December 22, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com • 5A
Making a run for it into the new year
T
he alarm clock goes off.
Internally, a debate. Should I
go? Should I stay? Somehow,
for some reason, I muster the
strength.
Many, many times in the 2017
calendar year, this experience was
mine and perhaps some of yours.
And nearly every time I had that
debate, I ended up on the Seaside
Promenade, often around 5:30 a.m.
I have been running the Seaside
Prom since I was in middle school,
when our track coach used to have
us run the length of the prom and
sprint intervals using the light poles
as our start and finish line. After our
family got a new puppy last year, I
figured the best way to get a little
workout and get the puppy some
exercise, was a nice run to start the
morning off right.
When I first started, running
in the dark proved challenging. I
began on the streets of Seaside and
Gearhart, where sidewalks are a
luxury and flat sidewalks are nearly
nonexistent. The Prom was a perfect
solution; a flat, well-lit path, with a
measured distance and a beautiful
scene.
There were other challenges
that surfaced over the course of
SKY BOX
SKYLER ARCHIBALD
the year and weather was probably
the most significant. Rain and cold
don’t bother me much but wind is
the worst experience for a runner
(or a non-runner like me) to have to
endure.
As Hood to Coast approached
late in the summer, I often stretched
my runs out, incorporating the Prom
as a portion of the necessary miles
to prepare. Occasionally, particu-
larly in the summer, there would be
good-sized crowds on the Prom and
dodging the onlookers sometimes
proved difficult for an energetic dog.
As 2017 draws to a close, I have
reflected often on the habit that I’ve
formed. I’ve made the trip around
200 times over the course of the
year. My pace is similar to when
I started, although the run seems
a tiny bit easier each time. I still
find the first few hundred yards the
worst, partly because that is where
my dog often stops frequently to
handle his business.
SKYLER ARCHIBALD
View of Tillamook Head, early morning.
Speaking of my dog, he’s be-
come accustomed to the tradition as
well. He hears my alarm clock and
waits impatiently at the foot of the
stairs for me. He gets particularly
excited when he recognizes my
running shoes.
The value of movement is not
to be understated. The U.S. De-
partment of Health recommends
that adults get at least 150 minutes
of moderate aerobic exercise each
week, or an average of about 21
minutes per day. Coincidentally, the
Prom is about the perfect distance
(three miles roundtrip) for a great
runner to finish in 21 minutes. And
if you’re not a great runner, you can
just turn around at one of the many
landmarks on your way, or make
a loop on Holladay or Necanicum
drives.
My morning run helps me set the
tone and direction of my day. Post-
run, I feel better able to be mentally
and emotionally sound and to be a
source of strength to others around
me. Physical activity, to me at least,
is one main difference between a
good day and a great day.
I can’t begin to explain the
beautiful scenes that I’ve witnessed.
During certain times of the year,
the sun will break beautifully over
Tillamook Head. In the clear and
crisp days of winter, the stars and
moon over the Pacific produces an
inspiring scene. I’ve gotten to rec-
ognize the other like-minded early
risers of our community and feel a
kinship with those folks. Who knew
that recreation and physical activity
can help a town feel more like a
community.
I challenge you to find a way to
move more, be more healthy and
challenge yourself in 2018. It’s nev-
er too late to start a tradition of your
own, or you are welcome to join me
on my morning run!
Skyler Archibald is the executive
director of the Sunset Empire Park
& Recreation District.
2017
The Year in Review: Gearhart
Short-term rental rules are the top story of 2017
Short-term
rental vote puts
issue to bed, for
now
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
FILE PHOTO
In an off-year in the elec-
tion cycle, Gearhart voters
were roused to the polls by
an issue that had polarized the
city for years. After debate,
discussion and mountains
of public comment, voters
agreed that short-term rental
properties needed regulation.
The at-times heated discus-
sion played out on social me-
dia, in the press and on the
street corners as neighbors
voiced sharply differing opin-
ions. The Nov. 7 vote put an
end to the talk — at least for
now.
Meanwhile,
Gearhart
firefighters heeded the call
and joined strike teams from
throughout the state and
around the country to battle
blazes throughout the West.
And a the fire department
looks ahead to the future, a
new fire station promises to
be the big issue of 2018 —
the 100th year of the city’s
incorporation and 60 years
since the current fire station
on Pacific Way was built by
volunteers.
Short-term rentals
After months of debate
and nearly five years of dis-
cussion, voters rejected a bal-
lot measure that would have
repealed Gearhart’s vacation
rental rules. The measure
failed 77 percent to 23 per-
cent.
More than 100 residents
who campaigned against the
repeal filled a room at Mc-
Menamins Gearhart Hotel and
shared their moment of victo-
ry as votes came in election
night, Nov. 8.
The trail to Measure 4-188
began in 2013, when city
leaders and residents sought
to improve the stock of long-
term rental housing amid
concerns about how vacation
rentals in residential zones
can negatively affect the city’s
atmosphere and livability.
