HomeMy WebLinkAboutNorma Manning Emails- Fencing the deer. Feb, 2010.PDFPage 1 of2
Norma Manning
From: Richard C. Staples [rcs8@cornell.e{u]
Sent: Tuesday, February 16,20102:42pM
To: Norma Manning
Subject: Fencing the deer.
To l{orma Manning,
I un<lerstand that you are taking written stat{ments for tonights trustees meeting. Here is my heartfeltstatement.
Milclred Staples
I lovc living in a park. That is why I have.pfanted trees and shrubs in the front of my properry. Thirty-one'/ears ago I personally planted a largetla of ruroOodendrons and Hollies out in frfnt'for -yenjo'yment and to beautify my street. I belierfe they enharrlce all of our lives; the walkers, the bikers anddrivers.
My "park" was naturally subject to forces ot'natures, such as drought and frost. That lasted for the next77 yeats. Then.'.a nibble here, a nibble theref More each year untiflast year when it became noticeablethat fte deer had discovered a new eating gr{und. I don'tJ<now what took them so long because we havealways been on the "deer highway". r waliefuctant to join the many neighbors who made fenced islandsall over their front lawns. What I see are littlpfenced iilapds dotting the'iandscape which actually hidethe plants!'I consider them most unattractive. But.affer spending sJmuch time, money and love on myshrubs I had to do something. I put up "attraptive" fencing, if there is such a thing. I bought artisticstakes in Connecticut and used lighter nettinf, The deer bent the stakes, tore the netting u]rd ut. most ofone of the plants and severely disfigured the Fthersl!ll Sq much for a "lovely park". lian emerg"n"ymodi:, I hired someone two weeks ago to tltiS]l ? better fence. How I t"isr my free plantings aling withanatvtal look that some claim to want in the Village. We have a choice; don'i fence because we love ournatural park or fence to keep the deer from "fting ip the park. What aheartache this has been!
We all have pets of one kind or another. Some like cats op dogs, others, like me, consider their plantstheir pets' It seems that some consider deer as pets. Who ever heard of pets eating other pets. Maybe inthe wilds. If we are asked to have our dogs oh ieashes and fence in our plants wfrjr can't we coralihedeer imd fencejhql in.
Plants are a thing of beauty, as are birds and {eer. The onfy difference is that plants or birds do nodamage to the ecology of our world, but deer do. Accordine to a recent report from Fairfield County,CT, tlfrere should be no more that 8-15 deer ppr square mile if we are to niaiql@1a a balance in nature=There must be a way to keep our plantings r{fe for today and tomorrow. I have seen the results of deertaking over and it is not pretty. Old trees, no $aplings, diy brown ground. Ah! But there were lots ofdeer. What a trade-off!
Let's come up with away to have esthetically fenced gardens, starting with hiding our fencing behindplantings. This would provide two benefits; spving the pkints *" ,p"nt time and money on and having apark for all to enjoy' Many, if not most, bota4ical gardens across the country have fenced their entireproperties. Bravo!
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MildreclStaples
207 Klinewoods Road
Ithaca. NY
02/16/2010
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lXo#.tn"
fence discussion for six months a1d work on q sensitive plan that addresses the problems of
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Norma Manning
From: widding@aor.com
Sent: Monday, February 15,2010 7:39 p
Tcl: Norma Manning
Subject: Fwd: Opposition to Fencino
----Original Message----
From: widding@aol.com
To: ltlmannng@cayuga-heights. ny. usSent: Mon, Feb 15, 2b107:-35 om
Subject: Opposition to Fencino
Please read and "h"t:g.l!:Pppropriate .tiTe -d!"rtg.Tuesdayis (February 16,201D)cayuga Heights BoardMeeting. Thank you in aovande.'wtary ano rr-Jyv,oling
vver e \'
Frorn: Mary and Fred Widdins
204 North Sunset Driv-e
Village of Cayuga Heights
Ithac4Ny 14850
Date: February 16,2010
To: The Cayuga Heights Village Board ul,d plrn,ri,rg tsoard
we are against ALr FENCES except fortho$e which are deemedxecessary for health and safety, forexample around back yard pools. iriot only u{. r*."r oiin.."ur"d height and close to roadways in thefront of houses aesthetically displeasing,in.gfr;;;I,;r;;1"; also alien to cayuga Heights village,soriginLal vision of a "residential park." ,Y:-dr9_-t-."l !lil;. r"sidents for the past 42years and havebeen witness to the destruction ortn. NATUH.AL habitat and changes to the villag"rs, health andvehicular safety due to the ever increasing ""t"u.r "ia".t;r" fall to the pressure of those with illesalfences alreadv in place or to those who ui* tp .;;.;lil.g; f.rr.", qy ;hJr;ir; fence specin. ,onirtftrequirements would be viewed bv manv^viila$ets;;;il; to lead respoiriujv and astopgap measuretoaddressthedeerdensityproblematbest.I-
Residents who wish to put up closed *it_:r d[ so to feep deer out of their properry protecting theirplanti'gs' They, too, should bear the coy:guglces_of their landscape choices. These same residentsshoulclpress for culling of the cayugaueieirtf il;;;;;ol these a.rp"*t"rv hungry animals.
