From Willamette Live, September 17, 2014
Salem Hospital plans to cut more than forty trees on the 8.42-acre
parcel it purchased in 2010 from the School for the Blind along Mission
Street. Among the trees are nine several-hundred year old Oregon White
Oaks which were once part of the ancient woodland that covered the
area. The trees were growing before the first European settlers arrived
in the 1800’s.
Thus far, the City of Salem has approved the hospital’s plan to
remove the trees and install in their place a 264-space parking lot, a
rehab center and an enlarged a maintenance shed, by allowing a variance
to city laws that protects the trees.
A neighborhood association wants the trees to live.
The law in question comes from Chapter 68 of The City of Salem’s
code, the tree preservation ordinance. It says that no one can cut
down a “significant” tree, an Oregon White Oak greater than 24-inches at
breast height, except under certain limited circumstances, which the
hospital does not meet.
This spring, as part of their process to develop the land, Salem
Hospital asked the city for a variance to the law and for approval to
cut the trees. On June 25th, their request was granted by the City’s
Planning Administrator.
SCAN, the South Central Association of Neighbors, appealed the
decision, but on August 28th, Hearings Officer Scott A. Fewel sided with
the Hospital.
On September 10, SCAN voted to appeal. Its appeal to the State of
Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals will be filed as Salem Weekly goes to
press.
“We think we were right and the Hearings Officer was wrong,” says a
SCAN member. “We are convinced that the opinion will not hold up. You
look at the parking the hospital put on the old Bush Elementary School
land between Capitol and University Street, and you’ll see the clear-cut
that will happen if the hospital prevails.”
Salem Hospital’s plans show that about 5 trees would remain in the
main part of the 8.42-acre parcel. Nearly all the trees in the center
of the property would be cut to allow for earthmovers to scrape and
re-grade the site for parking. Among the variety slated to be cut are
seven, 100-foot tall historic Douglas Fir trees. Observers who visit
the site can note the trees with a dash of red on their metal tags; the
red denotes a tree the hospital intends to cut.
SCAN says that all the hospital’s objectives could be achieved with
far less destruction of trees if its planners placed a value on doing
so.
