Saturday, April 5, 2008

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