An Affront to the Waterfront

I noticed the following article in The Daily Astorian on Friday, and it really struck a nerve.

I thought the good ol' boyz (and girls) in town handed Jon Englund a slam-dunk for his "you owe it to me" 4-story grab of Astoria's waterfront view.

But it never dawned on me that even tho the view got sold down (or up) the river by the locals, that there might be a court of appeal. Apparently there is.

Don't know about you, but I'll sure as hell be writing. Unless you want the Astoria waterfront to look like the picture above, courtesy of LNG and condos, of course.

The Daily Astorian
April 4, 2008

Corps seeks comments on Englund plan

Volume of comments will determine if a public hearing is held on the project

The developers of the proposed Englund Pier condominiums have applied to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a permit for the project, which is to be built on pilings in the Columbia River between 15th and 16th streets.

It will consist of a three-story building and a four-story building, with a boardwalk located between them.If approved, the permit would allow developers to demolish the old Englund Marine building and expand the existing dock by 68,000 square feet over the river by installing an additional 320 steel piles to support two housing buildings and a public boardwalk pier.

The steel piles would be 24-inches in diameter and 60 feet long, and would be driven approximately 53 feet below the ordinary high water line.

The Corps is seeking comments from the public, as well as from federal, state and local agencies and officials, Indian Tribes and other interested parties. The Corps uses comments to help determine whether to issue or deny a permit or to impose conditions or modify the permit.

Comments are also used in preparing an Environmental Assessment and/or an Environmental Impact Statement. Comments are also used to determine the overall public interest in the proposed project and whether a public hearing should be held.

• For additional information, phone Tina Teed at (503) 808-4384 or send an e-mail to her at tina.j.teed@usace.army.mil or log on to: https://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/op/g/docs/notices/NWP-2007-929.pdf to see the entire public notice for permit application.

The deadline for comments to be received by the Corps is May 2

More Info

Written comments should reference Corps of Engineers Action ID: NWP-2007-929 and should be addressed to:

U.S. Army Corps of EngineersAttn: CENWP-OP-GP (Tina Teed)
P.O. Box 2946
Portland, OR 97208-2946

DeLaura Who?

The other day I was talking to someone who has lived here in Astoria for 20 years, and she had no clue that DeLaura Beach in Warrenton is really a beach, as in ocean front property. She couldn't figure out what the fuss was about the Clatsop County Commissioners trying to sell it to the highest bidder instead of just keeping it as part of the county or selling it to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.

No, I'm not making this up. I was astounded. I had to go to the computer, dredge up a map of the property and show her.

Then she was astounded.

Which made me wonder how many more people there are out there in Clatsop County who have no clue what a treasure this piece of land is, and how important it is that it remain as public land.

Just take a look:

DeLaura Beach

I can only hope that the recall of commissioner Richard Lee is successful, and it rattles three of the other commissioners enough to think twice about what they're doing.

They have a responsibility to pay attention to what their constituents want, although they appear to be willfully ignorant, and willfully intransigent. They need a wake-up call.

Selling one of Clatsop County's legacies to the highest bidder is totally unacceptable.

Never on Sunday?

Well, it looks like there's a new gorilla on the horizon in the outdoor market biz: Grays Harbor Street Market in Aberdeen, Wash.

I got an email this morning asking me if I'd be interested in vending there on weekends from the market manager. They'll be running Saturdays and Sundays from May to October, starting late enough for plenty of time to get up there and set up without getting up at 4 a.m.

The manager had some pretty compelling statistics ... Astoria gets only 3,000 passing through on a regular market day (I think that's a very high estimate), whereas Aberdeen gets an average of 17,000, minimum, as people pass through on their way to the northern beaches. And of course, the Grays Harbor market will be right on US 101.

All of which made me ponder the Astoria Sunday Market once more. Why do I even do it? Aside from the fact that it's conveniently located for me, that is.

There's little foot traffic, there's favoritism on the part of market management (ask any vendor who hasn't puckered up to kiss ass about that one), there are too many vendors for such a small amount of consumer traffic, and the vendors have absolutely no say in what goes on, since its a monarchy. I mean, where's the plus side, aside from convenience?

Last year I had high hopes for the Longview, Wash. Saturday market. No soap. They had a great location, but they forgot one essential detail ... they didn't advertise, so nobody had a friggin' clue they even existed. One Saturday in August, I was driving through Longview, and was there even ONE stinking sign saying there was a market and how to get to it? You'd think the city would have sprung for one billboard or something. Nope. Nada. Forget it.

The market in Ilwaco, Wash., is run by a wonderful lady, Sharon Saunders, who actually cares about her vendors (a small miracle, right there). But the disadvantage is that the market is directly on the waterfront and subject to whatever happens to blow in off the Pacific Ocean. Which could be one, or several, squalls a day, and there's no protection for the vendors' tents or merchandise. I've already had one tent torqued beyond help over there.

So hello, Aberdeen, I'll give it a shot. At least people passing through can't miss the damn thing, and it's not right on the water.