Eugene church cuts down city trees without a permit. The map below shows that the only “City” property in the church area is River Road and its adjacent sidewalks. In this area we’re talking about, Lane County takes care of maintenance on the River Road arterial. The entire length of it shows on maps as being annexed so the City of Eugene can connect to its annexed properties north of the Church’s location. Why? Because once people are sucked into the city’s limits, they pay between $1200 and $3600 more yearly in taxes. What’s the advantage? This writer doesn’t see one. Why would a person request to be annexed into the city (it’s a voluntary process), so they can pay more taxes for the same level of service? Allow me to illustrate: If a home catches fire in a non-annexed area across the street from the Church on the map below, a fire truck’s going to roll from the station located ¾ of a mile away, the same as it would if the annexed house next door was on fire. I wouldn’t be surprised if the COE fined the Church because they didn’t get a permit to cut the trees down, ON TOP of charging them for the value of the lumber they would generate if it were sold to a mill. The Church’s property isn’t annexed, and if you owned a house on that property, it would cost you $80 a year to check a book out of the main city-owned library or one of its satellite locations. The downside is that you’d have to fight through the crowd of bums just to find the book you wanted to check out. People that work in the downtown city core and are forced to wade through the hippies and bums every day just to get to their office have my deepest sympathy.
