6A • February 17, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com
Landowners fume over fire fee
Hundreds face new
assessments
By Jack Heffernan
EO Media Group
Landowners in Clatsop
County are challenging a fee
assessed by the state for fire
protection, citing improper
classification and a lack of ad-
vance notice.
In early January, roughly
2,300 landowners in the As-
toria Forest Protection District
were notified that their proper-
ties, designated as forestlands
in July, would be assessed an
annual fee for fire protection
as part of their property tax-
es. But some argue either that
their properties should not
qualify as forestland or they
had not received proper no-
tice.
The Oregon Department
of Forestry provides fire pro-
tection to forest and grazing
lands through money from
both the state general fund and
fees it collects from forestland
property owners.
Overall, roughly 4,750 lots
were added as forestlands,
while 1,200 lots — including
600 owners — were removed
from the list.
The current annual tax rate
in the Astoria district is $1.21
per acre, and owners of forest-
lands are charged a minimum
assessment of $18.75 each
year. A $47.50 surcharge can
be added if property owners
build additional structures on
their land.
Wildfire efforts
The money collected from
these fees fund wildfire efforts
in the state. Rates could vary
each year based on the number
of wildfires the Department of
Forestry responds to in a given
year and the number of people
paying into the system, Astoria
District Forester Dan Goody
said. The department does not
receive any additional revenue
from the assessments.
While many of these prop-
erty owners also pay taxes to
local fire districts that respond
to structural fires, the Depart-
ment of Forestry’s assessment
is based on lands it would pro-
tect during a wildfire, Goody
said. Therefore, many prop-
erty owners who don’t have
many trees or vegetation on
their land may also be subject-
ed to these taxes.
But some property owners
have been confused about the
distinction. Tim Mancill, who
has owned a 2.36 acre lot on
North Wahanna Road in Sea-
side for almost 13 years that
also includes his home, was
DANNY MILLER/EO MEDIA GROUP
Tim Mancill says he was notified in January that he will have to pay an extra fee to the state
on his Seaside property for fire protection. Mancill has lived on his Seaside property for 13
years.
assessed $66.25 for his prop-
erty. Much of his property
includes wetlands, which are
submerged underwater for
much of the year, along with
some willow trees.
“I think they’re out for a
money grab,” Mancill said.
“Don’t they have better things
to do with their time?”
Goody said people would
be surprised about the kinds
of land that allow wildfires to
spread quickly. In his experi-
ence, even lands such as cran-
berry bogs have caught fire, he
said.
Astoria district
In October 2013, a fire as-
sessment committee began its
review of the Astoria district.
The six-member committee
included appointments made
by the Department of Forestry,
the Oregon State Fire Marshal,
the Oregon State University
Extension Service and three
by the Clatsop County Board
of Commissioners. Following
a review, the committee made
recommendations about what
areas could be reclassified as
forestlands.
“I don’t mean any disre-
spect to any of the folks liv-
ing on the lands, but there is
over 100 years of experience
studying fire risks on the com-
mittee,” Goody said.
Two public meetings and
one hearing in May in Astoria
and Seaside produced no oral
or written public comments,
Goody said. The final classi-
fication was recorded by the
county in July.
Surprise
The problem: some prop-
erty owners whose lands were
reclassified were completely
unaware that this process took
place.
“I was surprised and was
like, ‘What the heck is this?’”
Mancill said about the mo-
ment he received the notice in
January.
Mancill was one of about
70 landowners who attended
a town hall meeting in Sea-
side on Saturday, Feb. 4, to
discuss the issue. The town
hall, organized by state Sen.
Betsy Johnson and state Rep.
Deborah Boone, featured lo-
cal officials and members of
the Department of Forestry,
as well as concerned land-
owners. At times, the town
hall became disorganized
with attendees shouting out
of turn, multiple people who
were there said.
“There were so many
questions,” said Coral Rose
Shipley, a Seaside property
owner. “It was very hard for
the people presenting to make
their presentations. They had
one outlook and the audience
had another outlook.”
Goody said he was sur-
prised to hear that many prop-
erty owners were not aware
of the classifications in 2016.
The state had sent postcards
10 months prior to the letter
sent in early January, so res-
idents may have disregarded
them as junk mail, he said.
“They get a lot of mail, a
lot of junk mail, and a lot of
that gets overlooked,” Goody
said. “It definitely was not the
intent to blindside people.”
Appeal process
The classification process
is now final, but the Depart-
ment of Forestry received 29
appeals of the assessment pri-
or to Monday’s deadline. The
appeal process will likely last
until sometime this spring,
Goody said. Once the process
is completed, the reclassified
land will be added to the For-
est Patrol Assessment Roll in
July.
While the state sent out
postcards, held public meet-
ings and sent notices to news-
papers, it typically sees little
involvement from the pub-
lic until late in the process,
Goody said.
“We typically don’t get
much public involvement un-
til it starts hitting the pocket-
books,” he said. “Our honest
intent is to make forestland
assessment honest and equita-
ble to all.”
County Manager Cameron
Moore said at the Feb. 8 Clat-
sop County Board of Commis-
sioner’s meeting that the coun-
ty was not notified in advance
about the letter sent out in
January. He also said ODF of-
ficials apologized to the coun-
ty for the confusion during a
meeting Friday, Feb. 7.
