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Public commenter presses Coos Bay planning panel on child safety, bike lanes and plastic pollution
Summary
An unnamed resident urged the commission to prioritize child safety and bicycle infrastructure, described a local pedestrian bottleneck, and announced plans to push businesses to stop distributing single‑use plastic and to run a cigarette‑filter redemption pilot.
An unnamed resident used the public‑comment time at the Aug. 13 meeting to push the planning commission to prioritize child safety and bicycle infrastructure and to urge action on single‑use plastic pollution.
The commenter said a stretch of shoreline boardwalk and a narrow bottleneck between Newmark and Teakwood make safe pedestrian and bicycle access difficult. “There is a bottleneck, between Newmark and Teakwood… You have to take one on one,” the speaker said, describing a cliff on one side and railroad tracks on the other.
The commenter also described an organized effort to reduce single‑use plastics and to collect cigarette filters, saying the group is offering a small payment per filter to encourage pickups and warned they may escalate to boycotts of businesses that distribute one‑time‑use plastics. “They’re horrible for fish, horrible for birds,” the commenter said, describing plastic waste observed on beaches.
The remarks were an appeal to the planning commission to consider pedestrian and bicycle safety in planning work; there was no formal staff response recorded beyond appreciation for allowing the public comment.
No formal action or motion followed from the public comment during the meeting; the speaker asked that the commission retain time for public remarks.
