April 3, 2015 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 9A
‘Paddle Out’
celebrates life of
longtime Cannon
Beach resident
A Paddle Out and Life
Celebration for Cannon
Beach 50-year resident Jack
Brown was held on Sunday,
Feb. 22, in the Seaside Cove
at the bottom of Tillamook
Head. About 200 of Jack’s
community including his
family, friends and surfers
gathered to celebrate his life.
Generations of surfers and
residents of the North Coast
gathered to feel the connec-
tion Jack always brought to
his community; one of inclu-
siveness and love. It began
with a service on the beach
with nearly 100 surfers in
wetsuits and their boards on
the rocks, along with another
hundred of Jack’s commu-
nity who weren’t doing the
“paddle out.” Long time Sea-
side resident and director of
NW Women’s Surf Camps
Lexie Hallahan presided.
“Sometimes in our lives
we’re given a gem of op-
portunity to meet and know
an extraordinary person, one
who changes our lives. Jack
Brown was that gem,” said
+DOODKDQ ³$ JUHDW VXU¿QJ
EXGG\WRXVDOOKLVQHDUO\¿I-
W\\HDUVRIVXU¿QJDORQJWKH
Oregon Coast, crossed be-
tween generations of us surf-
ers. A mentor, who shared
with us life’s lasting lessons,
not only in his words and
wonderful humor, but in how
he lived his life; simply, ful-
ly, with love and great gen-
erosity. Jack was our hero, a
man we all respected, loved
and adored. Our world, both
in and out of the water, was
made more brilliant because
of Jack Brown. It’s our turn
QRZDVKLVVXU¿QJFRPPXQL-
ty and friends to carry Jack’s
great spirit of intention for-
ward.”
Local Seaside resident
and surfer Joyce Hunt read
a quote attributed to John F.
Kennedy, spoken by the late
president at the Australian
Ambassador’s Dinner for
the American’s Cup Crews
on September 14, 1962, in
Newport, Rhode Island.
“I really don’t know why
it is that all of us are so com-
mitted to the sea, except I
think it’s because in addition
to the fact that the sea chang-
es, and ships change, it’s be-
cause we all came from the
sea. And it is an interesting
biological fact that all of us
have in our veins the exact
same percentage of salt in
our blood that exists in the
ocean, and therefore, we
have salt in our blood, our
Hyak project faces hurdle
Hyak from Page 8A
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Jack Brown, avid surfer and longtime Cannon Beach resi-
dent.
sweat and our tears. We are
tied to the ocean. And when
we go back to the sea, wheth-
er is is to surf (sail) or to
watch it, we are going back
from whence we came,” said
Kennedy in capturing the
spirit of what humans share
with the ocean.
%XQFKHVRIÀRZHUVZHUH
passed around the communi-
ty on the beach to throw into
the shore break and into the
center of the “paddle out cir-
cle” once surfers made it out
to the outer cove. Then the
nearly 100 surfers all migrat-
ed to the cove riptide to pad-
dle outside together. The day
had been blessed with warm
east winds, sunshine and a
long period four foot ground
swells, perfect for the paddle
out service. In the surfer’s
parking lot on the west side
of the Lanai Motel, while
surfers were paddling out,
Hawaiian music was played
by local surfer and Hawaiian
Hank Snell, which carried
out over the waves to be
heard both by them and the
people on the rocky beach.
Once to the outer cove, the
surfers formed a large circle,
holding each other’s hands
in solidarity and community
for their friend, Jack Brown.
Local surfer Jon Leiter gave
WKH¿QDOOLIHWRDVWLQWKHFHQ-
ter of the circle recognizing
the great person Jack was for
how he was so inclusive in
the community and encour-
aged all of the surfers there
to take with them and share
that piece of Jack. Flowers
were thrown into the middle
of the circle followed by lots
of cheering and splashing of
the ocean, representative of
energy being lifted from the
ocean (water) to the air and
spirit (ether).
