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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 2016)
6A • October 14, 2016 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com Local candidates in the spotlight council has personally talked to the people I talked to,” he said. “I don’t think these peo- ple should be painted with the scarlet letter. Candidates from Page 1A presentation illustrating the risk to the city. “One of the things I’ve found most compelling about this election is tsunami pre- paredness,” Horning said. “New information is coming now that compels us to doing evacuation infrastructure at a higher priority and a higher speed level than we have.” Horning said the next tsu- nami is due every 340 years — and the last one occurred 316 years ago, in 1700. Sea- side is “all going to be lood- ed” in the event of a tsunami, Horning said. “The most im- portant thing to do is to take care of our evacuation infra- structure.” “If we have to choose pri- orities for projects in Seaside, building bridges is irst and foremost in my mind,” he said. “All of our bridges need to be earthquake-proof.” Horning estimated the cost of replacement at $5 million for each of seven at- risk bridges. Upgrades could be inanced by ive-year city bonds, he said. “The irst thing I would do is call a communi- ty gathering and come up with a design scenario,” he said. Johnson said voters should not only consider tsunamis, but remember storms that come “even more frequently.” “Prepare for the big one, but be ready for the other ones coming through,” John- son, who serves as council president, said. “I think we’re doing a great job of getting ready as best we can with the limited resources we have available to us.” Viewpoints R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL Gearhart Mayor Dianne Widdop, front, was among those in the audience at the American Association of University Wom- en Forum Monday night. Johnson pointed to his 16 years of experience and past leadership of the budget com- mittee, Planning Commission, and other civic and fraternal or- ganizations. “We are a city run by committees and decisions,” Johnson said. “I take their input very seriously and will keep doing that if I am elected.” Both candidates are life- long Seaside residents. Gearhart mayor Gearhart’s mayoral can- didates Matt Brown and Bob Shortman clashed on issues of short-term rentals, tsunami preparedness and housing. Brown, a PGA professional at Highlands Golf Club, said he supported Gearhart’s new short-term rental ordinance. “I talked to a lot of residents to get their feedback,” Brown said. “I was in favor of a true compromise, one where there were common-sense regula- tions like there are in other coastal communities. But I was also in favor of a com- promise to grandfather in short-term rental owners.” The city ordinance, which was put into law at the city’s last council session, could re- lieve the rental housing short- age in Gearhart, Brown said. “There just aren’t any long- term rentals,” he said. “If that number through attrition goes down over time, that will cre- ate a market for more long- term rentals.” Shortman, who is head of the Clatsop County GOP, said Gearhart was “founded on the daddy trains.” “I don’t agree with the law that was passed,” Shortman said of Gearhart’s short-term rental rules, which require registration and inspection of short-term rental properties. “Our town was founded on short-term rentals.” Shortman said many res- idents never received the opportunity to share their opinions, and those who did were not heard by councilors. “Nobody from the mayor or In Seaside, councilors Randy Frank and Seth Mor- risey are running unopposed. In Gearhart, councilors Sue Lorain and Dan Jesse are also unchallenged. They shared their views on a wide variety of topics at Monday’s AAUW forum. On public service: Randy Frank: “I’m just inishing up my fourth year on the council, and what I ap- preciate about it is the connec- tion we get with everybody in town.” On housing: Seth Morrisey: “We need to address affordable housing. You can lower the burden on developers to build multi- family housing. The fees are extraordinarily high to build these types of housing. That would be the irst approach.” On the potential closing of Gearhart Elementary School: Sue Lorain: “I think resi- dents will thrilled to (have) a 21st-century school instead of a 19th-century school with a 19th-century boiler with rats running underneath the gym.” On short-term rentals: Dan Jesse: I supported the ordinance we came up with in Gearhart. It’s in our best in- terest to try to work with the concept of having them in our community, but try to keep them in check so that those who live there full time can live cohesively with the peo- ple who are there short term.” CITY OF GEARHART VS. PROPERTY OWNERS Short-term rentals, long-term challenges Whether at the ballot box or in court, new rules face opposition By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal The ink on Gearhart’s short-term rental rules is barely dry and already there are challenges in the works. “We have engaged at- torneys,” David Townsend, a Gearhart property owner, said. “We are preserving all of our options, looking at all of them.” Short-term rental owners could ile an appeal with the state, or gather signatures to ile a ballot initiative to bring an “alternative ordinance” to voters. Townsend and oth- ers would seek to enable the transfer of permits in a sale — prohibited under the city ordinance — and see the cap lifted to accommodate more short-term rentals. “We’ve engaged attorneys on both the Land Use Board of Appeals and the initiative,” Townsend