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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 2017)
8A • January 6, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com LOOKING BACK ON A change at the top Seaside Signal A movie, “ S e a - side,” was filmed here in 2016, and during the SUBMITTED PHOTO year, the city stayed in the headlines. The tragic Matt Shingledecker and shoot death of Lt. Jason Ariana DeBose at Funland in Goodding dominated the movie, “Seaside.” the news, as the city reeled and sought answers. At the end of the year, the death of Don Larson was a tragic bookend. The longtime mayor died at 80. He was succeeded by Jay Barber, chosen this month to fill the remaining two-year portion of the mayor’s term. Just as Seaside School District voters addressed tsu- nami preparedness, so did city voters in the November election as they chose Tom Horning for City Council. JOSHUA BESSEX/EO MEDIA GROUP Community members hold up candes during a vigil to remember and honor fallen officer Jason Goodding. Goodding shot In a week in Feb- ruary that saw six po- lice officers shot across the nation, the death of 13-year police veteran Jason Goodding had a tragic resonance in Seaside. Goodding was shot trying to apprehend Phillip Max Ferry on a warrant arrest. Fer- ry was shot and killed by Goodding’s fellow officer, David David- Jason Goodding son. Goodding’s death brought an outpouring of grief and support for Goodding’s wife, Amy, and two daughters. At his funeral at the Seaside Civic and Con- vention Center, attended by law enforcement officers from throughout the country, Gov. Kate Brown present- ed Amy Goodding with the Medal of Ultimate Sacrifice. Jason Goodding was remembered with love, humor and affection in remarks by Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Ber- gin, Seaside Police Chief Dave Ham and state Sen. Betsy Johnson, among others. “Jason brought out the best of others, whether it is per- sonally or professionally, whoever he was working with, whether he is supervising or mentoring,” Ham said. In subsequent months, Goodding was honored by his high school with the renaming of their athletic field. Lo- cal dispatchers received honors for their work the night of the tragedy and in its aftermath. The man who supplied the weapon to Ferry, Jamie Jones, was sentenced to five years for his involvement. Seaside’s longtime Mayor Don Larson died in Decem- ber at his home in Seaside after a long bout with cancer. He was 80 years old. His death came only weeks after he had announced his retirement from the job he had held since 2003. Larson served as Sea- side’s mayor from 2002 to November, when he stepped down from his post. Prior to becom- ing mayor, he served on the city’s Planning Commission before be- ing elected to the City R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL Council in 2002. A member of Clatsop Seaside councilors applaud County’s Public Safety Don Larson for his service Board, Larson was rec- after he announced his re- ognized as Mayor of the tirement in November. Year by the League of Oregon Cities in 2009. Among his accomplishments as mayor, Larson pointed to a skate park, a new library and the North Holladay Drive renovation, the boat ramp at Broad- way Park and upgrades to city buildings. During his time as mayor, the city built four bridges to tsuna- mi standards and the Recycling Center on Avenue S. Barber, a retired college president, foundation director and ordained minister, served as a councilor and two- term mayor in Red Bluff, California, a position which, he said, gave him experience dealing with the public. He and his wife Jan have lived full time in Seaside since 2006. Barber was selected in 2009 to fill the unexpired coun- cil term of the late Gary Diebolt. Barber won election for Ward 1 in 2010 and again in 2014. Campus bond passes Seaside School District voters said a resounding “yes” to a $99.7 million bond to move three schools out of the tsunami inundation zone. In its second go-around before voters, the scaled-down package moves students from en- dangered Gearhart Elementary, Seaside High School and Broadway Middle Schools to a location in the Southeast Hills adjacent to Seaside Heights Elementary School. A $128.8 million plan failed in 2013 but this year the bond passed convincingly. FILE PHOTO Rendering of the new Seaside High School. Hiring a project manager will be the Seaside School District’s next step. The new site will be incorporated into the city as plans for the campus are developed. A four-to-five-year build- ing period is anticipated. In a 65 percent to 35 percent vote, residents endorsed the plan to replace deteriorating schools at an 80-acre location in the city’s East Hills adja- cent to Seaside Heights Elementary School. The elector- ate supported the bond 4,010 to 2,139, according to the county’s unofficial final tally. A home with an assessed value of $200,000 would see a tax hike of about $270 and a $400,000 home about $540. Advocates of the proposal, including Vote Yes For Our Local Schools, presented a sustained campaign to pro- mote the bond, which, they said, was necessary not only for the safety of the students but because of the condition of the schools. Gearhart Elementary School, Broadway Middle School and Seaside High School were built with an expected life span of 45 to 50 years. Each has been used beyond that span. Dougherty described the schools as unsafe, deteriorating and “very inefficient.” With a land gift of 80 acres from Weyerhaeuser Co. in the East Hills, along with favorable interest rates and a likelihood of limited matching funds from the state, pro- ponents said “this was the best time” to pass the bond. North Holladay Drive re-opens It didn’t quite meet the projected Memorial Day