Helping Hands.
Baker-Monaghan
has
taken up her concerns with
the city of Seaside, as well,
and is relying on a case from
Clackamas County that took
place in the early 1990s as
support for her position. In
Clackamas County, a dwell-
ing in an exclusive farm use
zone that was used as a sin-
gle family residence lost its
right to the nonconforming
residential use – which was
not a permissible use in the
exclusive farm use district –
after its occupant died and
the house was unoccupied
for a few years. In that case,
the Oregon Land Use Board
of Appeals upheld the deci-
sion of the county hearings
of¿cer.
Baker-Monaghan is not
the only person who has
raised concerns. Another
woman, who described her-
self as a “concerned proper-
ty owner,” in February sent
an email to Seaside Mayor
Don Larson, Northwest
Oregon Housing Authority
Executive Director Todd
Johnston, Helping Hands,
Seaside City Manager
Mark Winstanley, Clatsop
County Commissioner Sar-
ah Nebeker and others.
“I am writing to strongly
protest this location as an
owner of a single-family
home on the same block,”
she wrote. “The south
end of Seaside is a qui-
et neighborhood made up
of primarily single-family
homes. The thought that
someone would insert this
type of non-residential use
and in essence devalue all
of the surrounding homes is
100 percent wrong. Not to
mention potentially insert-
ing a criminal element.”
She described Help-
ing Hands’ project as “a
drug and alcohol half-way
house.” The house, though,
is not designated for con-
victed criminals or for-
mer prisoners; it would be
used for housing formerly
homeless men who are in
the “pregraduate” stage
of Helping Hands’ multi-
month re-entry program.
The occupants would be
enrolled in school or carry
jobs and would pay a small
rent to help cover the lease.
The backlash from
neighbors is just the most
recent in a series of road-
blocks faced by Helping
Hands in the process of
using the house. The orga-
nization had struck a part-
nership with the Clatsop
County Housing Authority
to lease the building in Au-
gust 2012, but the deal hit
a series of obstacles that
ended up causing ¿nancial
stress for Helping Hands.
See Hyak, Page 9A
Tsunami warning key sleeves get mixed reaction from visitors
to have a challenge with,”
Dugan said.
Over the slower winter
months, Sand & Seas has
not distributed that many key
sleeves, but with business
picking up, Vellutini believes
they’ll start using more. She
thinks they will be effective
in bringing more attention to
a potential tsunami event and
helping visitors feel prepared.
“Any little bit of informa-
tion will help them in case we
do have a tsunami,” she said.
The hotel also has binders
in each unit with a page about
tsunamis that provide evacu-
ation instructions and maps.
Additionally, staff is trained
to direct people toward ap-
propriate evacuation routes.
Some hotels decided not
to use the key sleeves. Best
Western declined, citing a
corporate policy that pro-
hibits using any other key
Tsunami from Page 1A
“It’s kind of a catch-22,”
Hudson said.
She’s gone through two
cases of the sleeves and has
requested more, but with
business picking up for the
late spring and summer
months, she is unsure wheth-
er she’ll continue to use them.
Mary Vellutini, general
manager of Sand & Sea, said
they haven’t experienced a
similar negative reaction.
“Basically, I think the pub-
lic is informed enough about
Seaside and the chance of the
tsunami,” she said.
Finding a balance between
enticing visitors to come to
Seaside and enjoy their va-
cation and also spreading the
word about potential hazards,
such as earthquakes and tsu-
namis, “is something this
community is always going
envelope but the ones cor-
porate approves. Worldmark
by Wyndham already has an
evacuation plan that incorpo-
rates directing people to the
facility’s parking structure,
said Jon Rahl, director of
tourism for the Seaside Visi-
tors Bureau.
The big picture
The key sleeves are the
main feature of the Seaside’s
new awareness initiative for
hospitality industries, which
started last spring when the
Clatsop County Emergency
Manager told the city funds
from the Oregon Of¿ce of
Emergency
Management
were available, Rahl said. Af-
ter getting approval to fund
the project through state,
they start putting out the key
sleeves late last fall.
“This was a touch point
we could have with visitors to
increase awareness and give
some easy steps” to evacu-
ate during a tsunami, Rahl
said, adding it is the city’s job
to keep both residents and
guests informed that earth-
quakes and tsunamis are haz-
ards in the area.
The city is using the ¿re
department to distribute the
sleeves, Rahl said, because
the agency already has regu-
lar safety contact with hospi-
tality workers during annual
inspections.
He doesn’t know how
many hotels ultimately will
end up using the key sleeves.
With summer approaching,
he said, the city might make
another push to distribute the
material. The overall project
cost about $5,000 – paid for
by state funds – and some
staff time.
Other products have been
developed by the state as part
of a separate Oregon Coast
Visitor Tsunami Awareness
project. Those products,
which are available free of
charge to hospitality groups,
include Living on Shaky
Ground magazine in English
and Spanish, a two-sided
poster on earthquakes and
tsunamis, a printable table
tent with information and an
Oregon Tsunami Waves vid-
eo that can be played on in-
room television channels.
“The purpose of the Or-
egon Coast Visitor Tsunami
Awareness project is to im-
prove the visitor’s awareness
of the tsunami hazards and
to support the hospitality in-
dustry on the Oregon coast in
becoming more prepared for
tsunami events,” the Oregon
Of¿ce of Emergency Man-
agement website states.
The project is being fund-
ed by the National Tsunami
Hazard Mitigation Program,
a part of the National Ocean-
ographic and Atmospheric
Administration.
While no one product,
such as the key holders, will
fully prepare the community
and its guests for a natural
disaster, every little bit helps
to increase awareness and
prevent worst-case scenarios,
Dugan said.
“I think not just this one
thing is going to be a cure all,
but I think it’s a cooperation
or coalition between all enti-
ties,” he said. “At least it gets
people talking about it.”
For more information, call
the Seaside Visitors Bureau at
503-738-3097.
O u r cu sto m ers experien ce so m e o f
life’ s grea test a ssists o ff the
co u rt. Tru st yo u r lo ca l S ta te Fa rm ®
a gen t fo r help fin d in g the right
co vera ge a n d sa vin gs o n yo u r
in su ra n ce so yo u ca n en jo y
m o re o f w ha t yo u lo ve.
CONTACT A LOCAL AGENT
TODAY. W E EX IST TO ASSIST.
M arcia H arper In s A g cy In c
M arcy H arper, A gent
936 E H arbor D rive
W arrenton, O R  97146
503-861-3276
M arcyharper.com
Jerem y R yan M ills, A g en t
815 S H ollad ay D rive
Seasid e, O R  97138
503-738-6100
w w w .jm illsinsu rance.com
R ick Berezay, A g en t
653 W est M arine D rive
A storia, O R  97103
503-325-5920
w w w .rickberezay.com
P resc h o o l a n d ea rl y c h i l d h o o d
R ESO U R CE R EFER R A L FA IR
Warrenton Grade School
820 SW Cedar Warrenton
P arents of soon-to-be preschoolers
e
r
’
u
o
Y ited!
Inv
Saturday
April 11 TH
10 AM -1 PM
Come meet the local preschools
and early childhood providers –
learn about their curriculum,
philosophies, tuition and more!
Free!
and
Activity area
provided
for kids
Sponsored by: MOMS Club of
Astoria, Clatsop kinder ready,
NW Parenting
momsclubofastoria.org
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