After the circle ceremo-
ny, surfers paddled back into
the waves for hours of party
waves, followed by a large
ERQ¿UH ZLWK VPRNHG VDOPRQ
provided by the Tillamook
Head Kopra brothers, Da-
vid and John. That night, the
moon’s shape was a perfect
smile with the planet Venus,
planet of Love, hanging right
below the moon in the sky.
At that time, the building
was going to be renovated
with a $500,000 grant that
Oregon Housing and Com-
munity Services awarded
to the county authority. But
the deal between Helping
Hands and the county au-
thority was thrown into lim-
bo in December 2012 when
the Clatsop County Board
of Commissioners took
over the county authority
and dismissed the agency’s
board, executive director
and operations manager.
The grant was put on
hold, along with a loan to
complete the purchase of
the building. When Helping
Hands Executive Director
Alan Evans found out the
monthly payment to lease
the building would be $3,500
instead of $1,000, as he orig-
inally believed, he backed
off the deal completely.
NOHA now administers
the county authority, although
the county commissioners
continue to serve as the coun-
ty housing authority’s board.
NOHA applied with Oregon
Housing and Community
Services to sponsor the Hyak
Building project, and the
state agreed to that proposal
and will grant the $500,000
in general housing account
funds when the property is
owned by NOHA. The agen-
cy then will use the money to
renovate the building.
The agenda for Thurs-
day’s meeting of the NOHA
board of directors includ-
ed the signing of a draft
agreement with the county
authority to take over the
Hyak property. Public com-
ments were also taken at
that meeting.
Last week, Johnston said
WKH\¶YH ¿QLVKHG D FDSLWDO
needs assessment and envi-
ronmental report and were
ready to get contractors to do
the construction. He doesn’t
foresee the project being
stopped or moved, even in
light of the complaints.
“If the zoning has to be
changed, or if the non-compli-
ant use cannot continue, which
we do plan to dispute or look
into further, if that can’t be re-
VROYHGWKHQZHIHHOFRQ¿GHQW
we can still move the project
forward using the current zon-
ing regulations,” Johnston told
the county authority board.
“We still feel like it’s an im-
portant project for the commu-
nity, for that population and
for the county.”
Evans agreed the organi-
zation would be willing to al-
ter its plans to conform, if that
is what the city of Seaside de-
cides or if an appeal fails.
“It’s still a workable proj-
ect for Helping Hands and I
believe that we can move for-
ward with it,” he said. “We’re
going to make this obstacle
into an opportunity.”
The county housing au-
thority will have to pay
attorney fees for a prelimi-
nary investigation to review
the zoning regulation con-
cerns and form a response.
County Commissioner Li-
anne Thompson asked for
an estimation of the cost
before moving forward.
Critics in a huff over timber harvest inside growth boundary
harvesting is done within
200 feet from the edge of
wetlands, as per the Forest
Practices Act. Half the trees
by species, as well as diame-
ter class, must remain, along
ZLWK WKH ¿UVW URZ RI WUHHV
along the waterway. The proj-
ect must also follow rules de-
VLJQHG IRU ODUJH ¿VK VWUHDPV
and estuaries. There are no
regulations past 200 feet.
The department didn’t re-
quire replanting trees or any
sort of growth since it was
just a thinning, not a clear
cut, and it “doesn’t make
much sense to remove trees
that could hit a structure and
then replant,” Bond said.
Lertora has conducted a
post-harvest inspection and
the project was found to be
in compliance with the For-
est Practices Act.
On March 19, the Oregon
&RDVW $OOLDQFH D QRQSUR¿W
whose mission is to protect
and restore coastal natural
resources, wrote a letter to
Mayor Don Larson and City
Council members expressing
the alliance’s “concern for
recent actions taken by the
city of Seaside which are di-
rectly prohibited by Seaside
ordinances and other actions,
which raise questions about
the city’s watershed man-
agement policies.” The letter
referenced McGrath’s com-
mercial timber harvesting
project, as well as the city’s
recent commercial timber
harvest in the South Fork
Necanicum Watershed.
