My letter to Clackamas County- 1/29/09

[elaine]

Dear Honorable Commissioners, Dan Zinzer and Katie Dunham,

 

In the last few days, I learned how quickly the Knightsbridge area has bypassed any kind of formal process for parks master planning compared to the Springwater Corridor improvements and the Madrone Wall/ Hardscrabble Quarry site. Both the Springwater Corridor improvements and the Madrone Wall had Alta Planning and Design, along with the public, create the concept plans that you all will be voting on very soon. Who did the concept plan for the Knightsbridge area?

 

In the Oregonian article about the Madrone Wall, dated November 21, 2008, Dan Zinzer stated that:

 

(Dan) wants to fit the project into the county's five year park improvement plan. But it could be years before construction starts. (Zinzer continued with) The county has a park operations budget of about $2.7 million per year, with several parks related projects competing for money. The county also has to jump through a series of bureaucratic hoops, such as permits, before construction can begin.

 

So I must ask, why did the Knightsbridge project get expedited with no "bureaucratic hoops" to jump through? It sounds like the permits that Dan referenced above were easily obtained for the construction at the Knightsbridge area for a parking and an access road with no public process. No public meetings were held for this site compared to those that were held for the Madrone and the Springwater Corridor. No significant letters of public input or testimony at the PAB meetings ( and I've been to several of them).

 

I've been involved with the Madrone Wall Preservation Committee since 2004, and since then we've danced your dance. We've been patient with the "process" of park creation, been involved in numerous public meetings, we've educated our supporters and interested citizens about these "bureaucratic hoops" that we need to go through, and I was even one of the main organizers of the first official Madrone Wall clean up back in September of 2008. Keith Daellenbach and I, along with Tonia Burns, your new Natural Resources Specialist, recruited 75 volunteers between the ages of 3 and 70 + to remove invasive plants and clean up illegally dumped rubbish. Which I may add is still sitting in the meadow area awaiting Dump Stoppers to be picked up since September 27th. Amazing that our group can get 75 people to show up at a stewardship project for a place that has no recreational access. Since 1997, it still remains posted "No Trespassing."

 

The citizens of Clackamas County and the surrounding Metro region have spoken since 1997, and you have received hundreds of letters, e-mails and public feedback about timely park creation and restoring access to this 44 acre publicly owned property.

It seems to me that these bureaucratic hoops and construction permits are not that difficult to obtain when just a few people within Clackamas County are willing to put forth a little effort.

 

According to your Parks Department, the Springwater Corridor is their first priority and the Madrone Wall is the department's #2 priority. Therefore, park creation for these two highly valued sites ( by the public) really should have no more hoops to jump through, and should be given equal attention and effort as your Knightsbridge project received.

 

Kellie Rice

President, Madrone Wall Preservation Committee

[wayne]

yes, Get-em Kellie!