Allen Berry has clashed with the county over a firewood stand.

The Clatsop County District Attorney’s Office will not charge a Warrenton man who was criminally cited in October after reportedly violating a county moratorium on permits for businesses operating within county rights of way.

Allen Berry has been operating a firewood stand for about three years in front of his home, which sits next to the county right of way.

After a neighborhood dispute over the firewood stand, the county Board of Commissioners decided in early October to place the moratorium.

The Warrenton Police Department issued Berry a criminal citation on Oct. 11 for criminal trespass in the second degree for allegedly continuing to run his business in the county right of way.

The Astorian typically describes criminal citations for misdemeanors or felonies as arrests — even if a suspect is not physically taken into custody or to jail — to distinguish criminal citations from violations.

Berry, who is running for the Warrenton City Commission in the November election, contends he did not break the law and that the incident was a misunderstanding. He also objected to the newspaper describing the criminal citation as an arrest.

He thanked District Attorney Ron Brown for taking the time to listen to him and for examining the situation.

“Now I will fight to get all firewood stands back in business for it’s a tradition that has been active in our community nearly 90 years,” Berry said in an email. “I will fight for it the same as I would fight for the people if elected as City Commissioner Seat 1: hard, honest and with integrity.”

The county, in an email, said, “The county is continuing to work with Mr. Berry to help him understand where the county right of way is and that during the moratorium no business is to be conducted within the right of way.”