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Eugene to move roses, deny cover to homeless camp

By CHRISTIAN HILL, The Register-Guard
Published: August 24, 2016, 6:03am
3 Photos
A Madame Alfred Carriere rose, top, and a Mermaid Rose are among the varieties of roses being moved to a new location.
A Madame Alfred Carriere rose, top, and a Mermaid Rose are among the varieties of roses being moved to a new location. (Photos by Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard) Photo Gallery

EUGENE, Ore. — The thorny issue of how to discourage illegal camping in Eugene may take a toll on some hard-to-find roses that line the entry into the Owen Rose Garden next to the Willamette River.

City workers last week pruned the 11 large rosebushes along North Jefferson Street with plans to dig them up and replant them in the garden proper later this year when they have a better chance to survive the move.

The effort aims to remove the shrubbery that provided cover to an illegal camp that homeless people set up within a fenced-off area along the street.

The Oregon Department of Transportation installed the fences to keep people away from the adjacent Interstate 105 and the area underneath it.

Last week, the Lane County Sheriff’s Office work crew removed overgrown vegetation on ODOT-owned property behind the fence.

But the fence hasn’t proved much of a deterrent to the homeless. They have cut holes in it to illegally camp in the area and engage in nuisance and illegal activity, according to the city and neighbors.

Kevin Foerstler, a supervisor for the city’s parks department, said illegal camping in the area has ramped up recently and prompted calls to police.

Emily West Hartlerode, vice chairwoman of the Whiteaker Community Council who lives near the rose garden, said she has seen illegal camping behind the fence.

Earlier this summer, Hartlerode said she called police after observing three men cutting the fence with clippers. More recently, she saw tarps hung on the fence to shield a camp from public view.

Last summer, she said, neighbors had “big issues” with homeless people drinking and sleeping behind the fence.

“You’re never sure what’s happening,” she said. “Whether they’re finding a covered place to get out of the elements …or using that visual cover to cover up something illegal.”

She said residents in the community have a level of tolerance and hospitality for people living on the fringes of society.

But she said the council is hearing a sentiment from the community that “we have reached our max.”

The neighborhood is the home of the Eugene Mission, where hundreds of people sleep and eat each day. The city’s five sanctioned overnight homeless camps, or rest stops, are in the neighborhood or close to its western boundary.

Clay Manders, the garden’s field lead, said the roses were planted about a half-century ago when the boundaries of the garden extended far beyond where they are today.

Manders said the five identified varieties of roses to be moved, including Mermaid and Madame Alfred Carrier, are “uncommon in the trade.” She found only one nursery in the U.S. that sells those two varieties, she said, and a third variety, F?licit? et Perp?tue, was only sold overseas. The two other varieties are unknown.

Manders said the roses will be dug up and replanted when they’re dormant in November or December. Their survival is not guaranteed.

“I want neighbors to feel safe, and if I have to move roses to be able to do that, then that’s what we will do.”

The garden features more than 4,000 roses of about 400 different varieties. The varieties to be moved into the city-owned park aren’t currently planted there.

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