- Jeff...
-
- I read with horror the story about the Salem, Oregon
ordinance restricting the size of home gardens.
-
- So, just to make sure, I decided to check in to
it.
-
- The story did not add up in my mind after learning this
morning that the Salem City Commissioners president, Bill Smaldone, has
the Green Party as his political affiliation.
-
- As of 4:30pm 10-April-2002, calls to three of the City
of Salem city commisioners produced voice mail messages.
-
- A call to the office of the Salem City Manager, Robert
DeLong, connected me to a woman named Margaret. Margaret informed me that
the commissioner "jobs" are all volunteer, hence the reason why
the commissioners are not sitting in their offices all day.
-
- When Margaret asked about the nature of my call, I
explained
that there is a news(?) story out on the internet explaining that the City
of Salem Oregon has restricted personal home garden sizes.
-
- Margaret positively confirmed what I was asking about.
She did say that home garden sizes are now regulated and that they are
getting a lot of phone calls about the issue.
-
- She said that a better person to talk to would be the
City of Salem Zoning Enforcement Officer. So now I am wondering "Am
I paranoid enough??!!". Can this really be true?? I mean, here I am
getting it straight from the top!!
-
- So, at this point I am spiraling in to Orwell's
Hell.
-
- Yet with more persistance, I finally get the City Manager
on the phone.
-
- I present to him the news(?) story about garden size
ordinance.
-
- Robert is right up front that, yes, there is are
restrictions
on garden size in Salem.
-
- "So Robert, please tell me what the regulatiosn
are" I asked.
-
- "Well, the regulations pertain to fish habitat.
Gardens within 50 feet of a stream, and 2000 square feet or larger, and
on a slope of 25% or greater, require a permit from the city. It is an
erosion issue as it pertains to fish habitat" said DeLong.
-
- "So, you mean that you have to satisfy all three
of those criteria simultaneously for the ordinance apply?" I
asked.
-
- "Yes, all three at the same time" said
DeLong.
-
- Needless to say, what was presented as a news(?) item
seems to be missing just a few pertinent details. Like all of the ones
that make for "not a story".
-
- What is also absurd is that within Salem (my girlfriend
lives there) the amount of people who could even try to satisfy all three
garden "criteria" is probably one or none. That is just my
hunch.
-
- So unless someone out there can retwist this one back
in to some real news, I say we get on with bigger and better things to
worry about.
-
- For those who want to verify the realities of this
"story",
here is some contact info.
-
- Robert DeLong
- City of Salem Manager
- 503-588-6255
- manager@mail.open.org
-
- Susanne Ocampo
- City of Salem
- Zoning Enforcement Officer
- 503-588-6173 ext7432
-
- Sincerely, Jeff Damm
- roadkill@neoanderthal.com
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