The letter stated that, ac-
cording to Seaside’s Zon-
ing Ordinance, since timber
harvesting is not listed as a
permissible use in a subur-
Project concerns
ban residential zone, it falls
under prohibited uses by de-
expressed
fault. Prohibited uses are all
At the March 9 City those not permitted outright
Council meeting, Daniel or as conditional uses under
O’Neil, who lives by Mc- the zoning section. Commer-
Grath’s property on North cial timber harvesting also is
Wahanna Road, said timber not listed as a use or activity
harvesting in a residential permitted with review nor a
area along a sensitive creek conditional use or activity in
makes no sense. In addition, aquatic conservation zones.
he was never informed about
“Since timber harvesting
the harvest, and there was no is prohibited in the zones
time to have his property line which apply to this proper-
surveyed. O’Neil claimed ty, Seaside illegally permit-
he could have owned some ted it,” the letter from the
of the trees. McGrath dis- alliance claims. “An illegal
agreed, saying the land was approval such as this one
VXUYH\HG ZKHQ WKH\ ¿UVW makes the city vulnerable to
bought the property.
legal challenge. In the future,
She did not notify the the city must not allow tim-
neighbors of the project, she ber harvests on any proper-
said. “I didn’t think it was ty in the city’s jurisdiction
any of their business because when the zoning code pro-
it didn’t interfere with them.” hibits such use.”
The fact that the city’s
Timber Management Plan
has not been updated since
1983, combined with the
city’s recent timber harvest
on its Necanicum Watershed
property and the city allow-
ing McGrath’s commercial
project, “shows a lack of
understanding by the city of
modern watershed and eco-
system-based management
principles – especially im-
portant in a watershed that is
the residents’ drinking water
source,” the letter states. In
the future, the alliance would
like to collaborate with the
city to protect its wetlands,
forests and watershed.
The alliance also rec-
ommended the city work
with the Necanicum Wa-
tershed Council, the North
Coast Land Conservancy
and other interest groups to
update the forest manage-
ment plan, develop a water-
shed management plan and
create alternative funding
methods for future water-
shed purchases.
City’s response
Cupples disagreed with
the alliance’s interpretation
of the Zoning Ordinance,
saying it does not “prohibit”
timber harvesting, which is
an activity not a use. Timber
harvesting is only regulated
under the coastal lake and
Recreation district board votes to ask former
general manager to step in as interim director
By Katherine Lacaze
Seaside Signal
The Sunset Empire
Park & Recreation Dis-
trict Board is hoping to
¿QG DQ LQWHULP GLUHF-
tor for the district as it
continues its search for
a new permanent execu-
tive director.
At a special meeting
Tuesday, the board vot-
ed unanimously to have
the Special Districts
Association of Oregon,
the agency assisting in
the executive director
search on a contract,
to ask Mary Blake, the
district’s former general
manager, to serve as in-
terim executive director.
It was unknown by press
time if she accepted the
offer. If she accepts, she
likely would serve until
a permanent replacement
is found.
If she were to turn
it down, the board will
schedule another meet-
ing to choose a differ-
ent option. The decision
came after Bill Ander-
son, the SDAO repre-
sentative working with
the recreation district,
looked for alternatives
within the communi-
W\ EXW FRXOG QRW ¿QG DQ
appropriate person who
was available.
Since former General
Manager Justin Cutler
resigned in March, the
department
managers
have absorbed various
duties and responsibili-
ties. While the board is
grateful for staff being
willing to step up, Board
Chair Mike Hinton said,
the board believes it’s
LPSRUWDQW WR ¿QG DQ LQ-
terim director to oversee
and provide continuity of
the various departments.
About 40 people re-
sponded to advertise-
ments for the executive
director position. The
board narrowed the pool
down to six primary can-
didates and three alter-
nates. A committee of
Anderson and two board
members was sched-
uled to conduct phone
interviews with the can-
didates this week and
Monday before inviting a
number of the candidates
for in-person interviews.
The board has asked
Jan Barber and Diane
Somers, of the Sunset
Park & Recreation Foun-
dation, to be contact
people for the Special
Districts Association of
Oregon to help facilitate
the interview process
DQG ¿QG PHPEHUV IRU D
community panel and a
technical panel, both of
which will interview the
candidates.
