A4 • Friday, July 9, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
SignalViewpoints
With big investment,
state seeks local action
on homelessness
Legislation aims to provide alternative shelter, assistance
SEEN FROM SEASIDE
R.J. MARX
Restrooms, showers, transportation. They
seem like basic needs, but for the unsheltered
and homeless, they are out of reach.
Oregon State Legislature House Bill 2006
requires local governments to approve appli-
cations for emergency shelter, regardless of
any land use laws, if the application meets the
criteria in the bill, League of Oregon Cities’
Ariel Nelson said.
Emergency shelters must be located within
an urban growth boundary or area zoned for
rural residential use; comply with applica-
ble building codes; and include sleeping
and restroom facilities and adequate trans-
portation access to commercial and medical
services.
“This is in recognition that oftentimes our
state land use process that’s implemented
at the local level has provided a barrier for
when we’re looking to quickly approve or
site things like aff ordable housing and shel-
ter,” Nelson, a lobbyist and lawyer, said at
Seaside’s fourth forum on homelessness, held
at the Seaside Civic and Convention Center
last week.
The 2021 legislative session was a land-
mark for housing and homelessness, Nelson
said. The Legislature approved a combined
$765 million dollars for aff ordable, perma-
nent housing, homeless services, tenant sup-
port and more.
The need is acute, and not just in the big
cities, Nelson said.
Twenty-fi ve percent of people experienc-
ing homelessness are in the Portland metro
area. The rest are around the state, with the
majority of that population — more than
3,000 people — in coastal counties and in
southern Oregon, Nelson said. Coastal coun-
ties also see large concentrations of chil-
dren living on their own or experiencing
homelessness.
At an earlier forum, Amy Baker, the exec-
utive director of Clatsop Behavioral Health-
care, said Clatsop County has “by far” the
greatest per capita rate of homelessness of
any Oregon county.
House Bill 3115 aims to protect unshel-
tered Oregonians from fi nes or arrest for
sleeping or camping on public property when
there are no other options.
The bill says that any city or county law
that regulates “the acts of sitting, lying, sleep-
ing, or keeping warm and dry outside on pub-
lic property must be objectively reasonable,
based on the totality of the circumstances as
House Bill 2006 establishes new guidelines for emergency shelter.
R.J. Marx
Mayor Jay Barber and Ariel Nelson of the
League of Oregon Cities.
applied to all stakeholders, including persons
experiencing homelessness.”
The bill will bring more clarity to city ordi-
nances that regulate these activities, Nelson
said, clearly saying where and when camping
activities are allowed and where they’re not.
“It recognizes that what’s objectively rea-
sonable is going to look diff erent in diff erent
communities,” she said. “It’s going to look
diff erent for a community like Seaside with
your diff erent factors, your size, than what’s
going to make sense in Portland, in Medford,
or the eastern side of the state.”
Cities and counties must comply by July
2023.
House Bill 3124, a change to an exist-
ing law, says that if local government or law
enforcement is going to sweep or remove
people from an established campsite, they
have to provide more advanced notice.
“That used to be 24 hours, and that’s now
been extended to 72 hours to post notice,”
Nelson said.
House Bill 2100 looks at modernizing
City Councilor Tita Montero, Barber and Nelson at last week’s homelessness forum.
Oregon’s homelessness system in how state
and federal funds are disbursed around the
state.
This was the fourth and fi nal forum in
this series, presented by Mayor Jay Bar-
ber and City Councilor Tita Montero. With
information from the events, the city intends
to develop strategies to address the home-
less in Seaside.
“Whatever we do going forward, it’s going
to require a number of groups and organiza-
tions working together and not-for-profi t
groups, churches, with the city, the county, all
of us working together,” Barber said. “It is not
something that a single group can deal with
and solve.”
PUBLIC MEETINGS
SaltLine wins Travel & Leisure, philanthropy honors
Contact local agencies for latest meeting
information and attendance guidelines.
MONDAY, JULY 12
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., cityofseaside.us.
TUESDAY, JULY 19
“When we check into hotels, we rarely
think of the owners whose entrepreneur-
ial spirit has created the luxurious accom-
modations we immerse ourselves in. And
for Asian American hoteliers, bringing their
visions to life often comes with a unique set
of challenges.”
So wrote journalist Rachel Chang in the
June issue of Travel & Leisure. The mag-
azine selected “13 Amazing Asian Amer-
ican-owned Hotels in the U.S,” a list that
includes Seaside’s SaltLine Hotel.
“We were very fortunate to get the honor
because Travel & Leisure magazine is one
of the leaders in the industry,” co-owner
and manager director Masudur Khan said.
“During the pandemic, everybody worked
really hard and it all came together.”
He said the hotel, which opened one year
ago, is almost 100% sold out every night.
Khan, who grew up in Bangladesh and
moved to the United States when he was 28,
is chairman of the board of directors of the
Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association,
a position he will hold until August.
In addition to honors for SaltLine, Khan
was the Asian American Hotel Owners recip-
ient of the Outreach Award for Philanthropy.
Khan and employees of Seaside Lodging
have contributed to Distressed Children
and Infants International, a U.S.-based non-
profi t organization established at Yale Uni-
versity in 2003 and headquartered in Cam-
bridge, Massachusetts. The group supports
initiatives for children in Bangladesh, India,
Nepal, and Nicaragua.
Seaside Planning Commission, 6 p.m., 989
Broadway.
TUESDAY, JULY 20
Seaside Planning Commission, 6 p.m., work
session, 989 Broadway.
Gearhart Small Business Committee,
6 p.m., www.cityofgearhart.com.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 21
Seaside Tourism Advisory Committee,
3 p.m., 989 Broadway.
Gearhart Parks Master Plan Citizens Advi-
sory Committee, www.cityofgearhart.com.
R.J. Marx photos
ABOVE: Staff of the SaltLine Hotel in Seaside. The hotel was named by Travel & Leisure magazine
one of the 13 top hotels owned by Asian Americans. BELOW: Clarann Register, Tazkyah Khan,
Rida Kauser, Masudur Khan and Asran Farooqui.
PUBLISHER
EDITOR
R.J. Marx
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., 989 Broadway.
TUESDAY, JULY 27
Seaside Airport Advisory Committee,
6 p.m., 989 Broadway.
Gearhart City Council and Small Business
Committee work session, 6:30 p.m., www.
cityofgearhart.com.
TUESDAY, AUG. 3
Seaside Community Center Commission,
10 a.m., 1225 Avenue A.
Seaside Library Board of Directors,
4:30 p.m., 1131 Broadway St.
Seaside Planning Commission, 6 p.m., 989
Broadway.
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 4
Seaside Improvement Commission, 6 p.m.,
989 Broadway.
CIRCULATION
MANAGER
Shannon Arlint
ADVERTISING
SALES MANAGER
Sarah Silver-
Tecza
Kari Borgen
MONDAY, JULY 26
PRODUCTION
MANAGER
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
John D. Bruijn
Skyler Archibald
Joshua Heineman
Katherine Lacaze
Esther Moberg
SYSTEMS
MANAGER
Carl Earl
Seaside Signal
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