Manzanita council enacts dark sky ordinance

The Manzanita City Council approved a dark sky ordinance that will regulate the city’s residential areas at their meeting on May 8.

The council also voted to give City Manager Leila Aman a 3% pay raise and increase her severance, citing her strong performance.

The meeting began with an update on the in-progress city hall and police station construction at Underhill Plaza.

Jason Stegner from Cove Built LLC, the construction manager and general contractor leading the project, told the council that there had been an error during the surveying process that led to the misplacement of seismic pilings. Stegner said that subcontractors from Onion Peak had accidentally placed markers for the pilings about ten feet east of their intended locations and only recognized the problem after the pilings had been sunk.

However, Stegner said that the firm was responding admirably, immediately accepting full responsibility for the error and helping to work on a solution. Fortunately, the company that had placed the pilings was able to return within 24 hours of the discovery of the problem to begin working on a solution. Fixing the problem will require an additional 22 piles and delay the project by about a week.

Stegner said that the delay would not cause major issues as the project had two contingency weeks built into the schedule and been ahead of pace prior to the incident. Stegner also said that the error would allow the city to take advantage of the extraneous pilings if it ever wished to do more construction to the east of the police station.

The dark sky ordinance will require all outdoor lighting in residential areas of the city to be shielded, that landscape lighting shine downwards, that patio lights not be brighter than 3,000 kelvins and that security lights be activated by motion detectors. The ordinance also prohibits light from one property falling beyond that property’s line and includes an allowance for holiday lighting.

Several councilors and public commenters asked questions about potential loopholes raised by the lack of definition of holidays in the ordinance and time limit for motion-activated lights and one asked why the ordinance didn’t apply to Laneda Avenue.

Other councilors said that the ordinance represented a starting point for the city’s dark sky efforts and that it could not address all eventualities but was a good step forward. Aman confirmed that the ordinance could be updated in the future to address concerns that might arise and the council unanimously approved its passage. The ordinance will take effect on June 7.

The pay bump for Aman will see her salary increase to $149,319 and severance in the case of a not-for-cause termination increased from six to nine months of pay.

Council President Linda Kozlowski floated the pay bump, pointing to the recent grant award of $2.7 million for wastewater infrastructure from the state, commencement of the long-delayed city hall and police station project, and glowing reviews by council as precipitating factors. She also shared the results of an informal compensation study undertaken by Mayor Kathryn Stock that showed the managers of Cannon Beach and Seaside were both making more than $160,000 annually.

Other councilors agreed with Stock that Aman’s performance had been exemplary and said that they supported the raise and increased severance to show their appreciation and commitment.

Council also approved permits for the city’s annual Fourth of July Parade, a celebration of pride month at Yolk restaurant and the Nest Fest music festival.

The parade will have a theme of Soar Fourth and more information and entry forms can be found on its website.

The pride celebration will consist of a DJ playing music in the restaurant’s internal courtyard from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the last Saturday and Sunday of June.

Nest Fest will take place on July 7, from noon to 9 p.m. on a property at the corner of Division and Manzanita. The property owner hosted a similar, informal event last year and said that there will be live music with all proceeds from ticket sales going to paying the artists.