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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 2015)
6A • October 16, 2015 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com Residents question need for growth boundary expansion Commission considers land use, demographics By Katherine Lacaze Seaside Signal As Seaside planning com- missioners wade through consideration of an Urban Growth Boundary Expan- sion, some residents are wondering if the process is even necessary. Buz Ottem, a landowner, said Seaside does not have adequate infrastructure to support its current popula- tion in case of an earthquake or tsunami, so it does not make sense to accommo- date population growth. “We have the cart in front of the horse, and we shouldn’t even be discussing it,” he said. “We can’t provide for the safety of the residents we have here.” For a fourth month, the commission listened to pub- lic comments on amending Seaside’s comprehensive plan to incorporate about 200 acres of new land into the Urban Growth Boundary during a meeting Oct. 6. The Southeast Hills site under consideration is located to the south and east of Seaside city limits near South Wah- anna Road. A new potential site on the northern boundary of Seaside was also thrown into the mix. “What do we want the community to be?” asked Planning Commission Chair- man Ray Romine. “What do we want the community to have available for residents going into the future? The ODQG ZH FKRRVH ZLOO VLJQL¿- cantly impact the future of who we bring to the com- munity and who can afford to stay.” Considering the North Hills In response to requests to review alternatives to the Southeast Hills, the commis- sioners considered the North Hills site, east of North Wah- anna Road. Currently the site is accessed from Shore Ter- race and Forest Drive. Vernonia resident Mike Pihl owns about 40 acres on the North Hills site and pro- posed that area be incorpo- rated into the Urban Growth Boundary. The area is easily EO MEDIA GROUP SUBMITTED PHOTO/SEASIDE SIGNAL The Southeast Hills area considered for a potential Urban Growth Boundary expansion. accessible and outside the tsunami inundation zone, he said, two factors com- missioners are considering throughout the process. Commissioner Tom Horning, a geologist, said he is concerned about heav- ily developing the property, which has “large blocks of landslide material that have moved down the hill and are still probably moving, to some degree.” “It’s not a great place to put a neighborhood,” he said, adding he thinks it would be appropriate for an unap- proved campground or tsu- nami evacuation site instead. “Our planning process is not designed around landslides, but one cannot disregard that when making considerations between property A and property B.” He and other commis- sioners favor the Southeast Hills site as the better option, citing concerns that only a third of the 60-acre North Hills site would likely be suitable for development. The city is mandated to use land in the Urban Growth %RXQGDU\HI¿FLHQWO\VRLWLV not wise to include property that can’t be developed, City Planner Kevin Cupples said. If the city cherry-picked land from the North Hills site that reasonably could be developed, the next issue would be drawing a map ³WKDW¶V D UHDOLVWLF FRQ¿JXUD- tion” for the boundary, said consultant Don Hanson, of Otak Inc. ³7KHUH DUH EHQH¿WV WR a compact city limit and a compact UGB,” he said. Even if the city took some land from the North Hills site, a portion of the South- east Hills likely would be incorporated, since a lands- need analysis completed at the start of the project called for about 200 acres to satisfy Seaside’s estimated popula- tion growth during the next two decades. “I like to call it a ‘balance sheet,’ because that’s basically what it is,” Cupples said. What’s best for Seaside Residents, primarily land- owners in the Southeast Hills area, have attended the past several meetings to get more information and question why Seaside needs to expand its developable land at all. They remain unconvinced the city needs that much land in the boundary and worry the rural characteristics of the South Wahanna Road area are at stake. Southeast Hills residents Mary Kemhus and Maria Pincetich said they feel the growth indicators used for calculating how much land Seaside needs are not accu- rate. The city’s population is not growing as much as estimated several years ago using 2000 census data. Sea- side’s recent annual growth rate has been closer to 0.7 percent rather than 1 percent, as forecast. Taking into consideration the July New Yorker article “The Really Big One” and the recent Oregon Public Broadcasting series “Un- prepared,” Kemhus expects fewer people will want to live in Seaside. She said she prefers the city develop the land cur- rently in the Urban Growth Boundary. Pincetich referenced a letter from Mia Nelson, an urban specialist with 1000 Friends of Oregon, a non- SUR¿WRUJDQL]DWLRQGHGLFDWHG to building livable urban and rural communities through- out the state. The organi- zation received many calls and emails from concerned citizens regarding Seaside’s proposed expansion and Nel- son wrote a reply to several questions that arose. The organization said the city should calculate its land using updated demograph- ics, excluding “seasonal, rec- reational or occasional use” visitors. If those numbers were considered, “The com- bined effect of these choices would substantially reduce the need for a UBG expan- sion,” Nelson said. Holladay Drive project slow to materialize City in hurry to get project out to bid By Katherine Lacaze Seaside Signal The North Holladay Drive reconstruction proj- ect is stalling, but the