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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 2018)
6A • August 17, 2018 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com NEWS FROM GEARHART Gearhart to send pot tax to voters City’s tax higher than others in South County By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal COLIN MURPHEY/THE DAILY ASTORIAN Jars of medicinal and recreational marijuana sit on a shelf in a display case at Sweet Relief in Astoria. One more measure will find its way to local voters this November. Gearhart will decide whether to adopt a 3 percent local sales tax on marijuana. The city’s first dispensary, Sweet Relief, opened in July on U.S. Highway 101. Gearhart was among a few cities to vote in a tax prior to the legalization of recreational cannabis. In 2014, shortly before the state’s voters approved Mea- sure 91, the city passed an ordinance requiring a 10 percent tax on the sale of recreational marijuana and a 5 percent tax for a medical marijuana registry card- holder. After legalization, the state estab- lished a 17 percent tax on marijuana and limited local taxes to 3 percent. Cities may not tax medical marijuana sales. With a 10 percent tax already in place, Gearhart city councilors had the option of defending the tax in court or asking vot- ers to approve a 3 percent tax. Sweet Relief co-owner Oscar Nelson asked the City Council to put the local tax in line with most other cities, includ- ing Astoria, Seaside and Cannon Beach. “The Legislature said we can’t have more than 3 percent,” City Attorney Pe- ter Watts said. “We have 10 percent. If we impose our 10 percent tax and it was challenged, would we win? I can’t tell you.” Watts said a legal challenge would likely be decided by the Oregon Court of Appeals or Oregon Supreme Court. At a special meeting on Tuesday, City Councilors Dan Jesse, Paulina Cockrum, Reita Fackerell and Kerry Smith opted to refer the 3 percent tax to voters. Mayor Matt Brown was absent. If the November ballot measure fails, the city would need to decide whether to collect the 10 percent tax. Neacoxie barn owner asks city to drop $20G in fines Gearhart City Council to see contest in District 1 Barn owner calls for ‘new era’ in Gearhart Zimmerman: ‘Keep Gearhart Gearhart’ By R.J. Marx By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal Seaside Signal Shannon Smith, the owner of a Gearhart barn that racked up thousands of dollars in fines for illegal rentals, has asked the city to forgive the penalties. Calling it a “new era” as Gearhart enters its second century, Smith told the City Council on Wednesday that the potential waiver would be a change of approach from “punishment to preservation.” Smith, the co-owner with Martha Strickland of the Nea- coxie Creek Barn on Pacific Way, was fined for renting out the property for weddings and other public functions without a valid certificate of occupan- cy. Without the certificate, the city said the former livery sta- ble is uninhabitable and poses an immediate threat to health and safety. At one time, the fines reached in excess of $30,000, City Administrator Chad Sweet said. Smith’s first $5,000 fine, Jack Zimmerman will challenge City Council in- cumbent Kerry Smith for Position 1 in the November election. Smith was elected to the seat in 2014, defeating in- cumbent Al Carder. Zimmerman and his wife, Kathy, have been coming to Gearhart for 26 years, he said, and have lived here full time for two years. He has never run for public office before. Friends encouraged him to run. “I thought maybe there was some merit to it,” he said. He said he was motivated to run by his love for the city and a desire to “keep Gear- hart Gearhart.” “The minute you get into Gearhart, you can decom- press,” Zimmerman said. “I don’t want it to look like Seaside, ever. I want it to FILE PHOTO The Neacoxie Barn was fined in 2015 for its use as a party venue without a certificate of occu- pancy. issued in 2012, was reduced by the City Council to $1 after Smith said she would follow city rules prohibiting commercial events. The sec- ond fine, issued in 2014, was contested after Smith and her attorney stated barn functions were all personal or family-re- lated, which would be permit- ted for a private homeowner. Subsequent fines followed as Smith continued commer- cial use of the barn until a Circuit Court judge issued an injunction in 2016 prohibiting commercial events, including weddings and receptions. Smith’s fines now stand at $20,000. Smith said she would like relief to proceed with a reap- plication to “adaptive reuse so this structure and site can continue to bring charm, rec- reation and sustaining finan- cial benefit.” The fines pose a significant barrier, she said at Wednes- day’s meeting. Smith said the waiver would provide a “collabo- rative path forward” for the city’s “most iconic historic structure,” the last remaining wooden livery stable west of the Mississippi and the host site for Coast Guard patrol po- nies during the blackout days of World War II. City councilors did not comment on Smith’s request. Feed the birds, not the elk New Gearhart ordinance aims to regulate feeding of elk By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal NEAL MAINE Elk pause in front of South County Food Bank in a 2014 photo. New rules could prohibit feeding of the elk in Gearhart. After a Gearhart resident proposed a “don’t feed the elk” policy in July, members of the City Council took up the call at the Aug. 1 meeting. The city may use a