Bill Earngey [Order this photo]

Our Green Zones -- called Open Spaces in other cities -- protect the natural character of the land and, for us, provide the breathing room between our houses, which in turn, because of Eureka's Ozark Mountain geography and our small population, presents to the world a wealth of sophisticated 19th- and early 20th-century architecture that appears to have been wondrously plopped down in a rural setting.

First-time visitors might not consciously understand what they are looking at, but, like a good piece of artwork, they feel it.

Other cities envy our good fortune because, unlike us, they have to buy back this kind of land. We on the other hand inherited this fortune but continue to sell it to private property owners, usually at extraordinary discounts.

Historically, our Green Zones are unopened streets and alleys, those too isolated, too vertically challenged, or too redundant. Mostly, the first city plats were overkill for the town's population, despite the fact that the population then was about five times larger than it is today.

The City Council has absolute authority over Green Zones because the City owns the streets, etc. The Parks and Recreation Commission has jurisdiction, meaning the Commission studies the affect of the property sale, holds a public hearing, then forwards a recommendation to the Council, which may vacate (sell) the property or not.

Although this procedure appears to be reasonable, it isn't. The question is should the property be leased with attending City easements, etc., and should it include a stipulation that no permanent structures or alterations shall be constructed or engineered on that property.

An ordinance of this kind is complicated, but the basic concept, agreed to by a blue ribbon committee (including two private attorneys), is bedrock: We should not lose another square inch of our Green Zones. They alone make our town one of a kind.

When one is sold, it's gone forever, and its loss results in yet another step toward a high density sprawl, which propels Eureka into looking more and more like any other jumbled, cheek-by-jowl town.