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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 2017)
July 21, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 7A City could develop workforce housing Council from Page 1A off-street parking, with a re- duction of parking require- ments for certain apartment units. Commissioners also pro- posed plans which would in- clude “residential over com- mercial” units that could open up some downtown commer- cial buildings to condomini- ums and apartments. “That could have a major impact on workforce hous- ing,” Mayor Jay Barber said. “I’m open to looking interest- ed in looking at how we can support landowners in how we can help landlords bring build- ings up to code.” Removing hurdles SUBMITTED PHOTO Elk cow guarding territory near 10th Street in Gearhart. Wildlife agents tranquilize elk Elk from Page 1A Multiple incidents In response, the city added warning signs on the beach and sent out email alerts. Monday morning, Sweet said, a bicyclist was charged by an elk near 10th Street in Gearhart, prompting a call to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and State Police. No injuries were reported as officials responded to the scene. Beach access was blocked as members of the Depart- ment of Fish and Wildlife moved close enough to shoot the elk with a tranquilizer dart, according to Gearhart Fire Chief Bill Eddy. “The elk was postured up by the flagpole on 10th Street next to the Windward condos in a defensive posi- tion,” Eddy said. “They shot SUBMITTED PHOTO Aggressive female elk were reported in Gearhart Friday. it one time with a tranquiliz- er and it didn’t work. They waited about 15 or 20 min- utes later and shot it again. It started getting a little bit drowsy, but it was stub- born. You couldn’t get close to it. It was just wobbling around.” Using a long pole with a syringe on the end of it, about 20 minutes after the Chisholm Center upgrades scheduled second dart, wildlife offi- cials were able to get close enough to stick it with the syringe and subdue the elk, Eddy said. At about 1 p.m., the city sent out a request for volun- teers to search for the calf. “Some locals who saw the blog found the baby pretty close to where the flagpole was just to the northwest of the flagpole,” Sweet said. “The baby was fine — in fact it got up to run away once it was found. ” A state police officer car- ried the young elk into a con- tainer to rejoin the mother, Sweet said. “This elk and baby were moved, but it is going to hap- pen again,” he said. “There could be another female elk out there with its own young with this same issue.” According to Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife the female elk and her calf were transported to God’s Valley wildlife area. The calf was reunited with its mother prior to release, walking through the field to the treeline of the forest. Calving season While calving season is late this year — it typically occurs in April, May or June — the behavior of the mother elk is normal, Eddy said. “When they first drop, es- pecially when the babies are small, they’re unable to stay with the herd,” Eddy said. “They break off from the herd. Mom gets very protec- tive.” “It’s definitely the wild- life and people coming to- gether creating an issue,” Sweet added. “This time of year, we seem to have more reports of elk. If you see an elk and it is posturing against you, just back off and take another route. Give them their space and this will be a safer, happier summer.” In a list intended to remove hurdles from providing addi- tional rental opportunities in residential zones, commis- sioners presented additional proposals to encourage long- term rental housing develop- ment, including plans to mod- ify parking requirements and rules for accessory dwelling units. “Right now we’re required to provide two spots per dwelling unit,” Carpenter said. “But two spots is prohibitive if you want to have workforce housing with smaller units. If developers are able to reduce the number of parking spots, they can build more.” Recent state legislation provides new rules for mul- tifamily accessory units in single-family zones, Planning Director Kevin Cupples said, which could add to the city’s rental stock. Fifty percent of the units would need to be available at 60 percent of median income to qualify as affordable units, the requirement to permit ac- cessory units in single-family zones. According to Senate Bill 1051, cities do retain some authority if there are health, safety or “habitability” concerns. The bill requires city with population greater than 5,000 or county with population greater than 25,000 to review and decide on applications for certain housing developments containing affordable housing units within 100 days. Staff has not had time to to an extensive review of the bill, Cupples said, although it may be necessary for the city to be- gin working on amendments relating to accessory dwelling units. A reduction in system de- velopment charges — the costs charged to builders for city services like roads and sewers — was also considered as a way to invite developers to provide more affordable or workforce units. These could be reduced in exchange for more rental units. Vacation-rental dwellings Councilors and commis- sioners eliminated further short-term rental regulation — including a cap on the number of short-term rentals — as a response to the long-term rent- al shortage. “I see these as two separate issues: vacation rentals and workforce housing,” Planning Commissioner Chris Hoth said. “I don’t think we’re go- ing to accomplish anything if we put them together.” Cupples said the city has 398 vacation rentals, about 8.5 percent of the city’s 4,665 housing units. The number is up from 368 units in 2016, and 348 in 2010. Barber said he had not re- ceived complaints about the number of vacation rentals. “I haven’t personally gotten pushback from citizens about the number,” he said. “Who’s going to enforce more restrictions?” Councilor Dana Phillips said. “We don’t have the staff.” “If there are problems with VRDs, we should deal with those problems,” Hoth said. “If there are troubles with work- force housing, we should deal with those. I don’t think those things are complementary.” Reach for the Blue Sky Center from Page 1A “Hopefully we could get started as a soon as October,” Gooch said. Commission name change These Blue Sky business partners are leading the way: Join the North Coast Challenge Clatsop County, Astoria, Cannon Beach, Gearhart, Seaside and Warrenton have teamed up to support renewable energy – you can, too. Rise to the North Coast challenge and enroll in Pacific Power’s Blue Sky SM program. If 500 residents and businesses join in, the North Coast earns a 1-kilowatt solar installation for the community. Enroll today! Visit pacificpower.net/northcoast or call 1-800-769-3717 to learn more. © 2017 Pacifi c Power Along with seeking ap- proval to launch the bid pro- cess, Neubecker asked city councilors to consider a for- mal name change for the com- mission. Members want to change the commission’s name to the Bob Chisholm Community Center Commission, dropping the word “senior” in order to encourage more diverse audi- ences. “The reason we’re asking for the ‘senior’ to be dropped is a lot of people are saying, ‘Well, I don’t want to hold it (an event) at the senior cen- ter,’” Neubecker said. Commissioners have con- sidered the change for a cou- ple of years, Gooch said. “We serve a very broad group,” he said. “The center already serves senior lunches during the day. In the afternoon and evening, we have kids from the preschool come over. It’s not just an exclusively senior population — it’s a diverse population.” Mayor Jay Barber said the commission name change would be considered at the July 18 council work session. “I know you are investing a lot of great resources to make the facility more attractive, and you want it to be seen as something more than a senior center,” Barber said. “But we don’t want the seniors to feel like we’re kicking them out either. So it’s a bit of a tight- rope walk.” ASTORIA A Gypsy’s Whimsy Astoria Co-op Grocery Astoria Vintage Hardware Bikes and Beyond Blue Scorcher Bakery Cafe Bowpicker Fish & Chips Buoy Beer Company City of Astoria Columbia River Coffee Roaster Eleventh Street Barber Fort George Brewery & Public House Frite & Scoop Homespun Quilts & Yarn Old Town Framing Company Pilot House Distilling Purple Cow Toys RiversZen Yoga Sea Gypsy Gifts The Fox & The Fawn Boutique The Healing Circle U.S. National Park Service CANNON BEACH City of Cannon Beach Jupiter’s Books CLATSOP COUNTY Clatsop County GEARHART City of Gearhart SEASIDE Lucky Dog Tattoo Sopko Welding Inc. Zinger’s Homemade Ice Cream