city of Seaside still hopes to have the bulk of the work completed by June 2016. City Manager Mark Win- stanley told the Improve- ment Commission the city is “struggling to stay on schedule” with the project during a meeting Oct. 7, but intends to get work be- JXQLQ-DQXDU\DQG¿QLVKHG by June. The city originally ex- pected the project to go out for bid in late August or early September but de- sign plans have not been ¿QDOL]HG :KHQ WKDW KDS- pens, the project will be advertised and go out to bid immediately, Winstan- ley said. “It’s going to be tight,” he said. “From the time you guys approve the bid, we’re going to be rushing to get this done.” The city plans to re- construct North Holladay Drive from Second Avenue to 12th Avenue. Original- ly, the plan was to put the project to bid as two parts, to ensure the city at least could do Sixth Avenue to 12th Avenue and the whole street if money allowed. However, Winstanley said the city is tackling the entire project from the start, because it will be funded by Seaside Urban Renewal funds. The Sea- side Urban Renewal Dis- trict reached its sunset in June and the city has until June 30, 2016, to spend the remaining funds to com- plete district projects. Also, from a practical standpoint, Winstanley said, city staff knows the road must be open again by June 1. “With the summer sea- son starting, we know we can’t have North Holladay Drive closed,” he said. design and improvements. Water, sewer and storm are Seaside’s public utilities. Liljenwall attributed the delay to the scope of the project, which is being designed in-house, and the fact the city “only has so many resources.” Liljenwall hopes to get the project out to bid by the middle of November. From there, he said, it would be an approximately “six- week process from put- ting the bid on the street to getting it signed by every- one.” The project should The total reconstruc- begin by January 2016. The city alerted busi- tion will include replacing all water and sewer lines ness and homeowners on under the road, installing North Holladay Drive a new drainage system, about the project and will laying new pavement and continue communication sidewalks and placing new throughout the project to electrical lines and lighting keep them updated on the timeline, Winstanley said. for the road. Various blocks in the The project is still in the design phase, according work site will be inaccessi- to City Engineer Geoffrey ble at different times. Peo- ple who live and work in Liljenwall. 3DFL¿F 3RZHU /LJKW the area may have to park submitted its electrical plan elsewhere and walk to their in late September. The city destination at times. “There’s just no way still is waiting for Centu- ryLink and Charter Com- around that kind of thing,” PXQLFDWLRQV WR ¿QLVK WKHLU Winstanley said. The cost of the project is plans. Then Liljenwall will ¿QLVK WKH GHVLJQ DORQJ unknown until the city has with Cameron McCarthy, a put it out to bid, although landscape architecture and Winstanley has estimated planning company, which it will cost about $300,000 is crafting the streetscape per block. Seaside Lodgings buys, plans to merge two hotels Seaside Lodgings LLC, a grouping of independent hotels has acquired two new hotels in Seaside, Coast 5LYHU ,QQ 5LYHU 9LHZ Inn. Since the acquisition in August, both properties have been merged to create one hotel operating under the name of Coast River Inn. The 42-room hotel is lo- cated on Holladay Drive, a few blocks from the down- town area. The hotel is currently under renovations, includ- ing a major exterior facelift which is expected to be completed January 2016. The interior renovation was soon completed after tak- ing ownership. Coast River Inn’s mission is to offer a spacious modern boutique hotel catering to guests in the mid-scale level. Seaside Lodgings is a hospitality company primarily engaged in the management and ownership of upscale, mid- scale and economy hotels. Established in 2009, the company currently owns and manages four proper- ties all located in Seaside. The acquisition of Coast River Inn marks the fourth independent hotel under Seaside Lodgings portfolio. The North Hills area offers 60 acres of land, but much of it may be unsuitable for development. Action required by state Patrick Wingard agreed the city is not legally obligated to expand its Urban Growth Pincetich said she is con- Boundary, since its popula- cerned the city is using out- tion is less than 25,000. dated and questionable data However, he said state in determining Seaside’s fu- planning goals state mu- ture growth. nicipalities should establish “It would be best to have and change urban growth FRQ¿GHQFH LQ WKH QXPEHUV boundaries based on long- before we move forward, or range planning, population as we move forward,” she forecasts and future housing said. “The math does not sup- needs. port it to me. We have other While Seaside may not be options.” legally required to expand the Pincetich said the city boundary, Wingard advised should wait at least until June the city to pursue their expan- 2017 when Portland State sion. University’s Population Re- Failing to maintain a 20- search Center is scheduled to year land supply, important issue a new population fore- for avoiding population in- cast for Seaside. WHQVL¿FDWLRQ ZLWKLQ FLW\ OLP- North Coast Regional its and providing workforce Representative for the Oregon housing, “does not seem like Department of Land Con- an appropriate civic direc- servation and Development tion,” he said. BUSINESS DIRECTORY F LOORING 2/3 of Showroom ALWAYS ON SALE! Window Treatments, Fabric, Wallpaper, Flooring and Interior Design 2311 N. 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