-.
Decorative open fencing within one's own nr{nertv and cQmpliant with current zoning restrictions ispersonal choice' In our view, however, a."y r"{tc-g, no matter what heighi iii- arbitrarv percentage ofupper transparency, which hampers a neighbof', ul.*, and vistas, shoja "oi t. allowed.
closedl fencing has already been observed to, h]uu" .ru".rbated the deer problem. The consequence offencing property keeps more deer in the roaduiavs thus har4ing more potential for car-deer accidents.Anv fencing wili push deer into neighb"i': ""J,i6;.J;i"furties, attracted by fbnced-in plantings. Touse one example, we have observed this sever{l times in nSnt of jO: Eurt Upiund Road. Deer have
02/16t2010
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stretched their necks,?l:1 i"d through the 'iextend ed.9(|,%open" g foot high fencing to atremp tto eatplants' eventually giving up and movinginlo ilr" roua, th.n rurrnt"ring up the road into the unfencedneighbor's property two houses to the teft (lorth). A&ili;dly, there-isit i,'*ir. fencing su'oundingthe propertv next to #303,and chain ri"r. rel"ing ";;;r;;;; street.all together forming an unsightly
;"::1i:i.T:'flfJlfffl:;"y,:,H"#ralr,e;s;;;;i;";;"' accident Jccurring F tl?t viciniiy r'am
upland Road approaching the cornerr.
u"tlottts and property damage occuning in this section olpurt
Further' fences will not keep the health ttur{ra, of deer ticks and wasting disease atbay.
Allowing fencing of inqeased height "id;ri;* to roadlvays infringes on the rights of individuals whochose not to fence and detrimentarr"y un"or Ur. ulr"rityji'rir9 "rg ,""r.rr-"i:"rib"ruga Heights villageresidents' Instead, please review und ,rno.rrtuna'tne .eurorr r"t cayugaHeights founding fathers andpast boards to have restricted fence heights 4."ddF;g Ho,n roua*ays. Encourage Brent cross tofollow through on the duties fr" nau U""lcompliance crurles ne nas been assigned and fi/ne those residents who are out of village zoning
cha'ging the zoning law because residents
{re out of cornpliance with that law is wrong. The fencingissue is just another distraction from nralsli i"ili;;;;:6" deer proble;;il from giving anention toother important village matters' Be strong *p rr.u* the courage to properly address the deer problemand prroceed without fear of lawsuits and*otrrft ilrr*tr. w. rriqgd;"4;.;y;;lecause we f-elt you wereup to ALL of the challenges inherent in the d;";;;id"f airy village, including our beloved cayugaHeights.
02/16t20r0
Norma Manni
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To the llrustees,
ix'ij'ii:-T:ffJfii""#,[" oott'ole (and desi4able) chanse to the by-raws reratins to raisins the alowed
In England (and several other European coun{ries), probably,g 51( ofproperties have a fence, a wall orhedge on the property rine, soml oFi''"r beiirg more than B'high.
The proposed change to.the by-laws *?_r]d ?:l,"fil rhe vitlage of cayuga Heights, in that the cost offencing 'would be borne by the homeowner. If the homeowner \^/anre rn crnn '-^ r^^-'v'er ' r rne nomeowner wants to stop the deer entering theirproperty, they will bear the cost rather than tthe Vai. --'
unfortunately, I am unable to attend ttre mee{ing when the proposal will be discussed.
Many thanks,
Diana Nathanielsz
203 East. Upland Road