Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Designated Campsite topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Astoria council pauses on campsite selection after hours of public comment
Summary
City staff presented two finalists for a managed campsite—2nd Street (Pacific Power parking lot) and Taylor Avenue—but residents and several councilors raised safety, environmental and process concerns; council took no final vote and asked staff to revisit site selection and ordinance changes.
Astoria’s City Council spent much of its April 20 meeting reviewing two finalist locations for a proposed managed campsite for people experiencing homelessness, hearing more than two hours of public comment before stopping short of selecting a site.
Staff presented criteria the council adopted earlier this spring—proximity to services or transit, water and utility access, emergency-vehicle access, distance from residential zones, and a setup cost target under $200,000—and said it vetted 16 properties before identifying two finalists: the Pacific Power/Chevron parking lot on 2nd Street and a Taylor Avenue location by the roundabout. City staff estimated setup costs at roughly $70,000–$110,000 for the 2nd Street lot and about $200,000 for Taylor Avenue; capacity estimates were about 34 and 31 campsites, respectively.
The public comment period was dominated by opposition. Residents and business owners raised repeated concerns about traffic, wind and noise at the Taylor site, environmental contamination and proximity to residences and businesses at the 2nd Street lot, and economic impacts on downtown tourism. “There’s no positive outcome to these tent cities,” property owner Tyler Veil told the council. Several speakers urged the city to pursue Housing First strategies, county coordination, or alternative sites outside the downtown gateway.
Council members pressed staff on practical obstacles. Councilor Davis highlighted site-control issues—one finalist requires a long-term lease, the other sits at the edge of residential zoning and near a multiyear lift-station construction project that could interfere with access. Councilor Conklin said safety and visibility were paramount and said she had been "leaning more towards Taylor Avenue" for safety reasons but acknowledged the site’s drawbacks. Several councilors said they were not prepared to approve either site that night.
Mayor Fitzpatrick closed public comment after roughly two hours and summarized the council’s takeaway: the two proposed sites were imperfect and not ready for approval. The council agreed it needs to revisit both the process used to identify candidate properties and the city’s camping ordinance to ensure any enforcement strategy would be legally defensible and enforceable if a designated campsite is created. Staff said a work session could be scheduled to review process options and ordinance revisions.
The council did not take a formal vote to select a site. Instead it signaled a preference to pause and return with more options and clearer management and lease strategies before moving forward.
