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/o —i8 <br /> faces a f McDonald's <br /> cutting hentage tree <br /> for . <br /> By JEFF WRIGHT removal, Plamondon said. One of with McDonald's representatives be- <br /> The Register - Guard the employees took photographs fore deciding on a penalty. The pos- <br /> The felling of a century old documenting the cutting. sible replanting of one or more new <br /> maple tree in east Eugene could end Plamondon said the city is still trees could result in a reduced or <br /> up costing McDonald's the equiva- gathering findings and will meet suspended fine, he said. <br /> lent of several hundred Big Macs. <br /> The fast food chain could be • • <br /> fined up to $2,000 for removing the <br /> tree, located behind a former pan- <br /> cake house on East Broadway, with- <br /> out a permit, said Scott Plamondon, • <br /> Eugene's urban forester. <br /> "This was a street tree on public <br /> right of way, and it shouldn't have <br /> been removed without a permit <br /> from this office," Plamondon said. <br /> "It was also a heritage tree, which <br /> means we probably wouldn't have <br /> approved its removal under virtually <br /> any condition." <br /> As defined by the city's urban <br /> forest management plan, heritage <br /> trees are granted special protection <br /> status because of their age, size and <br /> species. <br /> The tree, removed last Friday, <br /> was between the street and sidewalk <br /> on East Eighth Avenue near Halyard <br /> Street — right next to a "Yield" sign <br /> and across the street from the Agri - <br /> pac cannery and a Eugene Water & <br /> Electric Board substation. <br /> The tree stood about 70 feet tall; <br /> the remaining stump measures <br /> about 3 feet across. A second maple, <br /> which won't be felled, stands about <br /> 20 feet to the west. <br /> McDonald's is building a new res- <br /> taurant on the site and apparently <br /> had the tree removed to make way <br /> for a redesigned parking lot, <br /> Plamondon said. The chain is ex- <br /> pected to close its restaurant at 1417 <br /> Villard St., about a mile from the <br /> East Broadway site, after the new <br /> facility is built. <br /> At McDonald's regional offices in <br /> Lake Oswego, project manager Carl <br /> Lingle referred questions about the <br /> tree - cutting to marketing assistant <br /> Heidi Baker, who referred questions <br /> to marketing manager Michele <br /> Herring, who was unavailable for <br /> comment. <br /> Randy Bartlett, project manager <br /> for general contractor James John <br /> Construction of Vancouver, Wash., <br /> also had little to say. <br /> "We didn't take it down, you'll <br /> have to talk to McDonald's," Bartlett <br /> said at the construction site Tuesday. <br /> "I have no comment on that, but we <br /> will be open by the end of the year." <br /> McDonald's bought the property <br /> earlier this year from Lane County, <br /> which took possession in 1993 after <br /> the owner of the landmark Original <br /> Pancake House fell far behind on <br /> property tax payments. Both the <br /> pancake house and the neighboring <br /> Broadway Motel have been razed to <br /> make way for the restaurant. <br /> Two public works employees <br /> drove to the site last Friday after- <br /> noon immediately upon receiving a <br /> citizen's phone call about the tree's <br />