fin- ish, but city officials were happy to have gotten this proj- ect completed by winter after delays from utilities at the finish. The $3.4 million North Holladay Drive project be- gan in mid-January, and impacted homeowners, businesses, bus routes, pedestrians, vehicles and utilities. Workmen replaced existing sewer, water and force mains before recon- necting water and sew- er services. Plans called for the installation of R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL underground vaults and conduits for conversion Seaside Public Works of the existing overhead Director Dale McDowell, utilities — including Tapani Inc.’s Tim Moore and electrical, telephone and Seaside Mayor Don Larson cable — to underground at the ribbon-cutting for utilities. Officials feared North Holladay Drive’s work on removing poles reopening. would stretch into winter months, but pleas to the cable company brought action, enabling the project to move ahead. The cable was the last utility to be removed before poles are taken out be- fore landscaping and sidewalks could be completed. Horning election The election of Tom Horning demonstrated a new priority on behalf of the city for tsunami preparedness and safety measures. Horning upset incumbent Don Johnson in the race for Seaside City Council’s Ward 3. His platform was based on a drive for tsunami preparedness. During his campaign, Horning said the city was not doing enough to de- velop funds to fix city bridges and address disaster fixes. Horn- ing said the city isn’t doing enough to reach out for those funds, and the money the city does have is being spent on costly non-disaster R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL fixes. Horning is a geol- Tom Horning at the Avenue ogist and ran as a sin- G Bridge in Seaside. Horning gle-issue candidate focused on tsunami pre- stressing tsunami safe- paredness in his successful ty. Horning said he bid for City Council. hopes to improve safe- ty for residents who would be trapped by failing bridges in a Cascadia Sub- duction Zone event. “It’s about saving lives,” he said. “If the big one hits, we can’t do much about our real estate. It will be lost.” Two other councilors, Randy Frank and Seth Mor- risey, were elected after running unopposed. Pearl plan gets green light, but neighbors object Pearl from Page 1A requested a height variance of 7 feet because of grade differences on various parts of the property. After sever- al months of testimony, the Planning Commission grant- ed both variances. The parking plan was ul- timately rejected by the City Council after an appeal by neighbors. ‘Back to drawing board’ The new plan eliminates the need for setback varianc- es by reducing parking and eliminating four second-floor rooms. The second floor — the main level— will now be dedicated to parking and some office space, Simmons said. “We eliminated the ocean- front second floor,” Simmons said after the meeting. “It takes away our oceanfront, which is costly, but overall will give us enough rooms to make it feasible.” The building will have sloped roofs and dormer win- dows, with an 80-foot tower, an architectural feature al- ready allowed as an exception to the building height under city ordinance. Neighboring buildings are close to or exceed the request- ed building height, according to Vonada. Because of an 8-foot grade difference between the east and west sides of the building, an additional variance was needed to allow the increase to 60 feet for the roof height at the west building wing, an addition of 15 feet over the 45 feet allowed by current zon- ing. According to Vonada’s project narrative, the building will “fill the gap” that current- ly exists between the World- mark and adjacent hotels and condominiums to the south. The Inn at the Prom, de- scribed as ‘generally in poor condition and in need of re- placement,” will be demol- ished. Vonada described the neighboring Beach Drive lot as an “eyesore for tourists who can readily view it from the Prom walkway and guest rooms in the taller neighbor- ing building. It is the goal of this development to combine both parcels and develop a hotel that fits the context of its location in an aesthetically pleasing manner.” Without a height variance, the proposed development would have been reduced by two stories — approximately 20 units — and “render the project infeasible.” “As you can see our goal was to go back to the drawing board, figure out a way to do this with some of our neigh- bors,” Simmons said. Neighbors object Neighbors Susan and Dan Calef, whose home at 25 Av- enue A is adjacent to the pro- posed structure, said they fear the new hotel will block their views and sunlight. “We have some concerns about the size of the structure coming up around us,” Dan Calef said. “We are concerned that our house will be com- pletely dwarfed by this.” Calef said he feared the home would be “completely in the shade.” “Any sun we get really helps the house dry out a lot,” he added. Susan Calef said she was distressed by extra traffic and a loss of privacy from the new hotel. The family’s concerns were not enough to sway planning commissioners. “I, as all of the voting members of this body when this came to us, last time voted in favor of it,” Commissioner Richard Ridout said. “Now it is much more palatable to most people having objec- tions and I would certainly vote for it. I have no problem with the height. It looks right, it fits right.” Commissioners Bill Car- penter, Chris Hoth, Ray Ro- mine and Steve Wright added their votes in unanimously granting the height variance. “We have a lot of work in front of us,” Simmons said af- ter the meeting. R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL Susan Calef and Dan Calef fear a loss of light and privacy at their Avenue A home.
