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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (June 22, 2016)
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL June 22, 2016 Vigil shows solidarity for assault victim Council talks marijuana buffer zones, facilities BY SAM WRIGHT The Cottage Grove Sentinel BY GORDON OKUMU For the Sentinel O n Tuesday evening, residents of Cottage Grove and around Lane County gath- ered near Main Street at Opal Whiteley Park, where the Community Alliance of Lane Coun- ty and the Rural Organizing Project hosted a vigil for the victim of an assault that happened a few days earlier. The assault has been called a hate crime by many and several news outlets, as the assailant allegedly yelled gay slurs to the victim during the attack, but police haven’t confi rmed if it was actually a hate crime. Regardless, Grovers showed support for the victim at the All-America City Square, waving rainbow fl ags and signs against hate. Co-director of the Rural Organizing Project Jessica Campbell says that many citizens have been shocked about the incident. “I thought this was a community where peo- ple could live their lives with safety,” Camp- T photo by Sam Wright All-America City Square was the site of a vigil held last week to support the vic- tim of an assault on June 13. bell said, describing the general mood of the community members. community. “It was a huge trauma,” Campbell said, “but For two hours, citizens preached messages he is really reinvigorated by the community of love as the vigil was dubbed “Standing To- support he has seen.” gether Against Hate.” Cars driving by would The vigil also stood as Cottage Grove’s trib- occasionally honk in support of the message. ute and support for the victims of the Orlando The victim did not attend the vigil, although shooting over the previous weekend. reportedly cherishes the support from other Meeting details proposed park changes BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel T he third in a series of meetings meant to guide the future of a downtown Cot- tage Grove park featured the presentation of an in-depth report on changes that could be made there. The City of Cottage Grove recently received a $3000 grant to envision and plan updates to All-America City Square, a/ka Opal White- ley Park, located at the corner of Seventh and Main streets downtown. Public meetings were held in May at the nearby CG Armory to gauge the issues present in the now 10-year old park. On Tuesday, June 14, about 20 interested citi- zens joined representatives of the City’s Plan- ning Department and Dougherty Landscape Architects to peruse the fi nal report regarding the park. “The park…is showing some wear, par- ticularly in the fl agstone paving and retaining walls, and the vegetation has become dense,” the report’s introduction stated, adding that “some elements of the park’s design were never completed” and “complaints have been made that the design of the park limits” some of its uses. According to the report, which compiled comments from the public, the park’s most pressing issues aside from its maintenance 3A courtesy graphic This drawing shows proposed changes to All-America City Square, a/ka Opal Whiteley Park. It was presented to the public on June 14. concerned the fl ow of traffi c through the area, and a design detailing its proposed changes in- cludes a new entrance to the park on Seventh Street, in addition to access at the southern end from a nearby parking lot. The need to remove a circular planter in the center of the park was also widely agreed upon. The report recommends the removal of the planter and the addition of an “artful paving/ mosaic” in its place. It calls for refurbishing the Opal Whiteley mural that looks down on the park, interpretive signage to describe the mural and Whiteley’s local connection, the he sale and purchase of marijuana for recreational consumption became legal in Oregon for those over 21 years of age on Oct. 1, 2015, and in Cottage Grove, medical marijuana dispensaries have until recently been the only outlets able to lawfully sell recreational marijuana. On Monday, June 13, the Cottage Grove City Council discussed marijuana regulation in the City. With all the councilors present, Mayor Tom Munroe called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. as an eager public fol- lowed and participated in the over one-hour discussion. As the discussion started, many questions were raised, including: Can the City mandate that marijuana businesses be lo- cated away from where kids are playing and are able to see the business? Is there any research or can any research be done to de- termine if there are gases coming from the marijuana pro- cessing plants and how harmful these gases may be to the community? How many places within the City should be set aside for marijuana businesses? Do we need marijuana stores on ev- ery corner of the street? City Manager Richard Meyers responded by saying that the state is already inquiring on any gas or smell emissions from these plants in an attempt to fi nd out if they are harm- ful. Councilor Jeff Gowing had a different approach; he said that it seemed like people have little information about the issue altogether. “I don’t think it can be harmful for kids to see the mari- juana shops around; the stores are not harmful to the kids unless there is something else that should be feared,” he said. The Council’s youth representative chimed in and said that all these facilities can be tested and it can be proved if there is indeed any harmful gas present. “We can test these the same way we test water,” he said. This did not seem to convince Sherry Adams, a resident of Cottage Grove, who said that marijuana manufacturing facilities should not be situated in a residential area and should instead be taken to an industrial area. A presentation was made and a proposal put forth on a 100-foot buffer from parks to ensure safety for all those at the parks. The presenter said that this buffer would keep marijuana manufacturing facilities clear of school areas, residential areas and community parks. But many questioned what solution the buffer zones could offer, and the Council’s discussion is ongoing. The state has two types of recreational marijuana produc- er licenses, based on the size of the grow site and whether marijuana is grown indoors or outside. 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