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Group prepares initiative to save trees By Sara Murphy ASHLAND � A group that seeks to protect a doomed stand of trees at the Ashland Public Library wants to let voters decide the trees� future. The Committee to Save the Library Trees filed papers Monday launching an initiative campaign to prevent the trees� removal. Despite the citizens� efforts, however, the fate of the trees may lie in the hands of the City Council. The city legally could remove the trees � to accommodate construction of a 16,000-square-foot library annex � before the petitioners� initiative would take effect, officials said. Committee treasurer Bob Taber filed papers with the city Monday to allow the group to start gathering signatures to place a measure amending city code on the March ballot. The amendment would add a clause to the Ashland Municipal Code specifically prohibiting trees from being removed from the library property "unless such tree or trees are dead, dying or present a public safety hazard to persons or property." Taber said his group�s members feel strongly that Ashland residents did not realize how many trees would be lost to the library expansion when they approved a $5.96 million bond levy last November. The vote was affirmed countywide in May. "There�s an overwhelming perception that the citizens were not informed," Taber said. The initiative, he said, seeks to protect the library trees as a natural resource. He also criticized the project�s parking plan as "sorely inadequate." City Recorder Barbara Christensen confirmed Monday that Taber�s documents meet filing requirements. City Attorney Paul Nolte has five business days to write the ballot title before petitioners can begin gathering signatures. Petitioners will need to gather signatures from 15 percent of Ashland voters who return ballots in today�s mayoral election to qualify for the March 13 election, Christensen said. Petitions are due by Nov. 27. The measure may not come soon enough to save the library trees, however. "Legally, it stops nothing," Nolte said. The initiative would not delay the library construction project without the City Council�s approval, he said. The trees legally could be removed before the initiative � even if passed by voters � would take effect in April, Nolte said. If petitioners gather enough signatures for the initiative, the council could agree to adopt the petition, Nolte said. The council also could place a competing measure on the ballot. It isn�t required to do either, Nolte said. Mayor Cathy Shaw said it�s not likely that the council would agree to stop the library construction after voters have twice expressed their approval. "The voters have given a mandate to the city government to do this project," Shaw said. "This is what they have asked us to do and they have provided the funding for it." Last month, the council turned down Taber�s request � supported by informal petitions bearing 1,400 signatures � to reopen public discussion on the library expansion. Shaw said some voters may not have fully understood the library project when they voted to fund it, but she believes a majority did. "I think, in general, the voters know what they�re voting on," she said. "The voters here take the time to find out what they�re voting on and vote with clarity and full knowledge of what is before them." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.