HomeMy WebLinkAbout7/27/2020 Item 8, Cooper
Wilbanks, Megan
From:Allan Cooper <
To:Advisory Bodies; Combs, Ron; Cohen, Rachel
Subject:Letter To The Tree Committee
Attachments:unnamed.jpg; unnamed.png; unnamed-1.png; 707_25_20...lettertotreecommittee.pdf
Dear Ron and Rachel -
Would you kindly forward the four attachments below to
the Tree Committee? This letter and the three
other attachments pertain to the Committee's Monday,
July 27, 2020 meeting where they will be reviewing the
proposed removal of 206 trees at 650 Tank Farm Road.
Would you also please place this letter and the three
additional attachments in the City's correspondence file?
Thanks and I hope you are both keeping safe.
- Allan
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Save Our Downtown
______________________________________________________________________________
Seeking to protect and promote the historical character, design, livability and economic
success of downtown San Luis Obispo.
To: San Luis Obispo Tree Committee, Ron Combs and Rachel Cohen
Re: Business Item #8: July 27, 2020 review of the proposed tree removal of 206
onsite trees and replanting plan of 314 trees as part of a mixed-use project
located at 650 Tank Farm Road
From: Allan Cooper, San Luis Obispo
Date: July 25, 2020
Honorable Chair Bate and Committee Members -
You will be reviewing the removal of 206 onsite trees as part of a mixed-use project located at
650 Tank Farm Road. 169 (or 82%) of the 206 trees have been determined to be either in good
or in moderate condition. I am attaching for your convenience a view of this mature grove of
trees taken from Tank Farm Road. I am also forwarding you via attachment an aerial view of the
site and a site plan of the proposed building project. As you can see by comparing the aerial
view with the site plan, there is hardly any justification for removing this number of trees given
that nearly 2/3rds of the property surrounding the former mobile home park is unencumbered
by trees.
Please allow me to draw your attention to a May 27, 2020 SF Examiner article titled “Green
Space: Stop Taking Trees Down” (to read more click on: https://www.sfexaminer.com/news-
columnists/green-space-stop-taking-trees-down/). This article states the following: “While new
trees were proposed at several of these sites (i.e., building sites within the City of San
Francisco), replacements may not provide the same benefits as the ones removed. For
example, older trees can capture more carbon and divert more water from sewers than
younger trees. Trees that don’t shed their leaves are also better at filtering air pollution, and
may help reduce communities’ vulnerabilities to respiratory diseases, such as the coronavirus”.
The article goes on to state that "… too many trees were simply chopped down because they’re
inconvenient. Lance Carnes, a volunteer with Healthy Trees Initiative, has compiled an archive
of the Department of Public Works’ tree removals since November 2019. Out of 210 removals,
65 were authorized simply to make room for new construction projects, infrastructure
improvements and private driveways.”
You probably know that funding for the City’s Urban Forest Master Plan effort is currently being
deferred due to the economic impacts resulting from COVID-19. However please help us
address the City’s Climate Action Plan for Community Recovery by merely disallowing the
wholesale removal of these trees. These trees are being removed simply because the architect
was unable (or unwilling) to work around them. Thank you!
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