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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 2019)
OUR 112th Year October 4, 2019 SEASIDESIGNAL.COM $1.00 License fees for VRDs could soar By R.J. MARX Seaside Signal R.J. Marx Members of the Planning Commission and City Council meeting Monday, Sept. 30, at City Hall. Vacation rental license fees could go up 500% or more in January. The annual fees vary from $75 to $150, depending on a rental property’s occupancy. The fee could jump to $500 to pay for a new code enforcement officer who would con- duct inspections and enforcement. The City Council and Planning Com- mission convened a workshop Monday to develop new guidelines to help promote affordable long-term rentals and workforce housing and reduce complaints relating to noise, litter and parking. “Some of these concerns that have been brought up are the livability of the areas where there are” vacation rentals, David Posalski, the vice chairman of the Plan- ning Commission, said. “That’s really what GOING UP Groundbreaking introduces The Lodge at Seaside these ideas are trying to address.” Raising the annual license fee found unanimous support. “It’s not going to do any good to change the ordinances if we don’t have this person in place,” City Councilor Dana Phillips said of a code enforcement officer. Inspection fees, currently at $84, could also be hiked or incorporated into the overall cost See VRDs, Page A3 Helping trees bounce back By KATHERINE LACAZE For Seaside Signal In light of the spruce aphid outbreak this year, local land owners and community stakeholders came together to gather insight on the pesky insect and how to defend against the damage it is causing. “This is something that’s happening in our own backyards, in our own neighbor- hoods,” said OSU Extension Forester Dan Stark, who organized an informational meet- ing held at the Bob Chisholm Community Center on Sept. 16. Dr. Christine Buhl, a forest entomologist for the Oregon Department of Forestry, gave a presentation at the meeting, which drew about 35 property owners, foresters, Mas- ter Gardeners, and other individuals from across the Oregon North Coast, including Hamlet, Olney, and Tillamook County. Buhl’s purpose was to both clear up mis- conceptions about the methods for dealing with the insect pest, which is most com- monly hosted by Sitka spruce on the coast, and put the epidemic into perspective. Occasional outbreaks Jeff Ter Har Mayor Jay Barber; co-owner Sazzad Rahman, co-owner Masudur Khan; architect’s representative James Staicoff; Andrew Naegeli, executive vice president of operations, Deacon Construction; and project engineer Mark Mead. By R.J. MARX Seaside Signal The temperatures may have been chilly, but bright sunshine greeted the opening day of construction on The Lodge at Seaside, a 65-room luxury hotel at 250 First Ave., formerly the City Center Motel. For hospitality workers, construction team members, city and county officials, putting shovels to the ground was a way of marking the launch of the $11 million construction project. Seaside Lodging co-owner and man- aging director Masudur Khan called it a “dream come true,” 10 years in the making. “We are shooting for an upscale hotel,” Khan said. “It’s a new market in Seaside. We think everyone who comes to the hotel — young, middle-aged or older, regardless of their age — will have a good time.” Guests at the four-story property will have a swimming pool, game room, meeting room, ocean views and high- end amenities. Seaside Mayor Jay Barber, one of several local luminaries to pose behind the shovels, said he saw the project as linked to the nearby convention cen- ter renovation, which finished construc- tion in early September. The facility grew from 46,000 square feet to 55,000 square feet, an increase of nearly 19%. “The fact that we’ve expanded the convention center means a demand for more rooms, more hotels,” Barber said. Barber commended Seaside Lodg- ing and Khan, who also owns Seaside’s River Inn and the Inn at Seaside. “He’s doing not only doing great work here, but all over the city. It’s a great day.” Executive director of Clatsop Eco- nomic Development Resources Kevin Leahy said the property demonstrates the growth of the hospitality industry and the need for more upscale hotels in Seaside. Project manager Jeremy Miller said the crew was about one-third complete with demolition, which started with the teardown of the City Center Motel last week. A 12-room motel at 210 South Downing, also owned by Seaside Lodg- ing, will continue operation as a separate entity. Construction of the Lodge at Seaside is expected to be complete at the end of next May. Miller said the hotel is being built with resiliency in mind. “Everything is per code, with what’s required,” he said after joining others in the ceremonial groundbreaking. “I’ve got no doubt that if the tsunami should come, this hotel will last.” According to Buhl, the department started receiving calls early in the season from a variety of concerned citizens, park rang- ers, and others who reported that a signifi- cant number of spruce trees along the coast seemed to be in poor condition. Upon fur- ther investigation, she identified the culprit of the noticeable defoliation to be the spruce aphid. While the insect has a continual pres- ence along the west coast, from Canada to California, large-scale infestation — or out- breaks — only occur periodically, Buhl said. The most recent spruce aphid outbreaks occurred in Alaska from 2015 to 2016 and in Oregon in 1998 and 2005. The good news is they typically run their course in two to three years. Other exten- sive epidemics have not wiped out all spruce trees, which Buhl said gives her “hope we will make it through this one.” A single event of the intensity experi- enced this season, however, can create dam- age that lingers for several years. Accord- ing to information from the Department of Forestry, aphids feed on the sap in needles, causing them to turn yellow, then brown, and finally fall from the tree prematurely. In many ways, spruce trees are resil- ient. As a type of conifer, they possess sev- eral years’ worth of needles at a given time. Spruce aphids only feed on the foliage pro- duced in past years, not the current year foli- age because concentration of terpenes is too high in new growth. They tend to feed near the start of the growth season — or late winter and early spring — before the nitrogen from older See Aphids, Page A3 Downtown association supports Seaside Kids By R.J. MARX Seaside Signal The Seaside Downtown Development Association gave the long-running Sea- side Kids, Inc., program a boost Thursday with presen- tation of a nearly $10,000 check. Kristin Talamantez and Celeste Kenneally of SDDA delivered $9,967, including proceeds from the Seaside Golf Classic” Charity Golf Tournament and dinner held Aug. 29. Funds for Seaside Kids benefit free athletic activi- ties for local children. The organization promotes free sports programs for boys and girls in Clatsop County, primarily from the Seaside, Gearhart and Cannon Beach communities. The organiza- tion annually serves about 600 kids, from kindergartners to high school seniors, through its programs, which include baseball, softball, football, golf and free swim days. This year brought 25 teams to the tournament, Talamantez said, up from 20 teams in 2018. “While our main goal is downtown Seaside, we like to give back to the commu- nity for all they do for us,” Kenneally said. Jeff Ter Har Celeste Kenneally and Kristin Talamantez present a check to Seaside Kids, Inc.
