Bend construction, tree removal spark concerns

New developments are popping up all over Bend, but it’s what’s coming down that’s concerning some people.

“For some reason, they came in and took every tree out of the entire 12 acres,” Ron Jensen said Monday.

Jensen lives right next to a residential construction site on Neff Road, across from a school. He said when he first learned about the project, he did not see a problem, but since then, nearly all the trees have been cleared from the lot.

“We had trees on the lot line which they took out, took the stumps so there’d be no evidence of where the tree actually sat,” Jensen said. “But they did top one tree here and left the stump, so I can prove that’s on the property line.”

City of Bend Planning Manager Colin Stephens said developers have to go into a project with the goal of saving as many trees as possible, but keeping them all isn’t always realistic.

“When there are streets and water lines and sewer lines that need to go in and need to be cleared to allow urban development, keeping all the trees isn’t an option all the time,” he said.

Trees cannot be removed without a city permit. If they are, the fine can be up to $5,000.

Jensen said he just wants city officials to be aware this is going on.

“I’d like somebody to come out and say, ‘Hey, we did something wrong here. We should be a little bit more careful next time we issue a permit,'” Jensen said.

Stephens said there are no plans to change the codes or the fines associated with breaking them.