Sen. Johnson said she had
preliminary discussions with
top officials at ODF earlier
this week about making ad-
justments to the assessments
in Clatsop County. Adjust-
ments would be based on the
apparent failure of communi-
cation, she said.
“The number of people
who attended the town hall
meeting gave rise to the fact
that there was some kind of
failure to communicate,”
Johnson said. “If we had this
kind of disconnect in com-
munication, something is
wrong.”
Hotel aims to draw golfers to Gearhart
McMenamins Gearhart
Hotel to expand
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
An eyesore “held together
by paint” is coming down af-
ter the Planning Commission
approved a new 16-room hotel
with a golf teaching facility
adjacent to the Gearhart Golf
Course and McMenamins
Gearhart Hotel.
Portland architect George
Signori displayed plans for al-
tering and expanding the exist-
ing cart barn structure to a new
building with guest rooms, golf
training room and cart storage.
Since the original cart barn
was built partially over the
front property line, commission
approval for a nonconforming
structure was necessary
The barn “is held together
by paint,” General Manager
and Director of Golf Jason
Bangild said at the Feb. 9 meet-
ing. “Its condition is deplor-
able. When you come down
from Astoria, it’s the first thing
you see and the last thing you
see.”
The proposed three-story
structure increases the size of
the cart barn by 85 percent, for
a total area of more than 13,000
square feet. Much of the cart
barn, including the existing
roof, beams and a portion of
the west wall, will be demol-
ished.
Design of the new build-
ing was based on the existing
English manor house style of
R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
The golf cart building next to McMenamins Gearhart Hotel
will see a modification and expansion after Planning Com-
mission approval.
the neighboring McMenamins
Gearhart Hotel, with a main
house and a “dependency,” Si-
gnori said. “What we’ve done
here is really beautify the golf
course.”
The proposed structure in-
cludes a virtual golf training
facility on the first floor, guest
rooms on the first and second
floors and golf cart storage in
the basement, Signori said.
Forty-two new parking
spaces are proposed on the
building’s east side.
One design alteration draw-
ing comment was a plan to in-
stall Verizon relay equipment
in two faux chimneys atop the
mansard roof.
Relays were necessary to
increase coverage and the
chimneys provided an aes-
thetically pleasing way to
accomplish that goal, Signori
said.
David Smith asked fellow
commissioners to determine
if there was a demand for the
new building, one of the cri-
teria in Gearhart’s master plan
for a conditional use permit.
“I’ve talked to the constit-
uents in my neighborhood,
and I’ve yet to find anybody
who lives here who can find
a need for an increased pres-
ence on the Gearhart golf
course,” Smith said. “Who
defines the demand and how
is that determined?”
“We can tell you there’s a
need from the owner’s side,”
Signori said.
The proposed building is
“architecturally appealing and
compatible with the existing
hotel,” City Planner Carole
Connell wrote in her staff re-
port. “The request to expand
the hotel supports the contin-
ued viability of the Gearhart
Golf Course, an important
recreational resource in Gear-
hart.”
Six commissioners en-
dorsed the proposal with land-
scape and construction con-
ditions. Smith abstained from
voting.
After the meeting Bangild
said he is shooting for a 2018
completion. “We’ll go back
to the drawing board and go
over the logistics,” he said, a
process that could take six to
eight months.
Construction, Bangild said,
is easier in the winter, when
play is less.
Like the neighboring ho-
tel and Sandtrap Restaurant,
the property is owned by
Columbia Sportswear Chief
Executive Officer Tim Boyle,
who leases the space to Mc-
Menamins, Bangild said after
the meeting. A small portion
of the main building is rent-
ed to Paul Tice, manager of
Gearhart by the Sea.
“People shouldn’t worry
about the area getting over-
run,” Bangild said. “I think it
will provide a better experience
for the clientele we currently
have.”
Kiwanis honor Harry Miller
at annual pancake feed
Seaside Kiwanis Club’s
annual Pancake Feed fund-
raiser, typically held in
April, will be held this year
from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday,
Feb. 21, at the Seaside Civ-
ic and Convention Center.
Tickets are $7 for adults; $6
for seniors (62 and older);
children under 12 are $5;
and tickets for a family are
$20.
This year the Kiwanis
Club will remember its be-
loved member Harry Miller,
who died last December.
Many community members
would purchase their pan-
cake feed tickets from Mill-
er, Kiwanis member Mari-
lyn Dwyer noted. “He was
our top ticket seller.”
Miller was a member of
the Kiwanis since 1955. He
started and worked on var-
ious service projects such
as Camp Kiwanilong and
the Seaside Service Club.
He worked on all of Ki-
wanis fundraisers including
Christmas tree sales, the
golf tournament and the
pancake feed. “His love for
the youth of our communi-
ty and his generosity was
as huge as his smile,” said
Dwyer. “So, in memory of
Harry, we are asking you
again to donate by buying
tickets to the Kiwanis Pan-
cake Feed.”
The Seaside Kiwan-
is club donates all money
raised back to the communi-
ty. Youth is the club’s main
focus. A few of the organi-
zations and projects Seaside
Kiwanis are involved in and
donate to are Camp Kiwan-
ilong, college scholarships,
CASA, Seaside Kids, Safe
Kids, Back Pack programs,
Doernbecher
Children’s
Hospital and the Safety Fair.
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