Hotelier prevails in permit dispute with the city

Oct. 11—A controversial hotel project on the riverfront may be back on track following a ruling by the state Land Use Board of Appeals.

In an opinion in late September, the appeals board reversed a decision by the Astoria City Council to deny Hollander Hospitality's request for a one-year extension on building permits for a Fairfield Inn and Suites. The state has ordered the city to grant the request.

The appeals board argued that city leaders imposed requirements that are inconsistent with or not spelled out in the city's code in order to deny Hollander's request. The state determined the city's decision "was outside the range of discretion allowed it under its code."

Astoria is investigating an appeal, City Attorney Blair Henningsgaard said.

"The ramifications include the requirement that the city interpret its ordinance the way that LUBA did, but it is not clear from either opinion exactly what that means," he said.

Mark Hollander, the president and CEO of Hollander Hospitality, could not be reached for comment.

Hollander hopes to build a four-story, 90-room Hilton-brand hotel at the base of Second Street on the site of the former Ship Inn restaurant.

But the proposal from the Bellingham, Washington, hotel management company caused consternation among some in the community who questioned the need for another large, chain hotel along the waterfront and worried about the impact to river views. Hearings on the hotel occurred as the city revived discussions about tighter development rules for riverfront properties.

The City Council approved Hollander's project at the end of 2018. The company applied for a one-year extension before permits related to the hotel were set to expire last December, but was denied. Hollander appealed the matter to the Land Use Board of Appeals, which sent the decision back to the City Council for review. City councilors again denied Hollander's request, so the company again appealed to the state.

In arguments before the appeals board, Hollander claimed poor economic conditions tied to the coronavirus pandemic were a factor in the request for a permit extension. Hollander also expressed concern about shifting city codes and expectations for waterfront development. Hollander wanted to pause plans for the hotel to better evaluate the implications of the city's new codes.

The city pushed back against Hollander's assertion of economic hardship. Henningsgaard argued that Hollander applied for the extension before the full economic force of the pandemic could be felt and had done nothing to advance construction at the site for more than a year prior to the request for an extension.

At the same time, other hotel projects in Astoria continued to move forward, Henningsgaard noted.

In the earlier decision the state had sent back to the City Council, the appeals board said the city needed to address Hollander's argument about poor market conditions. To compare the project to other hotel projects which continued to progress even during the pandemic — such as the Bowline Hotel, which involved the renovation of an old fish processing building near Buoy Beer Co. — was not relevant, the state said.