OUR 114th Year
May 14, 2021 $1.00
SEASIDESIGNAL.COM
WORKSHOP FOCUSES ON
DOWNTOWN PARKING
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Got parking?
That was the question business
leaders wrestled with at a workshop
last Tuesday at the Seaside Civic and
Convention Center hosted by Seaside
city councilors David Posalski and
Randy Frank.
“What I want to hear is what are
businesses and the community’s per-
ception that are issues with parking
here in Seaside?” Posalski asked.
The city’s last parking study was
done in 2003 and 2004, he said. “Nine-
ty-six percent of them felt parking was
a problem, and that was 17 years ago,”
Posalski said.
Calling it a systemic problem,
Posalski asked for a long-term view.
“Where are we going to be in 10 years?
And how are we going to deal with it?
Because at least with the trends that
I’ve seen, in the 10 years I’ve been
here, it’s gotten worse every year.”
Attendees agreed on a lack of
spaces in walking distance of down-
town for visitors and residents alike,
not only during the visitor season but
throughout the year. Remedies cen-
tered on a multilevel parking structure,
paid parking options, off -site park-
ing and shuttles. Solutions included
greater use of the upper level of the
WorldMark Seaside parking lot, more
clearly marked signage throughout
town and in parking lots, parking areas
outside of the downtown area and
shuttles to shopping and the beach.
“I was here during the 2003 sur-
vey,” Susan Deshon, of the Carousel
Mall, said. “The problems have not
changed, they have been augmented.”
Deshon said RVs and buses seek-
ing to fi nd spaces have been problem-
atic during an “astronomically busy
time” for downtown during the coro-
navirus pandemic.
Bus parking will only worsen, said
Keith Chandler, general manger of the
Seaside Aquarium. “We haven’t had
the problem because we don’t have the
groups that we have normally, because
there’s no school. When school gets
back in session, all those bus drivers
are going to park right downtown,”
Chandler said.
Jeff Ter Har, owner of Ter Har’s,
a clothing store, proposed an app
that could provide available parking
options to tourists and residents.
Workshop participants suggested
parking at a location outside of the
downtown area, possibly at the former
Broadway Middle School, the former
Seaside High School or an area east of
U.S. Highway 101, with a “park and
ride” to bring people downtown.
There are 160 parking spots in the
WorldMark lot and 225 in the conven-
tion center parking lot, Frank said.
More spots could come with a new
multilevel parking garage on the site
of the convention center parking lot.
“The answer is we need more spots,”
Seaside’s Greg Peterson said. “When
we do, we get a lot of structure in the
back here two, three, four levels? I
know that’s a big price tag, but how do
we solve it?”
See Parking, Page A3
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Aerial view of property in the Highlands off ered as
part of a potential land exchange.
Gearhart zeroes
in on Highlands
fi rehouse site
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Gearhart City Attorney Peter Watts provided
an update on a shift in direction for the city’s
proposed fi rehouse and resiliency station.
“It really feels like everything’s falling
together,” Watts said at last Wednesday’s City
Council meeting. “I am working on putting
together a written agreement regarding the Cot-
tages property, which is where we will be put-
ting our fi rehouse.”
He said he expects to have the agreement
ready for the council’s review at their next
meeting.
The city is working with planners to bring
the 30-acre Cottages at Gearhart subdivision
off of Highlands Lane into the city’s urban
See Firehouse, Page A3
Gearhart presents
new budget, poised
for federal funds
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
R.J. Marx
Even in the middle of the week, all spots are taken on Broadway.
Gearhart responds to mismatched pipe lawsuit
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
A lawsuit against Gearhart over a
homeowner’s mismatched pipes moved
ahead in Clatsop County Circuit Court.
The city fi led a response April 27, stat-
ing the complaint fails to “assert ulti-
mate facts suffi cient to constitute a claim
for relief against the city.”
