Seaside signal., July 20, 2018, Page 4B, Image 13

4B • July 20, 2018 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com
CELEBRATING
GEARHART’S 100TH ANNIVERSARY
Major events in Gearhart’s history
from its founding to the present day
Timeline from Page 3B
1968 — Gearhart votes in
the presidential election, with
185 votes for Richard Nixon;
147 votes for Hubert Hum-
phrey and nine for former Al-
abama Governor George Wal-
lace.
1968 — Contract for a
$20,000 addition to Gearhart
school is awarded, to include a
cafeteria, restrooms, library ex-
tension and storage room.
1976 — Gearhart Home-
owners’ Association develops a
survey to form an organization
that would act as a watchdog
against condomiums and com-
mercialism in Gearhart. Both
part- and full-time residents
respond they “value Gearhart’s
unique quality of life.”
1978 — The state’s Land
Conservation and Development
commission provides grants to
Gearhart for completion of its
comprehensive plan and a wa-
ter quality monitoring grant.
1978 — Police Chief John
Gardner and the Gearhart Po-
lice Department begin a crack-
down on stray dogs. Previous-
ly, officers had only handled
the problem on a complaint
basis only.
1980 — Gearhart residents,
angry over Surf Pines’ home-
owners efforts to close the
Clatsop Plains beach to cars,
gather countywide support in
their effort to keep the beaches
open to traffic.
1980 — First July 4 “Kid’s
Day Parade” takes place, down
Marion Avenue and onto Pacif-
ic Way.
1981 —Author and interna-
tional gourmet James Beard,
a longtime Gearhart resident,
dies at age 81. “No place I have
ever been gives me quite as
much pleasure,” Beard wrote
in his autobiography.
1986 — Tsunami warning
on May 7 causes the evacua-
tion of Gearhart. The result is
a massive traffic jam on U.S.
Highway 101.
1988 — Scores of people
flock to view the dead gray
whale the ocean deposited
north of Del Rey Beach.
1990 — In July 1989, the
Gearhart City Council alleges
Pacific Way Bakery and Cafe
owners are in violation of zon-
ing laws by serving restaurant
food. The council revokes the
cafe’s business license until
Clatsop County Circuit Judge
Alan Davis reverses the order,
telling the city “it had no right
to go that far.”
1992 — State keeps Gear-
hart beach from 10th Street
GEARHART FIRE DEPARTMENT
Members of the Gearhart Fire Department.
north to the jetty of the Co-
lumbia River open to vehicles,
a 13-mile stretch.
1992 — Kent Smith elected
mayor unopposed, a position
he is to hold until 2012.
1994 — Gearhart City
Council adopts Ordinance No.
691, establishing a transient
room tax for the city and pro-
cedures for collecting the tax.
1995 — Andrew and Tif-
fany Wiederhorn revoke an
easement to a popular pedes-
trian path to Little Beach. That
action sparks debate, a bitter
election battle and years of le-
gal action.
1996 — Gearhart coun-
cilors fight a proposed U.S.
Highway 101 Parkway, de-
signed to stretch south from
the highway’s intersection
with Pacific Way in Gearhart
through Seaside.
1998 — Members of Gear-
hart City Council consider
septic tank issues to meet con-
cerns from the state’s Depart-
ment of Environmental Qual-
ity.
2004 —Gearhart voters ap-
prove a $7 million bond mea-
sure for a new water system.
2006 — Gearhart votes
no on a $3.75 million gener-
al obligation bond measure to
replace the firehouse and add
a police department and city
hall. The vote is 327-231, with
58 percent of residents voting
against it.
2007 — Later to be known
as the “Great Coastal Gale,”
residents are isolated after a
storm knocks down thousands
of trees and leaves thousands
with power, many for more
than a week.
2008 — Five people are
killed after a small plane
crashes into a vacation home
in Gearhart in an incident city
officials call the “worst event
in the city’s history.”
2012 — Mayor Kent Smith
celebrates the dedication of
the city’s new water system,
FILE PHOTO
Bob Chisholm, who was assistant chief of the Gearhart Fire De-
partment for more than 25 years. Chisholm died in 1997 at the
age of 51, trying to rescue a swimmer who had been swept into
the Pacific Ocean near 10th Street by a strong undertow off the
coast of Gearhart.
delayed after the need to re-
turn to voters for another $4
million in 2010, stricter arse-
nic standards by the federal
Environmental Protection Dis-
trict and the need to rebid the
project’s construction.
2012 — Mayor Dianne
Widdop is sworn in after de-
feating opponent Bob Short-
man by five votes in the No-
vember election. Widdop was
a city councilor 16 years prior
to her election.
2013 — Members of the
Planning Commission and
City Council consider chang-
es to the way short-term rental
properties are taxed and regu-
lated within the city.
2014 — Gearhart resident
Harold Gable files a prospec-
tive petition to remove May-
or Dianne Widdop, citing an
“abuse of leadership” and
“lack of transparency.”
2015 — Attempted recall
election of Mayor Dianne
Widdop fails. In a special re-
call election, residents voted
321-184 against the recall of
Widdop.
2015 — Seaside School
District voters approve a $99.7
million bond to move schools
— including Gearhart Ele-
mentary — out of the tsunami
zone.
2016 — Gearhart enacts
rules limiting and regulat-
ing short-term vacation rent-
als. Council members and
supporters say the measure
is consistent with the city’s
comprehensive plan, provides
greater safety for residents and
visitors alike, and adds to the
region’s stock of long-term
R.J. MARX
Jon Blissett, longtime Gear-
hart resident, service station
operator and firefighter.
housing.
2016 — Matt Brown is
elected mayor.
2017 —Supporters of Mea-
sure 4-188 seek to repeal and
replace short-term rental rules
enacted the previous fall. The
measure is defeated at the
polls.
2018 — Gearhart cele-
brates 100th anniversary with
a year of centennial events.
s.
the next 100 year
Gearhart residents raise a toast to
Lisa and John
Allen prevaile
d with
three decade
s of success at
the
Pacific Way Ba
kery and Cafe
.
The Gearhart Grocery in an undated photo.
From “Gearhart Remembered: An Informal
History.”
SUBMITTED PHOTO/SEASIDE SIGNAL