C all F or A
free
IN -H O M E
C O N SU LT AT IO N !
S hutters, D rap eries, W ood B lind s,
C ellular S had es, S oft S had es,
Vertical B lind s, Valances,
W oven W ood & m ore!
Oregon Coast
503-738-5242
freshwater wetlands, or A-3,
zone, he said.
The A-3 section of the
Zoning Ordinance states:
“Within the Urban Growth
Boundary, occasional selec-
tive harvesting of timber is
not considered to be a pri-
mary use and the use will
be subjected to rigorous re-
quirements should a permit
be applied for and granted.”
The harvesting can only take
place, the ordinance contin-
ues, with a conditional-use
permit from the city.
The Comprehensive Plan
does not address timber har-
vesting except to say “there
are no commercial forest
lands in the Seaside Urban
Growth Boundary.” The
phrase, Cupples said, was
“simply pointing out the
lands owned by commer-
cial timber companies were
located outside” the Urban
Growth Boundary.
“No timber company
would argue that Mrs. Mc-
Grath is a commercial timber
grower,” he said. “She had
some clearing done on the
property. And the fact that
she disposed of the trees by
selling them, that’s not a vio-
lation of our ordinance.”
Since some trees in the
riparian area were cut down,
the city will require McGrath
to put in some vegetation or
growth, Cupples said.
2 5 %
Lincoln City
541-994-9954
SAVE
on Select Signature Series
Financing
Available
SW Washington
503-738-5242
www.budgetblinds.com
*Offer not valid with any other offers. Offer good at time of initial estimate only.
Offer good at participating franchises only. Each franchise independently owned and operated.
CCB# 177717
and a wildlife biologist met
on-site, they checked for any
protected resources and en-
dangered species, but found
none, nor anything of concern
to prevent the project, Bond
By Katherine Lacaze
said.
Seaside Signal
The only reason McGrath
wanted to harvest trees, she
A commercial timber har- said, was because there were
vesting project on private some she felt could potential-
property in Seaside’s Urban ly cause damage. The proper-
Growth Boundary has caused ty contains three houses and if
a stir among private citizens one of the several 90-foot trees
and the Oregon Coast Alliance. had fallen down, it could have
A couple weeks ago, Wan- endangered the buildings and
da McGrath thinned about people’s lives, she said.
half of a small one-acre for-
Some people have argued
est on her property on North the city should have inter-
Wahanna Road. The property, vened on the project. The
which sits along the Neawan- city has jurisdiction over ar-
na Creek, is outside city limits eas within the Urban Growth
but inside the Urban Growth Boundary, according to a
Boundary. It is partially zoned joint management agreement
suburban residential, and the adopted in 1995 and amended
section abutting the creek is in 1996.
zoned conservation aquatic.
The city did not know
The operator who was about the project until it was
hired to do the cutting, Den- too late, Seaside Planning
nis Larson of Astoria-based Director Kevin Cupples said.
Dennis Larson Excavating, 8VXDOO\WKHFLW\LVQRWL¿HGE\
VXEPLWWHG D QRWL¿FDWLRQ RI the Department of Forestry
operation for the project to the before a project like this oc-
Oregon Department of Forest- curs, he said, as it would have
ry in January, which was more required erosion control and
than 15 days in advance, as land clearing permits, neither
required by the state to allow of which were obtained for
time for cooperative discus- this project. The department
sions before activities begin.
did not notify the city, which
Neal Bond, a protection was an oversight, Bond said.
unit forester with the Oregon
Cupples said it didn’t mat-
Department of Forestry, said ter, as they would have de-
the agency did a pre-inspec- ferred to the Department of
tion to make sure the activi- Forestry anyway.
ty complied with the Forest
“It’s not as if it was some-
Practices Act rules.
thing that would have been
Neawanna Creek, which is denied,” he said.
DODUJH¿VKVWUHDPLVLQFORVH
proximity to the area. When The harvest process
The Department of For-
Ashley Lertora, a stewardship
forester with the department, estry restricts how timber
Project approved by Dept.
of Forestry but did not
have permits from city