At the time, the taxing or-
dinance for short-term rental
properties provided exemp-
tions for the approximately 50
Gearhart Firehouse is con-
sidered unsafe in a potential
Cascadia Subduction Zone
event.
Gearhart firefighters also
joined teams fighting the
Thomas Fire near Ventura,
California. Demobilization
began Dec. 19.
New firehouse
COLIN MURPHEY/EO MEDIA GROUP
Gearhart Mayor Matt Brown reads election results to a room full of people at a watch party at
McMenamins Gearhart Hotel the night of the short-term rental vote.
single-family homes rented
out under the city’s guide-
lines.
Repeal of that tax came
nearly three years later, when
short-term renters were re-
quired to pay the city’s 7 per-
cent lodging tax.
By 2016, the nature of the
internet and booking trends
through companies like Vaca-
sa and Airbnb added to con-
cerns that short-term rentals
would limit long-term housing
stock and could be detrimental
to the city’s quality of life.
Residents in favor of reg-
ulating vacation rentals cited
Gearhart’s
comprehensive
plan, written in 1994 and
expressing the intent to rec-
ognize the importance of the
city’s residential neighbor-
hoods and the need to pro-
tect them from the negative
impacts of rental property.
Complaints that out-of-town
management was unable to
promptly reply to public safe-
ty concerns led to an increased
call for regulation, including a
provision requiring 24-hour
owner contact information.
In presenting Measure
4-188 to voters, opponents of
regulation stressed property
rights and said the rule chang-
es go “far beyond” com-
mon-sense measures.
The ballot measure would
have changed limits on permit
transfers and maximum oc-
cupancy and repealed special
regulations imposed on vaca-
tion rentals. The rules cover
off-street parking, residential
appearance, garbage service,
septic sewer capacity inspec-
tions and cesspool prohibi-
tions.
The measure would have
also eliminated a requirement
that a 24-hour representative
be able to physically respond
to the site within 30 minutes
and removed a limitation on
the number of vacation rent-
als.
So far, 73 vacation rental
permits have been approved
under the ordinance, with an-
other 14 pending. A registry is
available online.
Fighting fires
Seaside and Gearhart’s
“bravest” stepped forward to
battle wildfires from Oregon
to Southern California.
This summer, California
sent resources to Oregon to
fight blazes in the Chetco Bar
NOT ONLY ARE WE OPEN ON CHRISTMAS
AND NEW YEARS DAY, BUT WE’RE OFFERING
Fire in Brookings and the Ea-
gle Creek Fire in the Colum-
bia Gorge.
In October, crews were
mobilized and on their way
down Interstate 5 to fight in
the Santa Rosa region, sleep-
ing in tents outside the Sono-
ma County Fairgrounds.
Oregon firefighters offered
relief to local crews whose re-
sources had been spread thin.
Crews cleared brush fires
and put out hot spots in an
effort to contain blazes driven
by the wind, reaching speeds
of 60 mph at times.
Local firefighters from
the Oregon Strike Team are
heading home as California
wildfire conditions continue
to stabilize.
Five members of the Sea-
side Fire Department and
three members of the Gearhart
Fire Department joined the
Clatsop County Task Force
and crews from throughout
the West to battle wildfires in
California’s Napa Valley.
Gearhart Chief Bill Eddy
was among Gearhart firefight-
ers in California. The depart-
ment had the role of looking
for and extinguishing spot
fires.
The city is looking for al-
ternatives to a new firehouse
on public parkland, a proposal
that met with strong pushback
at a public forum in May.
With some willing prop-
erty owners, conversations
about potential sites are un-
derway.
The current firehouse
consists of a cinder-block
building at 670 Pacific Way,
built in 1958, and is consid-
ered outdated and vulnerable
to earthquake and tsunami.
While built “fairly stoutly,”
according to geologist Tom
Horning, who has served as
a consultant for the city and
is a Seaside city councilor,
the property is likely to flood
even in a moderate tsunami,
prompting discussion of a
new location.
Brown said he hopes to
present the new locations,
along with cost breakdowns,
to the public this fall.
After a two-year study
of nine locations, the fire-
house committee narrowed
the choices down to three:
Gearhart Park at the corner
of South Marion and Pacific
Way; the current firehouse
on Pacific Way; and Trail’s
End, directly across from the
fire station on the south side
of Pacific Way.
The Trail’s End site was
eliminated because of low
elevation, poor soil quality
and public opposition. Lo-
cations to the east are vul-
nerable to flooding from the
Neacoxie.
But at a May public fo-
rum, many residents ex-
pressed their discontent with
the park even being consid-
ered as an option. Despite
the park’s 48-foot elevation
— the fire station property
stands at an elevation of 27
feet — the proposal met stiff
resistance. Many of those
who spoke said they consid-
ered the park a part of the
“character of the town.”
Gearhart’s
firehouse
committee is now putting
finishing touches on a new
proposal listing sites under
consideration.
At the city’s December
City Council meeting, May-
or Matt Brown said a pro-
posal listing three sites could
be presented at a February
public forum.