Friday, March 12, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A5 Campus: Opportunity is ‘second to none’ Continued from Page A1 opportunity for a new cam- pus outside of the inunda- tion zone. Dougherty helped drive community support — along with the addition of impassioned student voices — for a vote again in 2016. In a 65% to 35% vote, residents endorsed the $99.7 million plan to replace schools at an 80-acre loca- tion on Spruce Drive above Seaside Heights Elementary School. “We’ve been working on this for almost 30 years,” Dougherty said. “It’s a proj- ect that fi rst started out slowly. It got a lot of local attention, then national attention, and it was very helpful. But it really was the community that came around and made this a real- ity for the next generations.” Roberts called the new school “remarkable, one of a kind, a testament to the com- munity and an incredible commitment to our kids.” “We are lucky to live in a place that continues to sup- port its kids through their checkbooks — through taxes and operating lev- ies, all these things,” he said. “It’s a special place for everybody, regardless if they have a kid in the build- ing or not. That’s why this is such an incredible com- munity. We’ve already had kids returning to school — sixth, seventh, eighth grad- ers returned in the last two weeks — and their excite- ment over their new learn- ing spaces. Having roofs that don’t leak, having desks that fi t, tons of natural light. Directory ELECTRICAL • New Construction • Remodels • Panel Changes & Upgrades R.J. Marx Bob Mitchell, Seaside’s director of building and code enforcement, presents the building certifi cate of occupancy to Seaside School District Superintendent Susan Penrod. It’s brought a smile to a lot of their faces and it’s good to be here.” He pointed to the oppor- tunity that awaited them as “second to none.” By NICOLE BALES The Astorian Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian Vacation rentals in Arch Cape are required to book minimum seven-night stays. quality of life. Many of the complaints deal with noise, parking and overcrowding. Other complaints are out of the county’s control. Vacation rental owners have described their efforts to be good neighbors and encourage their guests to do the same. “And they also have con- cerns about possible changes to the ordinance that may impact how they do business or even possibly eliminate the possibility of them doing business,” Henrikson said. There are two county ordinances that regulate vacation rentals. One is spe- cifi c to Arch Cape, while the other covers the remaining unincorporated parts of the county. Both are similar, but have a couple of key differ- ences regarding parking and length-of-stay requirements. The Arch Cape ordinance requires a minimum sev- “When we stood down there and broke ground, we knew it was big,” school board president Mark Truax added. “But it was a lot big- ger than we thought it was.” en-night stay, and only one reservation is allowed during a seven-day period. Street parking is not allowed. There is no limit or minimum stay requirement for other unin- corporated areas, and street parking is allowed. Commissioners directed staff to set parameters and a scope of work for an ad hoc committee to help com- bine and reconcile the two ordinances. “Those would be the two big areas where we would need to have a committee to look at it and determine how best to reconcile,” Hen- rikson said. “Whether it’s taking one of the ordinance provisions and recommend- ing that to be adopted or just creating some sort of com- promise between the two ordinances.” The board’s guid- ance on other questions could be drafted as amend- ments. Some of those ques- tions include whether there should be a “three-strikes rule” — requiring staff to revoke a vacation rental per- mit after three complaints — and penalties for people who knowingly submit false complaints. Some policy items were provided as a starting point for future discussions, including questions about capping short-term rentals, prohibiting them in certain parts of the county and how the lodging tax is utilized. Henrikson said those items will not be included in the revisions to the ordi- nances at this time. “It was so clear to me how much everybody who wrote cared about this issue,” said Commissioner Lianne Thompson, who represents South County. “Every sin- gle person has this passion- ate devotion to community well-being. There is not a consensus on what that com- munity well-being looks like, how it’s defi ned, none of it. There’s no agreement. “My concern about estab- lishing a committee would be it would have to have a purview where it looked at what was state law, what were the sidebars. I’ve seen some things with cit- izen advisory committees that have caused me great concern. “There have been a num- ber of proposals that have been in clear violation of state law and have been termed ‘aspirational.’ Well, I don’t have an aspiration to break the state law, and I think it doesn’t help the sit- uation when anybody thinks that their will or their whim or their idea or their pas- sion, however we want to characterize it, can have the force of state law or county ordinance.” Clatsop WORKS accepting applications By EMILY LINDBLOM Coast River Business Journal Students looking for sum- mer work experience can connect to employers from multiple local industries through Clatsop Community College’s Clatsop WORKS program. High school and college students ages 16 and older can apply now for these paid internships. Ryan Stanley, coordinator of Clatsop WORKS as well as Cooperative Work Experi- ence at the college, said Clat- sop WORKS is a low-risk way for students to explore different fi elds with the option to change their minds about what they want to pursue. For example, one student who planned on going into health- care ended up doing a social media internship and loved it. The program also includes six to eight professional development and networking sessions throughout the sum- mer, done over Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic. Leaders in lumber, manufac- turing, personal fi nance, con- struction and other industries present about a variety of top- ics to help students develop their workforce skills. • Add Circuits or Lighting CCB #198257 County tackles South County rental rules During a county Board of Commissioners work ses- sion in February, the county set the table for discussions, laying out ways to tighten short-term rental ordinances as well as potential policies to consider down the road. Cities on the North Coast have struggled to balance the growth in vacation rentals as the region becomes a more popular tourist destination. Pockets of the county have also felt the same pressures. Many of the questions and policy suggestions came out of quarterly commu- nity discussions the county started hosting last summer. The virtual discussions began in Cove Beach in July to promote dialogue after strife over vacation rentals. The meetings were expanded to Arch Cape and Clatsop Plains. Gail Henrikson, the coun- ty’s community develop- ment director, said the meet- ings were an opportunity to explain how the code com- pliance process works and how they prioritize and address complaints. “It was also a chance for us to hear all of the concerns that we were getting on a piecemeal basis, but just to (create) a community- wide dialogue so everybody was hearing the same thing at the same time,” she said. “And then by hearing that, it also gave staff a chance to begin to identify areas in the ordinance where we needed to make revisions to help us better implement and enforce it.” During the commu- nity meetings, residents explained how short-term rentals have impacted their BUSINESS “I’ve been here for 10 years and it’s hard for stu- dents to understand what opportunities are here for them after high school or col- lege,” Stanley said. “We’re able to fi ll that void and create that opportunity for students in a way that complements their skills and sets them up for success in their careers and beyond.” Kevin Leahy, director of the college’s Small Business Clatsop WORKS Development Center and Clatsop Economic Develop- Interns tour a Hampton Lumber mill. ment Resources, said the area has many more job oppor- ships. Leahy said the steering plan to participate again this tunities than when he was committee decided to open year. Clatsop WORKS to both high “When host employers growing up here. take students on, they get “Unless your parents school and college students. Funding comes from the to train and develop them owned a business or were in government or law enforce- local school districts, the and can hire them when the ment, there were not a lot of college and the Northwest internship ends or after their career options here,” Leahy Regional Education Services high school or college,” Stan- ley said. “We work with as said. “I’ve seen how much District. “It continues to grow and many sectors of the economy that has evolved in Clatsop County. We have tourism gives students opportunities as possible to help students but also forest products, fi sh- that are unparalleled,” Leahy fi nd work and also to fi ll gaps local businesses are looking ing, medical — a lot of what said. Leahy added the employ- for.” makes us who we are and we Student applications are want to transfer that to our ers have been very engaged in helping the students gain accepted now through 5 p.m. youth.” Clatsop WORKS began work experience and train- on April 16 via clatsopworks. four years ago and is mod- ing, and the employers get a com. The employer applica- eled after the McMinnville tremendous return on their tion deadline is June 1 and the internships are expected WORKS Internship Program, investment. Several of the businesses to run from mid-to-late June which connects Linfi eld Uni- versity students with intern- involved in the 2020 program through mid-August. CALL US for your next electrical project! • Generators • Repairs 503-739-7145 712 S. 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