INSIDE: SEAGULL
PRIDE FALL 2015
SEAGULL PRIDE
SEASIDE HIGH SCHOOL
SEASIDESIGNAL.COM • COMPLIMENTARY COPY
OUR 109th YEAR • September 18, 2015
Decision delayed as state ruling stalls barn dispute
A land use board ruling
could have an impact in
Gearhart case
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
Marcia Harper of Sea-
side was called as a wit-
ness to Gearhart Munici-
pal Court Monday night.
She described a meeting
with Neacoxie Barn owner
Shannon Smith in which
she sought a location for
her grandson’s wedding.
Drawn by its nearby local
and wide range of services,
she contacted Smith. Rent-
al of the barn for the event
would cost a donation of
$2,400, she was told. As a
North Coast resident, Harp-
er could receive the “local
rate” of $2,100.
“Suppose I wanted to
make a smaller donation,
say, $50?’” Harper said she
told Smith. “She said, ‘That
would not be acceptable.’”
The city presented Judge
John Orr with evidence this
and other recent events in-
dicate the barn is being
used illegally as a special
event hall.
But complexities of a
Land Use Board of Appeals
ruling in April muddied
the four-and-one-half-hour
court session and left a ¿ nal
decision weeks aways.
Internet site, barter
wedding deals
For years Smith and the
city have been at odds over
what the city says is the
nonpermitted commercial
use of the barn. Monday’s
hearing was only the latest
in a round of court dates
R.J. MARX
Shannon Smith after Mon-
day’s court hearing.
and council meetings roil-
ing the city.
City of¿ cials say Smith
continues to host special
events and gatherings de-
spite a lack of an active
conditional use permit
allowing commercial ac-
tivities. After Smith was
ticketed for using her barn
for two weddings held this
summer, she contested the
$500 citations, pleading not
guilty to the charges and
bringing the case to munic-
ipal court for hearing.
City manager Chad
Sweet testi¿ ed the website
Neacoxiebarn.org listed the
barn as “a place for your
events,” including corpo-
rate events, catering, and
more — advertising about
six events per month, with a
photo gallery of past events.
Police Chief Jeff Bow-
man and Of¿ cer Ian Brown
shared observations be-
fore the court on the nights
in question, June 20 and
Aug. 7. Brown estimated
he saw at least 50 people
at the Neacoxie Barn, al-
though a beach use permit
from the same wedding
party indicated the num-
ber of guests could have
been as high as 150.
See Barn, Page 10A
Seaside sees
big jump in
lodging tax
revenues
Second quarter of 2015
fi nishes 25 percent
ahead of the same
quarter in 2014
By Katherine Lacaze
Seaside Signal
Increased occupancy and
higher average room rates
helped Seaside “see num-
bers we’ve never seen be-
fore” of bed tax revenue, ac-
cording to Seaside Director
of Tourism Marketing Jon
Rahl. Most of those funds
will be designated for future
tourism promotion, with the
rest headed for public safety
and city improvements.
While Seaside City Man-
ager Mark Winstanley does
“an excellent job” forecast-
ing and makes revenue ad-
justments to anticipate how
bed tax is trending, “we still
blew those numbers out of
the water,” Rahl said.
The city’s transient lodg-
ing tax revenue for the ¿ rst
quarter of 2015 — through
March — was $679,800,
an increase of 29.2 per-
cent over the ¿ rst quarter
of 2014, which brought
in $526,164. For the sec-
ond quarter, the revenue in
2015 was just over $1 mil-
lion, compared to closer
to $800,000 in the second
quarter of 2014, an increase
of 25.28 percent.
“It’s just indicative of
how well everything has
been going in terms of
putting heads in beds, be-
cause even the best forecast
couldn’t have foreseen a 25
percent increase when last
year was a record in and of
itself,” Rahl said.
The tax rate in Seaside
has remained at 8 percent
since Oct. 1, 2002. Steady
increases in both total oc-
cupancy and room rate are
contributing to the higher
revenue numbers, Rahl said.
KATHERINE LACAZE/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Andrew Sarkady, a manager at Mo’s Restaurant in Cannon Beach, poses with Seaside Heights Elementary School fi rst-graders (from left) Aasha
Slot, Isair Leon Mejia, Layla Larsen, Oscar Acuna, Eli Meeks and Kevin Garcia. Sarkady delivered about $1,100 worth of school supplies.
