A full house is expected to be on hand for tonight’s Environmental Affairs Advisory Board (EAAB) meeting at The Lake House that will discuss deer management in the city’s limits.

 Since first reporting the meeting last week, the topic has picked up steam and has been the subject of numerous articles and television stations.

“There is a problem in Avon Lake that is very dear to city officials. The population of deer has grown rapidly over the years,” Channel 5 reported.

 Channel 19 used Avon Lake Patch’s video of a police cruiser striking a deer, saying, “They are causing car accidents and going after school children.”

City leaders will be looking into creating a citywide law that will prohibit the feeding of deer in Avon Lake. Public input is welcome at the meeting, Feb. 1 at 6:30 p.m.

“The EAAB is charged by the Charter to consider environmental and natural resource issues impacting the city and its residents,” Councilman Rob James, the current Environmental Committee chair, said. “Over the course of at least the past year, EAAB has been studying the deer issue with members of City Council, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Cleveland Natural History Museum, the Cleveland Metroparks, members of the community and others.”

Whether feeding the deer is adding to the problem will be addressed tonight.

Not everyone is blaming the deer. Dorothy Henderson of Sheffield Lake said she will be attending the meeting in support of a different solution, noting that the deer have lost a good portion of living space to development.

“I believe in controlling (the deer) to a point,” Henderson said. “But there should be a limit. Instead of selling more land for development, they should fill the empty buildings. There isn’t any place for them to live. They should put a limit on tearing down the trees.”

The Lake House is located at 32756 Lake Rd, Avon Lake in Veterans Memorial Park.