similar ordinance in Warrenton as a model. The state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife said artifi- cial feeding can cause elk to become habituated to humans and aggressive toward them. “The ODFW has definite- ly recommended educating people about behavior around the elk and also recommend- ed a feeding ordinance several times,” Mayor Matt Brown said. “They mentioned it re- ally helps with unnecessary elk-human contact. Apparent- ly there have been reports of people feeding the elk in Gear- hart. If people get into the hab- it of thinking that cell phone or ball is an apple, they’re more likely to have an interaction or situation of some type.” Whether some of the spe- cies included will remain the same as the Warrenton ordi- nance remains a topic for dis- cussion. In Warrenton, feeding of the elk is a civil infraction, with penalties up to $250 per feeding incident. Bebe Michel, who raised the topic in July, said the city needed a comprehensive ap- proach, but could start with banning feeding of the elk. Councilor Reita Fackerell sought to expand the ordi- nance to feeding of bear, deer, bobcat and other animals. As specified in the Warrenton or- dinance, feeding of songbirds would remain unregulated. “If we wanted to do some- thing similar to Warrenton’s, I would be OK looking at that,” Fackerell said. A committee including Fackerell, Michel and Coun- cilor Paulina Cockrum will meet to discuss changes. “I’ve got a consensus to get to work,” City Administrator Chad Sweet said. Homeowner seeks city noxious weed removal Marino serves notice on city to enforce rules The invasive Scotch broom proliferates in the Gearhart foredunes. By R.J. Marx R.J. MARX Seaside Signal Gearhart resident Marga- ret Marino served notice to the City Council Wednesday, Aug. 1. Citing the city’s ordi- nance which calls on the city to administer enforcement of its noxious weed ordinance. “This is my request for en- forcement on city property,” Marino said during public comment. She said she was focused on city property outside of the beaches and dune zone and outside of the beaches and dunes overlay zone. “I’m asking the city to en- force the removal of noxious weeds there,” Marino said. Recent city code amend- ments set rules for trimming beach vegetation and provide guidelines for emergency and construction vehicles. Chapter 92 in the city’s code calls for the owner or person in charge of property to “abate natural growths” on property. If not, the person in charge and the owner could be liable for the cost of abate- ment. After the meeting, City Administrator Chad Sweet said the council is committed to removing noxious weeds to allow beach grasses to thrive on the dunes. Sweet said the city is working on mapping and pri- oritizing noxious weed loca- tions. He has recently issued access permits allowing crews to remove Scotch broom and other noxious weeds from two private properties on Ocean Avenue. The city began cutting Scotch broom on the E Street beach access on Wednesday, Sweet added. Marino said she did not take the step of issuing public notice easily. “I’m trying to flush out what is really going to happen,” she said. look like it looks now and improve on that.” Zimmer - man, 69, who Jack is retired, worked in the Zimmerman energy indus- try in a series of managerial positions. He has owned and developed property in west- ern Colorado, an experience, he said, which has given him insight into working with government agencies. Zimmerman said he be- lieves “the taxpayer in Gear- hart needs more attention,” and supports Gearhart’s vaca- tion rental rules. “My time is a luxury for me right now, and I can’t find a better way to spend that capital than seeing how the government operates,” Zim- merman said. One other council seat will appear on the ballot. Paulina Cockrum, who was appointed by Mayor Di- anne Widdop to fill the unex- pired term of City Councilor John Duncan after Duncan died in 2015, is so far running unopposed for Position 3. Council to consider plastic bag ban Recycling effort gains momentum By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal In September 2017, Manzanita became the first city on the North Coast to enact a plastic bag ban. At the suggestion of City Councilor Paulina Cock- rum, Gearhart may follow suit. “It kind of came to me with the Dollar Store going in, I wonder if they’ll have those plastic bags I’m trying not to use and see them ev- erywhere in the wetlands,” Cockrum said. “I wonder if we should consider ban- ning plastic bags. This is stuff that birds and wildlife and who knows what all are eating.” A plastic bag ban is one of the few things to reduce environmental impact a city can do, she said. Mayor Matt Brown and councilors Dan Jesse, Reita Fackerell and Kerry Smith supported the concept of a ban. “I have no problem band- ing behind that,” Jesse said. City Administrator Chad Sweet said he will research similar ordinances through- out the state. In July, Seattle became the first city to ban plastic straws and utensils in bars and restaurants. Portland already has recy- cling rules for grocery bags prohibiting plastic single-use bags by retailers or food ven- dors at customer check-out. Other Oregon cities ban- ning plastic bags include Ashland, Eugene, Hood River and Newport, among others. powered by Randall Lee’s 0% FINANCING AVAILABLE Window Treatments, Fabric, Designer Wallpaper, Visit Our Counter Tops, All Flooring and Miele Vacuums Outlet! 2311 N. 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