Some issues
I hope to start blogging more regularly. I want to highlight issues in Astoria and the surrounds, but generally talk about my days.
Two issues I talked about with my city council representative lately are:
1) The Youngs Bay Landing development project
This started out as a way to make an electric power substation into a publicly accessible area on the south side of the Astoria hill, bordering Youngs Bay. It has turned into a big-city type development, like so many I've seen in Seattle, Portland and elsewhere. Great in those larger cities, but here in Astoria, way out of scale. My council rep agreed, but hinted that he would vote to open up the development process anyway. I'm quite worried that the powers that be here are making our little town into a small version of a big city. It fits the model where a lot of our population are folks that are coming here to escape the big city, but can't do without the perks. I hope to keep pushing for a more reasonable development pattern in this area (as elsewhere), to preserve the rural character there and to keep developers in check. Perhaps a needs assessment is necessary before this kind of speculative development is started.
2) Riverwalk foliage maintenance
I noticed people cutting down trees and bushes by the riverfront in the east part of town the other day, and tried to get the scoop on whether this was legal. I called several people at the city administration, and they couldn't tell me who owns the property by the riverfront, by the riverwalk. My council rep seems to think this is private property. I find it hard to believe that this property can be private, since it directly borders a major river, and needs to be maintained to enhance the river/land boundary (the reason the landowner said he was doing the clearing). I hope this incident prompts a general look at the riverfront flora, and suggested to my council rep that we form a volunteer team to work on restoring the necessary flora to enhance the riparian ecosystem there. Between sewer outflows, trash, large concrete blocks, weeds and former structures, the riverfront area needs a lot of help. I will continue to push for more attention to this area, and try to get a take on who owns it and how it fits in with Columbia River management and regulations.
Two issues I talked about with my city council representative lately are:
1) The Youngs Bay Landing development project
This started out as a way to make an electric power substation into a publicly accessible area on the south side of the Astoria hill, bordering Youngs Bay. It has turned into a big-city type development, like so many I've seen in Seattle, Portland and elsewhere. Great in those larger cities, but here in Astoria, way out of scale. My council rep agreed, but hinted that he would vote to open up the development process anyway. I'm quite worried that the powers that be here are making our little town into a small version of a big city. It fits the model where a lot of our population are folks that are coming here to escape the big city, but can't do without the perks. I hope to keep pushing for a more reasonable development pattern in this area (as elsewhere), to preserve the rural character there and to keep developers in check. Perhaps a needs assessment is necessary before this kind of speculative development is started.
2) Riverwalk foliage maintenance
I noticed people cutting down trees and bushes by the riverfront in the east part of town the other day, and tried to get the scoop on whether this was legal. I called several people at the city administration, and they couldn't tell me who owns the property by the riverfront, by the riverwalk. My council rep seems to think this is private property. I find it hard to believe that this property can be private, since it directly borders a major river, and needs to be maintained to enhance the river/land boundary (the reason the landowner said he was doing the clearing). I hope this incident prompts a general look at the riverfront flora, and suggested to my council rep that we form a volunteer team to work on restoring the necessary flora to enhance the riparian ecosystem there. Between sewer outflows, trash, large concrete blocks, weeds and former structures, the riverfront area needs a lot of help. I will continue to push for more attention to this area, and try to get a take on who owns it and how it fits in with Columbia River management and regulations.
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