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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 4, 2017)
6A • August 4, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com Student leaves his mark on Seaside parks plan Focus on green space, accessibility By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal Christian Montbriand will be leaving Seaside at the end of July, but not before he leaves his mark on the city and its future. Montbriand led a parks master plan open house at the Seaside Library Wednesday night, sharing a vision for the city’s parks in years to come. Praise, criticism, goals and opportunities were also shared by about 40 residents gath- ered to fi nd ways to improve the city’s recreation area at the parks system update. Montbriand has spent a year of service here as part of the RARE (Resource Assis- tance for Rural Environments) AmeriCorps program, helping to develop tsunami education outreach and the parks master plan in Seaside. The plan gives the city a look at where the city’s parks will be in the next 20 years. be able to see the updates all through,” he said. “I’m try- ing to get them on the best foot forward so they can go through and fi nish up this project.” He said he hoped to iden- tify the data from the parks inventory to synthesize into the capital improvements pro- gram . Plusses and minuses Taking comments At Wednesday’s open house, residents highlighted park benefi ts of proximity to ocean and nature, accessibili- ty and wide range of use. Park negatives included dumping, lack of bike racks and limited athletic fi elds. Residents said they hoped to retain city green space in R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL Visitors critique the city’s parks. the face of ongoing develop- ment. An Illinois native, Mont- briand said he hoped his ef- forts would “activate and energize” the parks advisory committee. “Unfortunately, I will not Montbriand’s work has been overseen by Public Works Director Dale Mc- Dowell. McDowell said he plans to summarize the fi ndings at Monday’s City Council meet- ing. “From there it goes back to the parks advisory board,” McDowell said. “With all of the recommendations, it will come back eventually to me at Public Works and will go through everything, what’s feasible and what’s not. This will all be plugged into an up- dated master plan.” “What can’t get done and what will be done, I’ll fi nd out after we have the discussion,” McDowell said. Montbriand urged resi- dents to let their thoughts be known, either at upcoming meetings or online. “The online survey is still open, so we encourage peo- ple to provide input,” he said. “Last night I checked, there were 83 responses, which is more than I expected.” This fall, Montbriand heads to the University of Or- egon for his graduate degree. He is studying planning with a transportation focus. School district plan raises concerns about traffi c Schools from Page 1A “This is one of the key piec- es in moving the schools up onto the new property,” former superintendent and member of the district’s construction over- sight committee Doug Dough- erty said after the meeting. “This is a major step.” Planning goals Although a conceptual plan for the site was included in the district’s submission, this was not a request to ap- prove a development plan for the site, according to a city staff report. The request, headed to the City Council, would make amendments to the compre- hensive plan, zoning ordinance and zoning map necessary for the school district to prepare a conditional use request for an institutional development plan for the campus. Consultant Greg Winte- rowd of Winterbrook Plan- ning said the school’s request addresses relevant criteria of statewide planning goals, the Seaside comprehensive plan and the Clatsop County com- prehensive plan. The proposed location is the only site that meets all seven city criteria, he said, and the only site with access to a major collector street, South Wahanna Road. “Once we get approval, we know we have the proper zon- ing, the intent is to fi nish the development plan, show them what this development plan is and then really focus on im- pacts,” Winterowd said. Supporters Educators, school board members, government offi - cials, former students and oth- ers stressed the urgency of the commission’s decision, the result of what Dougherty said was a result of more than 25 years of research into the Cas- cadia Subduction Zone. Dougherty said studies could not tell exactly when a Cascadia event would occur, but it’s “highly likely to occur by 2060. It’s very important this get done as quickly as pos- sible.” Patrick Wingard of the Department of Land Conser- vation and Development and Oregon Coastal Management Program evaluated the propos- al in terms of statewide plan- ning goals, particularly those relating to tsunami inundation zones and urban and rural uses. “We support the proposal because they’ve shown the proper rationale and justifi - cation to show the locational and need requirements laid out in statewide planning goals,” Wingard said. Seaside High School Prin- cipal Jeff Roberts called the school the “hub of the com- munity,” and encouraged commissioners to “do what is best for kids” by approving the application. Recent Seaside grad Brad Rzewnicki said he saw no other option than moving the schools to the new campus. “I think this new school will promote even greater learning for the staff as well as other students,” he said. Gearhart’s Mayor Matt Brown, speaking as a district resident, said he was support- ive of the zone change. Brown called the move an “investment” into the commu- nities of Gearhart, Seaside and Cannon Beach fi tting into the criteria outlined for the urban growth boundary amendment. Chairman of the school district’s board of directors Steve Phillips said the cam- pus would provide an emer- gency, higher elevation refuge if a tsunami or natural disaster should hit. “There are a lot of posi- tives to this and I encourage you to move forward and al- low us to continue our plan- ning,” Phillips said. Concerns Issues raised during public testimony included concerns about traffi c on Spruce