July 22, 2016 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 7A
Short-term rental owners
get reprieve in Gearhart
Reading of ordinance will
wait until August
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
Two consecutive days of
four-hour meetings, public
comment and deliberation
still left Gearhart without a
short-term rental ordinance.
But by 10 p.m. Wednesday,
July 6, it was getting closer.
Councilors declined to
conduct a ¿rst reading of the
ordinance, designed to regu-
late properties rented for less
than 30 days. But a revised
draft of Gearhart’s zone code
amendments for short-term
rental properties from city
councilors will be presented
at Gearhart’s August council
meeting.
Of¿cials worked their
way through the amend-
ments, picking up where
they left off Tuesday night in
a public hearing at the ¿re-
house. Most of the conditions
presented by the Planning
Commission were left intact,
with signi¿cant changes to
the number of permits of-
fered to property owners, an
extension to bring properties
to code and a discounted fee
for property owners who pro-
vide go-bags to their guests.
Councilors raised the pro-
posed permit fee from $500
to $600 per short-term rental
R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Paulina Cockrum and Sue Lorain deliberate at the Gearhart
City Council meeting.
property application, with a
refund of $100 for those who
provide tsunami prepared-
ness supplies to their guests.
The permit fee and lodg-
ing taxes are designed to
cover the city’s costs, City
Administrator Chad Sweet
said. He estimated city in-
come from short-term rent-
als could reach $200,000,
with more than $140,000
from lodging taxes, paid
quarterly, and $50,000 from
rental fees.
Other conditions for per-
mit applicants include pro-
viding neighbor notice and a
24-hour representative able
to physically respond to the
vacation rental site within
30 minutes. Property own-
ers would be required to dis-
play a notice of occupancy,
parking and good neighbor
policies in every rental, and
occupancy limited to two
people per bedroom. A pro-
vision requiring a maximum
occupancy of more than 10
people was deleted if a prop-
erty otherwise meets the or-
dinance requirements.
Tsunami ready
Councilors
expressed
concern for visitors unpre-
pared for risks in the tsunami
zone. “From a preparedness
standpoint, I feel all these
items should be mandato-
ry,” Councilor Dan Jesse
said. “We owe it to people
coming to our community to
have someone looking after
them.”
A Planning Commission
recommendation of go-bags
and a NOAA weather ra-
dio was modi¿ed to offer a
discount on the application
for homeowners providing
emergency supplies.
Councilors also considered
what conditions would war-
rant a loss of permit, forming
a consensus that three cita-
tions to separate rental parties
would be required to trigger
revocation, rather than mul-
tiple citations from a single
incident.
A “bad group” should not
be enough to revoke an own-
er’s permit, Councilor Sue Lo-
rain said.
“I don’t think it’s fair to
kick somebody out because of
a bad apple,” Jesse added.
The city will also provide
language for a variance pro-
cess, one which could impact
several Gearhart properties,
including the Lodge at Little
Beach and Breakaway Lodge,
both of which received ap-
proval from the city in 1994
to operate under hotel rules.
“Both submitted evidence
they’ve long been used as
lodges,” Watts said.
They have each paid the 7
percent lodging tax since that
time, Sweet said, and could
be treated as nonconforming
properties.
Planner Carole Connell ad-
vised putting a “placeholder”
to the ordinance to consider
variance procedure.
“The key is to have criteria
that can be applied across the
board,” Watts said.
With the close of delibera-
tions, councilors unanimously
approved a motion to direct
staff to prepare a ¿nal docu-
ment in ordinance form for its
August meeting.
Peace Builders partners with Rotary to
create a network of bully-free zones
Seaside Rotarians share
‘four-way test’
By Eve Marx
For Seaside Signal
Rotarians Alan Evans and
Veronica Russell are work-
ing to extend the reach of the
Seaside School District’s bul-
lying prevention program by
taking it to the streets.
Seaside Rotary hands
out dictionaries to every
fourth-grader inscribed with
their names, Russell said. “We
help host the all-night grad
party for seniors each year, we
offer scholarships and we have
the Rotary youth exchange.”
