 Vanquish that vigorous vegetation!
by David Miller
Anyone who lives in Western Oregon can tell you how fast things grow this time of year! And we all know that those blossoming buds don't always stay confined to the garden. If you have shrubs or trees next to a garden path, the path may soon disappear if you don't do some trimming. The same holds true if you have vegetation along the edge of a sidewalk or roadside path.
We have all seen properties where overgrown vegetation encroaches upon an adjacent sidewalk. This can create serious safety problems, as it may force children and other pedestrians to walk in the roadway. In addition, overgrown vegetation can make it harder for drivers to see pedestrians, especially at corners. And if the vegetation blocks a traffic sign that is obviously a problem.
What you may not know is that the owner of the property adjoining a sidewalk or roadway is responsible for trimming vegetation to keep the sidewalk and/or edge of the roadway clear. While the County may do this occasionally along some main roads, they generally do not do it along neighborhood streets, leaving it completely up to the property owners to vanquish vigorous vegetation in the neighborhoods. Corner property owners have an additional, very important responsibility: they need to maintain a "sight triangle", which generally means keeping vegetation trimmed below three feet high in the triangular region between the corner and points 20 feet back from the corner on each street. Finally, all property owners need to keep vegetation trimmed around signs and street lights.
The Streetside Safety Campaign will kick off in June. Our goal is to make Cedar Mill safer for everyone, reclaiming our sidewalks and roadsides and improving visibility at intersections. With school out and children roaming the neighborhoods, this is especially important. So, please take the time do the following:
• Assess what needs to be trimmed on your property. See the diagrams (from Washington County) for details.
• Do the trimming. Better yet, organize a neighborhood cleanup day and have some fun working with your neighbors to get it done.
 • Get rid of the trimmings in your yard debris recycling bin. If you have more trimmings than will fit in one or two loads, there are places such as Best-Buy-in-Town that will take them for a nominal fee. Or, if you have a very large amount of trimmings, such as from a neighborhood cleanup day, Washington County may be willing to take them away for you.
Working together, we can take back our neighborhoods! For more information on the clearing requirements, and to explore options for debris disposal, you can contact Washington County at 403-846-7623, on the Web at www.wc-roads.com (click on Roadside Vegetation), or by email at lutops@co.washington.or.us. For ideas for organizing a neighborhood cleanup day, you can contact Cecilia Hagle with Washington County, at Cecilia_hagle@co.washington.or.us
David Miller is a member of the Connecting Neighborhoods subcommittee of CPO 1.
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