Drive, Wahanna and Cooper Road, a side street occasionally used as a cut-through. Wingard asked for assur- ances that future development of existing school proper- ties — Gearhart Elementary School, Seaside High School and Broadway Middle School — would not be rezoned for higher density uses. Coordinator of the Necan- icum Watershed Council Me- lyssa Graeper asked that any new road consider waterways and wetlands. District bus driver Allan Erickson drew attention to potential traffi c bottlenecks of Avenue S and Wahanna Road, as well vulnerability of the city’s bus barn and mainte- nance facility in the case of a catastrophic event. Commissioners told district offi cials they would like to see traffi c measures — including stop signs, lower speed limits and limits on left-hand turns in some locations — discussed in future applications. Unanimous vote Commissioners considered holding the hearing open for another month, but ultimately decided to take an immediate vote. “I don’t see any testimony coming that would change my mind as to how I’m going to vote here,” Commissioner Richard Ridout said in asking for a vote. “The concerns are valid, but that will be taken care of at a later date,” Commissioner Lou Neubecker said. Commissioners unani- mously agreed in recommend- ing approval to the council. Renewal includes $26 million for bridges Urban from Page 1A “You’re not going to have development in place in the early years because you’re not generating any money yet,” Winstanley said. “So, it takes a while to get this going. The major projects are always going to be on the tail end of an urban -renewal district, not in the beginning.” Numbers are forecast assuming 5 percent growth, Winstanley said. According to the report, the estimated total amount of tax increment reve- nues to service the $68.5 mil- lion maximum indebtedness is $78.5 million, made up of tax -increment revenues from permanent rate levies. The urban -renewal area could be in existence for 25 years or until it reaches its maximum indebtedness, whichever comes fi rst. “If you hit either one of those, you’re done,” Winstanley said. Bridge upgrades Projects to be completed using urban -renewal funds fall into four categories: school infrastructure, general infra- structure, business assistance and administration. The school could see up to $9 million in funds, desig- nated for U. S. Highway 101 turn signals, road access to the new campus and sewer system needs, among other improve- ments. Business assistance funds of $300,000 could be used for storefront redesign, property acquisition, signage or work- force housing. Administration of the district is expected to exceed $1.1 million. COLIN MURPHEY/EO MEDIA GROUP Projects in the Southeast Seaside Urban Renewal Plan include work to repair bridges such as the one on Avenue U. Improvements in south Seaside make up the largest piece of the funding pie, with, by far, the largest portion of the estimated $45 million consid- ered for bridge improvements. The report identifi es a need for new bridges at avenues A, G, S and U, each with a center turn lane, multi purpose path and Americans with Disabili- ties Act-accessible sidewalks. “The amount of $26 mil- lion equates to about $5 mil- lion per bridge,” Tom Horn- ing, a geologist and fi rst-term city councilor who ran on a platform of tsunami prepared- ness. “This is a reasonable number under present condi- tions, but assumes subdued infl ation.” According to Horning, the four bridges are essential tsu- nami -evacuation infrastruc- ture. “They need to remain standing and be accessible by the public when the com- ing magnitude 9 earthquake strikes, because the earthquake will generate a tsunami that fl oods over Seaside within 20 to 30 minutes,” Horning said . “The present bridges will not survive the shaking and will become impassable because of collapse, trapping residents and visitors alike. By replacing the bridges, we will save sever- al thousand lives, if the quake happens during the summer.” The most important bridge to replace fi rst is Avenue G, based on the number of peo- ple who are presently critical- ly endangered and the time it takes to evacuate, he said. A pedestrian footbridge could be even more import- ant, Horning said. “In terms of saving the greatest number of lives, a pedestrian bridge that crosses near the south end of Holladay Drive would be the best use of limited funds.” A footbridge crossing the Necanicum in the vicinity of Avenues N to S, budgeted at about $5 million, could pro- vide timely evacuation that none of the other bridges can, he added. “Given the com- munity parks plan and our experience with other bridg- es we have replaced, having extra wide sidewalks and bike lanes is desirable, as well as a center turn lane for smooth traffi c fl ow onto Holladay and to carry evacuation traffi c in the event of tsunami.” Approvals needed Because part of the land in the southeast Seaside u r- ban r enewal area is owned by the county, those areas would need to be annexed into the city. Annexation of county land requires approval from the Clatsop County Board of Commissioners, which will consider the issue Wednesday. At Seaside’s Aug. 14 coun- cil meeting, councilors will consider whether the urban -re- newal district is in compliance with city goals. “City council- ors will be looking at it from the standpoint of the merits of the district and whether they believe the goals and the im- pacts of the district are accept- able to the city of Seaside,” Winstanley said. “It’s exactly what we were looking for,” Superintendent Sheila Roley said after the commission’s unanimous vote. Community-based meet- ings could begin after the start of the school year. “Whether or not we can solve every single problem in the way each person asks — we can’t guarantee that,” she said. “But what we can guar- antee is that we will really lis- ten and work collaboratively with all of our partners to get the best possible solutions.” DINING on the NORTH COAST Great Restaurants in: GEARHART SEASIDE CANNON BEACH MAZATLAN M E X I C A N R E S TA U R A N T Phone 503-738-9678 1445 S. 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