“There’s no easy solution to the prob-
lem,” City Attorney Peter Watts said at
last Wednesday’s City Council meeting.
The complaint, fi led in Circuit Court,
claims that Gearhart is responsible for
mismatched stormwater pipes off set by 5
inches, causing water to escape from the
gap in the pipes, which created a sink-
hole on Julie Hamilton’s Fifer Heights
Road property.
Hamilton wants $50,000 in dam-
ages and the city to permanently repair
the mismatched pipes. The city contin-
uously foregoes fi xing the root of the
issue in favor of cheap, temporary mea-
sures that do not last, Hamilton said in
court documents.
Watts said that the system was engi-
neered before the property was annexed
into the city. The developer was likely
responsible but sold the property and is
now deceased.
“We are sympathetic to the home-
owner,” Watts said. “There is no obvi-
ous solution, but the good news is that
our insurance carrier is handling it, so
we don’t have to worry about it quite as
much.”
Gearhart released its 2021 to 2022 budget last
week, showing $2.57 million in resources, up
about 8% from last year’s $2 million budget.
The budget committee met last Thursday to
review the proposed budget and to consider rev-
enue sharing funds to area nonprofi ts.
The general fund anticipated resources for the
fi scal year of almost $2.6 million, City Adminis-
trator Chad Sweet said in presenting the budget.
The city’s municipal tax rate remains the same at
$1.53 cents per $1,000. A 3.9% increase of city
tax revenue is a result of new development in
2020 and 2021 and increased property values.
“We were a little surprised by how the econ-
omy fared this last fi scal year,” Sweet said.
“Looking forward, factors such as pent-up travel
demand, interest rate relief funds, supply chain
housing and material prices will factor into the
next fi scal year.”
This year’s budget is unique in that the city is
set to receive $330,000 from the American Res-
cue Plan approved by Congress, Sweet said.
The funds may be used for infrastructure, plan-
ning and emergency response.
The city’s transient room tax is budgeted at
$380,000, a $130,000 increase. “Last year the
TRT was underestimated, not anticipating COVID
would increase traveling to Gearhart,” Sweet said.
See Budget, Page A3
Brown, longtime Seaside educator, to retire
By KATHERINE LACAZE
Seaside Signal
Since
1990,
Sande
Brown has fi lled a vari-
ety of roles in the Seaside
School District: teacher,
assistant principal, prin-
cipal and, most recently,
director for curriculum and
the English as a second lan-
guage program.
“They were all the right
place to be at that point in
time,” she said. “I loved
being with students, I loved
being principal. ... I love
the three communities:
Gearhart, Cannon Beach
and Seaside.”
At diff erent times, she
was principal of all three of
the school district’s elemen-
tary schools, including the
former Cannon Beach Ele-
mentary School and Gear-
hart Elementary School.
“I’ve been really lucky
to work in areas I’m pas-
sionate about,” Brown said.
Now, she is preparing to
move into full-time retire-
ment. Her resignation,
which is eff ective June 30,
was approved by the school
board in March.
Brown originally retired
in 2016 before accepting
her part-time position for
what she intended to be
six years. Her retirement at
that time felt diff erent than
it does now — less fi nal.
When she fi rst retired, she
was exhausted, but “not
really done with educa-
tion,” she said.
“I thought I could be a
part of education and make
change in education from
a diff erent perspective,”
Brown said.
One part of her job has
been to choose new cur-
riculum. Each year, school
districts in Oregon adopt
new curricula for a partic-
ular content area that they
can use for the next seven
years. Eventually, they
cycle through each subject.
On top of that, Brown
has been responsible for
coordinating music, art,
English language arts and
summer programs, as well
as science, technology,
engineering and mathemat-
ics programs. She has also
worked with those involved
in English as a second lan-
guage and eff orts to develop
partnerships with external
agencies.
Katherine Lacaze
See Brown, Page A6 Sande Brown is retiring from the Seaside School District.