Anti-Development Actions

Yeah, this might just be vandals...but it smells more like eco-terrorism by anti-development types acting out in Medford.

Objectors to a 165-acre development near Roxy Ann Peak have sidestepped the public-hearing process and apparently decided to voice their displeasure with the project through vandalism, police said Tuesday.

For the second time in two months, vandals have damaged property at the Vista Pointe planned-unit development under construction on the East McAndrews Road extension, Medford police Sgt. Tim Doney said.

About two months ago, someone spray painted the words "No Sprawl" on signs and removed survey stakes from the Vista Pointe site and a nearby development.

More extensive damage at Vista Pointe was discovered Tuesday by Johnny Cat Inc. crews who reported to work and found five pieces of heavy equipment and two fuel trailers had been tampered with overnight. Damage included cut hydraulic lines, and dirt-filled fuel filters and radiators, Doney said.

Vandals also used spray paint to write the word "unless" and initials "TJC" on equipment. The estimated cost to repair the equipment is expected to exceed $7,000, police said.

Police are not certain the two cases of criminal mischief are related, but Doney said the word "unless" was also written at the site the first time vandalism was reported there.

It sounds rather like what some activists do to lumber company machinery, or a mild version of what Earth Liberation Front folks have done to developments in California.

Don't have a clue on unless and TJC...wish I did.

John Holmes, owner of Johnny Cat, doesn’t believe youngsters are to blame for the damage.

"Usually, kids do vandalism a certain way ... breaking stuff and making a mess," Holmes said. "This was done in such a sneaky way. It was definitely older people — grown-ups."

With a plan to build 657 homes on 165 acres, the Vista Pointe development is the largest ever reviewed by the city of Medford, city Senior Planner Jim Maize said.

Maize said the project will be developed in four phases. A tentative plan for the first phase was approved after a required public-hearing process drew little opposition, Maize said.

Curious if it is eco-terrorists that they didn't even bother to try to litigate the development into the ground. Lawyers are more expensive than terrorism and take longer.

I don't know enough about this development to have an opinion on it. I definitely have the same opinion I always have on people who will resort to breaking the law to get their way...no tolerance for it. Whether this was vandalism or terrorism, there is no acceptable excuse for it.

I keep posting stories like this here because I don't think most folks realize how much "low-level eco-terrorism" is going on here in Rural Oregon or in the nation. It needlessly costs our society money...builders pass on the costs to us, police have to devote investigation time, etc. It's not always urban types coming to visit, as many Rural folks would prefer to believe.

Until society kicks up enough of a fuss that law enforcment agencies devote more energy to catching these criminals, rogue activists will just keep acting out and destroying things, with little fear of being captured. Successful law enforcement is, well, could be a good deterrent.

Even if I completely believed in what Greenpeace is protesting in our nearby woods, I wouldn't approve of their methods. What they term as peaceful protest is simply the deliberate breaking of the law with passive-aggressive actions.

Rumor has it that they're breaking camp shortly to move elsewhere. I think the JoCo authorities have saber-rattled sufficiently to let Greenpeace know that they'll be arrested and, more importantly, their assets will be confiscated if they don't soon move from BLM land. I'd wager they'll move to somewhere like national forest land fairly nearby to start a fresh camping clock with a new set of authorities.