A6 • Friday, December 13, 2019 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
Parking: Developers seek to enhance ‘downtown feel’ by easing parking rules
Continued from Page A1
R.J. Marx
Seaside’s Erick Zuber, a commercial mortgage
banker, asked commissioners to ease downtown
parking rules to bring an “urban feel.”
Stuart Emmons, an Astoria resident,
architect and planner, said Seaside has the
most stringent parking rules of Astoria,
Gearhart, Warrenton or Cannon Beach. “If
we want to bring in more affordable hous-
ing, parking is really an issue that can hold
up unit count on site,” Emmons said. “I am
very supportive of reducing parking ratios
for especially studios and one-bedrooms,
and I would even consider two bedrooms.”
There are other ways to look at poten-
tial reduction, he said, especially in areas
near public transportation.
Public Works Director Dale McDowell
said he was in favor of using underutilized
spaces in the downtown core.
McDowell warned, however, with more
cars on the street it may be more diffi cult
to clean the streets because of the turn-
ing radius of the street sweeper. “My only
comment, is how we are going to keep it
clean,” McDowell said.
Seaside’s Erick Zuber, a commer-
cial mortgage banker, said he had looked
at properties at the urban core of Seaside.
“There are some underdeveloped units,” he
said. “The people I speak with on a daily
basis, the urban feel is, people don’t need
cars. They want to walk to work, to shops
or restaurants, whether by bike or walking.”
A two-to-one parking ratio per parking
is a “little bit exorbitant,” Zuber said. “As
a developer, I think it’s in good interest
to have some safeguards for people who
want to live within their community with-
out a car.”
Festival of Trees: Foundation raises nearly $200,000
Continued from Page A1
Bethany
Stamschror,
who attended the open house
with her daughter Greta and
son Otto, said the event is a
traditional part of their holi-
day season. They especially
enjoy the cookie-decorat-
ing and story time, as well
as fi nding familiar faces in
the crowd.
“I love just seeing every-
one we know in the com-
munity in the same place
together,” Stamschror said.
The community open
house has evolved signifi -
cantly since the beginning
of the Festival of Trees
more than two decades ago.
According to Ward, the
foundation always invited
the community to come
see the trees, because they
wanted the festival to be “a
magical time for kids and
their families,” in addition
to the people attending the
gala. They also had a couple
of activities in the lobby and
a Santa Claus on hand.
Since Ward joined the
foundation fi ve years ago,
they’ve expanded the com-
munity open house to
include Candy Cane Lane,
moving activities upstairs to
facilitate future growth.
“It’s kind of blossomed
from there,” she said. “Each
year, we’re hoping to add
a different component and
make it a really cool experi-
ence for families.”
To accommodate the hun-
dreds of guests who attend
each year, the foundation
requires not only commu-
nity partners but also close
to 120 volunteers. The bulk
of the volunteers are indi-
viduals who regularly help
with tasks and activities for
the hospital. Others show up
particularly for Festival of
Trees or volunteer through
the organization sponsoring
a specifi c activity.
Most of the volunteers
“keep coming back,” said
Mark Squire, the volun-
teer coordinator, adding he
believes that’s a good indi-
cation they enjoy assisting
the festival and serving the
hundreds of locals and vis-
itors who attend. “It’s just
Commissioner Teri Carpenter said she
was “absolutely in favor” of adopting the
amendment in Seaside’s downtown core,
but said she was concerned about park-
ing limitations in other parts of Seaside. “I
have found in my opinion, lack of parking
can lead to larger problems down the road,
but I’m still excited about this downtown.”
The ordinance will return for refi ne-
ments at the Dec. 17 Planning Commis-
sion work session, and could be referred to
the City Council at the commission’s Jan-
uary meeting.
‘It’s a lot of easier to ratchet things
slowly than doing it in one fell swoop and
realizing oh gosh we’ve got an error,” Cup-
ples said. “With the push for affordable or
workforce housing, the goal is to get some-
thing designed and put on the plate.”
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Mrs. Claus reads a story to children during the Seaside Festival of Trees Community Open
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Bethany Stamschror helps
her son Otto, 4, make a
Christmas ornament on
Candy Cane Lane at the 2019
Community Open House for
Festival of Trees.
a great community-builder,
because it’s not just Seaside
that participates.”
During the event, fam-
ilies also voted for their
favorite among the donated
trees that were auctioned off
during the gala.
“We had some absolutely
beautiful trees,” Ward said.
This year, the People’s
Choice Tree was Stay and
Play in Seaside, a unique
“tree” made from a ladder
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“Merry S’more-mas,” donated by Maggie’s on the Prom
Restaurant and the Seaside Oceanfront Inn, designed by
Sadie Mercer and the Maggie’s on the Prom Crew.
and strung with elegant pur-
ple and silver ornaments.
The tree was designed by
Dawn
Fujiwara-Pavlik,
of BAMM! Promotional
Products.
The tree with the highest
bid at the evening gala and
auction was a Toast to Jan
Martin, donated by Ryan and
Stephanie Snyder of Martin
North. Jan Martin, Stepha-
nie Snyder’s mother, died
in February 2018. Jan Mar-
tin and her husband, Steve
made a signifi cant impact
in the hospitality and real
estate development indus-
tries on the North Coast and
were well-respected in the
community.
The Toast to Jan Mar-
tin tree went for $8,200,
a record at the Festival of
Trees, Ward said. Overall,
the foundation raised about
$195,000 at the gala and
auction.
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Inmates: Letting them know they’re ‘not forgotten’
YOUR #1 SOURCE FOR TIRES
Continued from Page A1
Carl and Shirley Yates
have been visiting prisons
and writing to inmates for
over 20 years. This year,
along with a crew of volun-
teers, they will be sending
between 800 to 900 cards
to people behind bars. The
incarcerated reside in cor-
rectional facilities in Cali-
fornia, Mississippi, and Ore-
gon. What started as a small
list of card recipients grew
by word of mouth. It started
with 33 women Yates began
mentoring via letter and over
time, a Christmas card list
was developed.
“The cards are designed
by David Haidle, an art-
ist,” Yates said. “The greet-
ing inside was written by his
wife, Helen. They donate
1,000 cards every year to
our nonprofi t here in Ore-
gon. Our friends and neigh-
bors get together and we
address and sign each card.”
Yates provides pointers
to her volunteers. It starts
with putting the person’s
fi rst name inside the card so
the message becomes per-
sonal and offers tips on what
kind of handwritten message
to inscribe. The messages
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Making Christmas cards at Seaside Coff ee.
are meant to be oblique but
positive. Some examples
include, “Stay strong and
may the hope of this sea-
son be yours” or “This card
is to let you know you’re not
forgotten,” or “Be encour-
aged and have a peace-fi lled
Christmas.”
Each card is signed with
the volunteer’s name. There
are stickers for the return
address, which is always
the same, the post offi ce box
for “At the Water’s Gate,”
which is the Yates’ ministry.
The mood was festive
at 7 p.m. at Seaside Cof-
fee where the proprietor,
Michelle Wunderlich, pro-
vided festive snacks to fuel
the card writers in their task.
They met for two hours.
They produced a lot of
signed and addressed cards.
“In the past, we’ve done
this at my house,” Yates
said. “It was Michelle’s idea
we do it here this year.”
For more information
about the Christmas cards
for prisoners program, con-
tact Shirley Yates at smithy-
atess@yahoo.com. Dona-
tions are always welcome to
cover postage.
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