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.