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Residents urge Council to preserve tree buffer near City Park ahead of equipment-yard expansion
Summary
Residents east of City Park asked the Veneta City Council to retain a scenic tree buffer and not clear-cut land to Jameson Street for an equipment maintenance yard, citing environmental, pedestrian and property-value concerns and presenting a 19-signature petition.
Bill Gerlach and a neighbor addressed the Veneta City Council during public comment to press the city to preserve a tree line east of City Park that staff has flagged for removal as part of a proposed equipment maintenance yard expansion.
Gerlach, speaking for nearby residents, said clear-cutting to Jameson Street would "eliminate a windbreak, remove camouflage for an existing cell tower, worsen the city's heat island effect, eliminate a pedestrian corridor to the Stations of the Cross" and reduce property values. He presented a petition signed by 19 neighborhood residents. Steve Fagan, another resident, added that heavy equipment and storage visible from the park would diminish visitors' experience and urged the city to apply to itself the same tree-removal permitting standards used on private property.
The comments referenced a state practice that requires seed buffers for commercial timber operations; the speakers urged the Council to consider a similar scenic buffer for the neighborhood. No staff action or formal motion occurred during public comment; the issue was entered into the record for Council consideration at a future time.