said. “We are seri- ously pursuing one if not both options. If we win at LUBA, we don’t need to do the initia- tive.” A notice of intent to appeal must be iled by Oct. 27, 21 days after the ordinance went into effect, according to City Administrator Chad Sweet. In a list of frequently asked questions delivered to proper- ty owners this week, the city laid out rules for homeowners with short-term rentals, in- cluding limits to street park- ing, septic capacity, weekly side-yard garbage pickup, landscaping and property manager contact information. Inspections will be conducted by the city’s building oficial. Applicants must provide proof that city lodging tax- es were paid. While prop- erty owners can apply for a variance from a requirement by applying to the Planning Commission, all conditions must be met within 180 days from Dec. 16, the last day of the 60-day short-term proper- ty owner application period. Should opponents take action, supporters will look to the city to respond with a counter initiative. A notice of intent to appeal must be iled by Oct. 27, 21 days after the ordinance went into effect, according to City Administrator Chad Sweet. Council backs bond Bond from Page 1A The $99.7 million plan scales back from the $128.8 million 2013 proposal, elim- inating an auditorium, cov- ered bleachers, long-term emergency shelters and a var- sity playing ield. “Because of those reductions and be- cause of historically low in- terest rate, the total cost of the bond is going from $2.16 per thousand to $1.35 per thou- sand,” Dougherty said. “That is a 37.5 per cent decrease in the total amount of the bond.” The presentation stressed not only safety for students in schools likely to be looded in the event of a tsunami or quake, but the condition of those schools, Gearhart Ele- mentary, Broadway Middle and Seaside High schools. From 1948 to 1958, the district built Gearhart Ele- mentary School and Broad- way Middle School Seaside High School. Those buildings were de- signed to last 45 to 50 years; their average age is 65 years. “They’ve exceeded their use- ful lives and they’re structur- ally deteriorating,” Dough- erty said, presenting photos of structural cracking, crum- bling sidewalls, encapsulated asbestos, inaccessible piping and leaks from patched lat roofs. DINING on the NORTH COAST Great Restaurants in: GEARHART SEASIDE CANNON BEACH BUSINESS DIRECTORY Excellence in family dining found from a family that has been serving the North Coast for the past 52 years F LOORING Laurelwood Compost • Mulch • Planting MacMix Soil Amendments Great Great Great Homemade Breakfast, lunch and pasta, Clam dinner steaks & Chowder, but that’s not all... menu,too! seafood! Salads! YARD DEBRIS DROP-OFF (no Scotch Broom) 503-717-1454 Seaside • 323 Broadway • 738-7234 (Open 7 Days) Cannon Beach • 223 S. Hemlock 436-2851 (7am-3pm Daily) Astoria • 146 W. Bond • 325-3144 34154 HIGHWAY 26 SEASIDE, OR Laurelwood Farm WANNA KNOW WHERE THE LOCALS GO? L ANDSCAPING ANNUAL ENROLLMENT MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLANS th th October 15 thru December 7 Plans change every year Come Review your policy and other policies & options available to you with your Local Medicare Insurance Agent! Call Steve Putman today at 503.440.1076 to schedule your appointment! If the bond passes, the school district would then approach the City Council for an urban growth bound- ary expansion, a process joined by the county and the state. “We cannot afford the work before a bond is passed,” he said. “It’s a pro- cess we’ve started, but with- out the vote we cannot begin the process.” If the bond succeeds with voters, the expansion enabling roads and services could be completed within a year. Schools are expected to be completed at the new lo- cation within four years. Phillips offered a motion that the City Council support the bond issue, which was approved unanimously. “It’s wonderful to have them endorse this,” Dough- erty said after the council’s vote. “It was such a new thought with Cascadia issues in 2013, that’s all people heard,” he added. “They didn’t hear the other components of the con- ditions of the schools. Now everybody’s aware of Casca- dia, I don’t have to have that as a main focus. That’s why 90 percent of my focus is on the condition of the schools. I think it’s a shock to a lot of people that the concrete is lit- erally disintegrating.” B OB M C E WAN C ONSTRUCTION , INC . E XCAVATION • U NDERGROUND U TIITIES R OAD W ORK • F ILL M ATERIAL S ITE P REPARATION • R OCK OWNED AND OPERATED BY M IKE AND C ELINE M C E WAN 503-738-3569 34154 Hwy 26, Seaside, OR P.O. Box 2845, Gearhart, OR S ERVING THE P ACIFIC N ORTHWEST S INCE 1956 • CC48302 C ONSTRUCTION Randall Lee’s 0% FINANCING AVAILABLE Window Treatments, Fabric, Designer Wallpaper, Visit Our Counter Tops, All Flooring and Miele Vacuums Outlet! 2311 N. Roosevelt Dr., Seaside, OR 97138 • 503-738-5729 rlfl ooring @ yahoo.com • www.RandallLeesFlooring.com • Breakfast • Lunch • Dinner • Lighter appetite menu • Junior Something for Everyone menu Fish ‘n Chips • Burgers • Seafood & Steak Friday & Saturday - Prime Rib Lounge Open Daily 9-Midnight All Oregon Lottery products available BEST BREAKFAST IN TOWN! 1104 S Holladay • 503-738-9701 • Open Daily at 8am MAZATLAN M E X I C A N R E S TA U R A N T Phone 503-738-9678 1445 S. Roosevelt Drive • Seaside NATIONALLY FAMOUS CLAM CHOWDER • FRESH OREGON SEAFOOD Randall Lee’s Flooring Outlet • 3579 Hwy 101 Gearhart • 503-738-6756 Warehouse pricing • Open to the Public • Hundreds of instock rolls & remnants • In House Binding BUSINESS DIRECTORY R E STAU R A N T S CANNON BEACH 503-436-1111 Ocean Front at Tolovana Park www.moschowder.com