Rotary shares the organi-
zation’s “four-way test” with
¿fth-graders, guiding ethical
principles of service and good-
will, she added.
The school district’s own
bullying prevention pro-
gram is regularly discussed at
monthly assemblies, remind-
ing students what to say and
do should they witness some-
one being bullied, or if they are
victims of bullying.
The school’s partnership
with Rotary began at a Peace
Builders brainstorming ses-
sion earlier in the school year.
Gaps in the anti-bullying pro-
gram became apparent.
“The kids at school had the
oversight of staff to help pre-
vent bullying, but what about
those kids walking to and
from school, riding a bike to
an event, or to a friend’s house
on a weekend?” Russell said.
“There was nothing in place to
provide protection away from
school, so we decided to look
to our business community.”
This resulted in the creation
of bully-free zones around
town where shop owners
could be on the lookout and
where bullying would not tol-
erated. Russell said dozens of
businesses expressed interest
in helping out, so the Peace
Builders committee created a
simple set of rules and a win-
dow sticker. They reached out
to Seaside Police Chief Dave
Ham for feedback.
“School-age kids are our
most vulnerable citizens,”
Russell said. “We hope these
safe zones offer a haven for
kids for those in-between
times when they’re not at
school or at home.”
Nearly two dozen Seaside
businesses including Beach
EO MEDIA GROUP/FILE PHOTO
Neacoxie Creek Barn in Gearhart.
Neacoxie barn
faces foreclosure
Gearhart event center
scheduled to be auctioned
cil meeting. “I am in conversa-
tion with prospective investors
and co-partners who share my
goal of preserving this unique
historic resource for all of
By R.J. Marx
Gearhart to use and enjoy for
Seaside Signal
many years to come.”
On Thursday, she said the
GEARHART — Martha
Strickland, a co-owner of loan is in modi¿cation consid-
Neacoxie Barn in Gearhart, is eration by the lender, which
facing foreclosure at the for- could end the sale proceeding.
mer livery stable on the banks “Foreclosures are more com-
of Neacoxie Creek.
mon than people know,” she
“In October, the bank puts said. “They often get to this
it up for auction, or it fore- level and they get resolved.
closes,” Gearhart City Ad- I’m extremely optimistic.”
ministrator Chad Sweet said.
Smith said she became an
While Gearhart’s Shannon “underwater property owner”
Smith is listed on the property in 2007, within months of her
deed, she is not listed as a par- purchase of the barn, when she
ty to the foreclosure proceed- was hard-hit by the economic
ing, which appeared as a legal downturn. “I have held on de-
notice in The Daily Astorian. spite the land use and zoning
The notice of default comes approaches taken by the city’s
after Strickland’s failure to re- of¿cials in their interpretation
pay $297,741 and other
of the allowed use of
advances and expenses.
one’s property.”
The property is sched-
A court order has
uled to be sold at auc-
suspended use of the
tion at Clatsop County
barn until Smith meets
Courthouse on Oct. 7.
conditions of city ap-
The Neacoxie Creek
proval. In May, Smith
Barn, at 774 3aci¿c
said she plans to bring
Way in Gearhart, has Shannon the building up to code.
been used for wed-
Smith
If Smith violates the
dings, family reunions
court order, she would
and other com-
receive a $500
mercial events.
¿ne for a zone
‘My property has
Without a condi-
code violation.
tional use permit
been listed recently This would be in
and a building in legal notices, due addition to more
occupancy per-
than $30,000 in
in part, to personal administrative
mit, according
to Gearhart of- impacts upon me and ¿nes racked up
¿cials, the own-
by Smith, an
ers have put the … most of all through amount reduced
health and safe-
to $15,000 by
political ill-will.’
ty of guests and
the
Gearhart
Shannon Smith
residents at risk.
City Council in
“My property
December.
has been listed recently in le-
Clatsop County Circuit
gal notices, due in part, to per- Court Judge Philip Nelson
sonal impacts upon me and … extended an order keeping the
most of all through political former livery stable off-limits
ill-will,” Shannon Smith said for parties and special events,
at a July Gearhart City Coun- at least until October.
