The house is more than 100 years old. The coastal redwood on the same North Portland site is older still, by one neighbor’s count: 126 years. Both are slated to go, according to KPTV, and neighbors in University Park held a candlelight vigil for the tree on the night of Nov. 11.
The Redwood and the Six-Home Plan
The University Park Neighborhood Association organized the vigil on Wednesday night, KPTV reported. A Bureau of Development Services notice shows the tree scheduled for removal, and the association says Greenwood Homes LLC plans to build new housing on the site. The city’s website lists several permits for the company as pending or under review on nearby plots.
KOIN, in a report carried by Yahoo News, described the tree as a coastal redwood about 100 years old and said the plans would replace the existing home and the tree with six single-family homes. Neighbor John Garofalo estimated the redwood’s age at 126.
Garofalo told KOIN the tree is irreplaceable. He said the city approved a deconstruction permit for the house, and that neighbors had earlier been told the tree would remain. About two weeks after the permit approval, he said, the tree was also slated for removal. In his words, the neighborhood was given two different answers by the city…