Seaside Heights gets big donation
Elementary school supplies for
new year chipped in by Mo’s
Restaurant in Cannon Beach
By Katherine Lacaze
Seaside Signal
Mo’s Restaurant in Cannon Beach helped
Seaside Heights Elementary School stock up for
the 2015-16 school year with a large donation of
school supplies, from glittery glue and sidewalk
chalk to reams of multi-purpose paper.
School started Sept. 8 for ¿ rst- through
¿ fth-grade students at Seaside Heights. The
following day, the students got a special de-
livery.
Andrew Sarkady, a manager at the Cannon
Beach Mo’s, dropped off about $1,100 worth
of school supplies, purchased as part of the re-
gional restaurant chain’s “Motivation For Kids”
promotion.
For the month of July and August, Table 26 at
the restaurant got a special designation. Approxi-
mately 10 percent of the overall sales made at the
table in the two months — or $11,000 — went
toward school supplies for Seaside Heights. The
restaurant previously has done the promotion for
other organizations, charities and institutions that
serve children, in addition to the chain’s annual
Fish and Chips for Fire¿ ghters fundraiser.
Principal Sande Brown said she was incred-
ulous when she got a call from Sarkady ask-
ing how $1,100 could best be used to meet the
school’s needs. The school got smaller donations
of supplies for the 2015-16 school year, but the
gift from Mo’s “is a big one,” she said.
“This ¿ lls the gap,” she said.
The day before making the delivery, Sarkady
went to Fred Meyer to purchase crayons, pen-
cils, chalk, glue, construction paper, kids’ paint,
tape dispensers, multi-purpose paper, colored
pencils and more.
“I’m not going to lie, I had fun doing it,” he said.
Brown said the supplies will be distributed
among the different teachers and classrooms de-
pending on what they need.
The gift from Mo’s ‘is a big one. This fi lls the gap.’
Principal Sande Brown
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
See Tax, Page 10A
Only one shark would do that: a great white
By Dani Palmer
EO Media Group
Harbor seals, a sea lion and
a striped dolphin all met the
same fate over a one-month
period off the North Coast.
The animals were found dead
from shark bites on Clatsop
County beaches, prompting
the Seaside Aquarium and
lifeguards to post and share
warnings with surfers.
While sharks are fairly
common in local waters, it
is unusual to see so many
adult marine mammals bit-
ten and on the shore in such
a short timespan, aquarium
administrative assistant Tif-
fany Boothe said.
Since Aug. 11 the North-
ern Oregon/Southern Wash-
ington Marine Mammal
Stranding Network has re-
sponded to two adult harbor
seals, one adult Steller sea
lion and a 7-foot striped dol-
phin, all believed to be close
to shore when attacked. None
of the animals survived.
“There’s only one shark
that would do that: a great
white,” said Jim Burke, di-
rector of animal husbandry
at the Oregon Coast Aquar-
ium in Newport.
While other sharks go
for smaller prey, particular-
ly young marine mammals,
great whites stalk larger sea
creatures. They are con-
sidered “ambush animals”
because of the way they
attack from beneath their
prey, he said.
The ¿ rst dead harbor
seal was found on Del Rey
Beach near Gearhart, along
with a seal pup in Klipsan
Beach, Wash., that appeared
to have “narrowly escaped
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
a shark attack,” on Aug. 11,
Boothe said.
On July 27, a seal pup at
Barview in Tillamook Coun-
ty also appeared to have es-
caped an attack, she added.
Both had super¿ cial À ipper
wounds.
The majority of the dead
animals were found on Gear-
hart beaches, including a har-
bor seal Sept. 4. The dolphin
was discovered near Fort Ste-
vens Sept. 6.
Two of the animals came
ashore still alive, which
caused researchers to believe
the mammals were attacked
within the surf zone. Boothe
said animals with shark bites
are found often, but usually in
a state of decay after À oating
for a long time.
Burke noted sharks are
seen or encountered through-
out the year, especially in late
summer or fall ¿ shing season.
The marine mammals follow
the ¿ sh, and the sharks follow
them.
“The marine mammal
populations are extremely
healthy right now,” he said.
“The predators will follow.”
See Shark, Page 10A