You can help weed the
Skipanon River by canoe
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Rotary Peace Builders co-chairs Veronica Russell and Alan Evans with Chief Dave Ham;
front row, students from Seaside School District: Kayla Sandoval, Samantha Evans.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
about the Bully-Free
zones, contact Russell
at veronicarussell@
gmail.com or Evans
at a.evans@helping-
handsreentry.org.
Books, Oceanside Vacation
Rentals, the Seaside Cham-
ber, the Sunset Pool and Park,
Seaside Coffee House and Ace
Hardware, expressed interest
in being Bully-Free zones.
“Our goal is to create a
network of safe zones, but
also to make all of Seaside a
bully-free community,” Evans
said.
Russell and Evans share
something in common giving
them the inside track on what
it’s like to be bullied.
“We were both redheaded,
freckle-faced kids growing up
in the 1970s when there were
no bullying prevention pro-
grams in place,” Russell said.
“We were both bullied and
know how that feels.”
Through their af¿liation
with Rotary, they knew they
could do more. “We wanted
to partner with the schools and
¿nd more concrete ways to
work proactively on the prob-
lem,” Russell said. She said
the school district stepped up
their game, and at the begin-
ning of the school year, Broad-
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Bully-free zone at Seaside Coffee Shop.
way Middle School began of-
fering specialized training to
staff, faculty, and community
members through the Olweus
Bullying Prevention Program.
They worked most closely
with John McAndrews, prin-
cipal at Broadway Middle
School, where bullying was
most prevalent and “where we
could make the biggest im-
pact,” Russell said. “Alan and
I attended school assemblies
at Broadway Middle School
and spoke at a recent assembly
about what we were doing as
Peace Builders from Seaside
Rotary.”
Local businesses who wish
to participate in the program
can sign up through a form.
“We’re currently signing up
businesses and organizations
and should soon have a list and
a map of bully-free locations,”
Russell said. “Typically they
will be located in places where
children go and the routes they
take to and from school.”
She said the zones are
meant to serve as places of
temporary reprieve, where
children can feel safe from
being bullied. Through the
Seaside Police Department’s
tracking system, the depart-
ment will be able to get a sense
of who is being bullied, where
it happens and who is doing
the bullying.
The wild, forested upper
Skipanon River is lush with
towering Sitka spruce, native
sedges and invasive plants
such as purple loosestrife,
yellow Àag iris, and ivy. North
Coast Land Conservancy
owns three properties totaling
106 acres along the Skipanon
near Warrenton High School.
The properties are impossi-
ble to access on foot, so staff
and volunteers plan to ride the
tide and weed the waterway
by boat on Wednesday, July
27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Stewardship day is a partner-
ship with Skipanon Watershed
Council.
The conservancy will pro-
vide canoes on a space-avail-
able basis. Wear clothing
appropriate for boating and
the weather, and bring lunch,
drinking water, and gloves.
There are no toilets or potable
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Invasive yellow flag iris seed
pods.
water on site. The conservan-
cy will provide any necessary
tools. Volunteers may also
participate with their own ca-
noe or kayak. In either case,
contact Stewardship Director
Melissa Reich in advance at
melissar@nclctrust.org or call
503-738-9126 for RSVP and
location, and to reserve a spot
in a canoe if needed.
Silent auction to bene¿t
Alzheimer’s research
Avamere at Seaside will
hold its second annual silent
auction for Alzheimer’s from
4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, July 23.
This year’s entertainment will
feature jazz musician Shir-
ley Yates and local wines
and cheese will be provided
in abundance for wine tast-
ing. This event is open to the
community. Area businesses
and private individuals have
generously donated items for
the auction, which include
dining certi¿cates, gift cards,
rounds of golf, kitchen cab-
inets, lawn care and more.
Avamere at Seaside has been
a part of the Seaside com-
munity since 2001 and serve
both the assisted living and
memory care needs along the
coast. Because of Avamere’s
commitment to the care and
development of residents with
Alzheimer’s. Avamere at Sea-
side is located at 2500 S. Roo-
sevelt Drive. For information,
call 503-738-0900, or visit
www.avamereatseaside.com.