The state of the trees in the neighborhood has dominated the West University Neighbors agenda this year, and citizens had their chance to voice their concerns to City of Eugene Urban Forester Mark Snyder at Thursday night’s meeting at Central Presbyterian Church.
Tree removal has been the topic of heated debate ever since
several trees near the Bijou Art
Cinemas on 492 E. 13th Avenue were cut down. Neighborhood
residents questioned Snyder about the process for determining which trees will be removed and inquired about ways to preserve trees around the city.
Board member Don Goldman questioned the reason for tree removal and asked why trees around the city are sometimes replaced with smaller ones.
Snyder said the process for deciding which trees will be removed is a long and complicated one that involves a great deal of research.
“I can’t think of a city that makes a more intense effort in studying and reporting on a tree before a decision is made,” Snyder said. “The more you know about a tree the better decision you can make.”
Oregon is a leader in tree production in the country, and finding importable trees that are larger than those produced in Oregon is difficult, Snyder said.
Snyder discussed a program called the Legacy Tree Program, which he said was created as a way to “honor and recognize exceptional trees in the community.”
Citizens are encouraged to nominate trees they feel are worthy of being included in the program, Snyder said.
Though the program does not protect trees from removal, inclusion in the program could be seen as a symbolic gesture of the neighborhood’s appreciation of trees, Snyder said.
Snyder encouraged the association and neighborhood residents
to attend a Feb. 15 meeting at Campbell Community Center to discuss the future of the West University Park. A top priority of the
Eugene Parks, Recreation and Open Space Comprehensive Plan is
to “enlarge or replace” the park, Snyder said.
“The fact that it’s there and has high priority is due to the work of the neighborhood association,” Snyder said.
About 15 neighborhood residents attended the meeting, five shy of the 20 needed to discuss a proposed resolution from community activist Zachary Vishanoff regarding the University’s placement of a new basketball arena.
Vishanoff wants the association to pass a resolution asking the
city to hold a series of public forums about the arena, which the
University is looking to build at
the Williams’ Bakery site on the
corner of East 13th Avenue and Moss Street.
“We have to have a voice there,” Vishanoff said. “This can give us that voice.”
Association Second Vice
Chairwoman Kellyn Gross commended the proposed resolution, calling issues like addressing the placement of the arena “the whole purpose we exist” as a neighborhood association.
“It shouldn’t just be an issue
between the University and a
company,” Gross said.
Ward 3 City Councilor David Kelly said the city is not in a position to act on the proposed arena because of existing laws that permit commercial use of the bakery site.
“Under the laws that exist, the city can’t prohibit it,” Kelly said.

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