Towheeblog

Most important–click here to see the annual winners in National Audubon Society contest.

Click here for brief update on Great Gray Owls right now in Jackson County.

I spent a little time checking out the birds at Meyer Farm here in Salem this morning. Now in less than three hours total birding I have seen or heard thirty species, and that’s without even being able to go onto the property. I mostly walk public roads along the property edge. Neighbors let me bird from backyards as well. One long-time resident birder has recorded over fifty species there.

Meyer Farm, Marion, Oregon, US
Jul 7, 2022
13 species

Mourning Dove  1
Anna’s Hummingbird  1
California Scrub-Jay  4
Crow  X
Black-capped Chickadee  3
Violet-green Swallow  3
Bushtit  6
Red-breasted Nuthatch  3
House Finch  5
Song Sparrow  1
Spotted Towhee  3
Orange-crowned Warbler  1
Black-headed Grosbeak  1

The fight to preserve this opoen space and its precious oak grove continues:
Friends of the Meyer Farm filed an intent to appeal the City of Salem’s decision to approve the application to develop the Meyer Farm (known as Sub 21-09) with the State Land Use Board of Appeal (LUBA) on June 1st. This filing is the first step of objecting to the City’s approval of this development. If carried out it would kill off one of Salem’s last remaining open-land farms. This is opposed by neighbors and by most of the Meyer family.

The appellants have hired a land use attorney, and thanks to outstanding community support we have already met our first fundraising goal to pay for the appeal, which could take us through August. We will continue to fundraise for ongoing legal fees while keeping an eye on the Meyer family’s separate but ongoing property litigation in the Marion County Circuit Court.

The Salem community submitted hundreds of letters in opposition to SUB21-09, but the City approved it anyway. We believe we have solid grounds for appeal. The applicant’s Traffic Impact Analysis failed to consider in-process traffic volumes, the safety deficiencies of the Pringle/Battlecreek intersection, and the capacity of the proposed street system. The City has not met Statewide Planning Goal 5 to inventory, protect, and conserve Meyer Farm’s significant historic and open space resources. There is pending litigation over the Seller’s authority to sell the property that remains unresolved. Also, the removal of large-diameter Oregon White Oaks is prohibited under the code that applies to this application; the only exception is if there is no reasonable design alternative. We argued there was a design alternative, but Kehoe’s attorneys insisted that there was not, which led to the City approving the application.

We need the community to help protect special open spaces like Meyer Family Farm, and to get involved by joining the Friends of Meyer Family Farm’s Facebook group, or by making contributions for the LUBA appeal legal fees, which can be sent to City Watch at P.O.Box 3051

Salem, OR 97302 or https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/CityWatchSalem

The LUBA appeal will likely be heard sometime in October of this year.

The separate trial for the Meyer family’s pending litigation (case #19PB06270) is scheduled for 9 AM August 22-24, 2022, in Judge Thomas Hart’s courtroom 2A at the Marion County Courthouse and is open to the public.