HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/1/2022 Item 4a, Cooper
From:Allan Cooper <
To:CityClerk; E-mail Council Website
Subject:Letter to the City Council
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Dear City Clerk -
Would kindly forward the letter below to the City Council. This letter pertains to their November 1, 2022
Meeting Agenda Item P4.A. - Arbor Day Proclamation. Please place this in the City's Correspondence File as
well. Thank you!
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 City Council,
Re: November 1, 2022 Meeting: P4A) Arbor Day Proclamation.
From: Allan Cooper, Secretary Save Our Downtown
Date: October 30, 2022
Honorable Mayor Stewart and Council Members -
Despite city tree benefits, California’s urban canopy cover per capita is the lowest in the U.S. Like the City of
San Diego, San Luis Obispo has a tree canopy of only 13%. But unlike San Luis Obispo, San Diego is
committed to tripling its tree canopy to 35% by 2035. This would bring San Diego into the company of Austin,
Texas with a tree canopy of 37%, far exceeding Sacramento, California (a.k.a., the “City of Trees”) with a tree
canopy of only 24%. Unfortunately, we must plant far more than 10,000 trees by 2035 to reach San Diego's
goal of 35%.
This is compounded by the fact that many of the residents of San Luis Obispo are becoming increasingly
concerned that the City seems determined to fast-track the kind of development that eliminates thoughtful,
sustainable, and yes, “resilient” design - the kind of design we used to know where every attempt was made to
work around healthy mature trees in order to preserve them. Too often, we’re being confronted with generic
building sites where the land is both mass-graded and clear-cut. The following is a list of recent projects where
new development involved the unnecessary removal of far too many mature trees:
1422 Monterey Street 54 Trees Removed
468/500 Westmont Ave 51 Trees Removed
600 Tank Farm Rd. 47 Trees Removed
650 Tank Farm Rd. 210 Trees Removed
830 Orcutt Rd. 18 Trees Removed
Garden Street 9 Trees Removed
San Luis Ranch 123+ Trees Removed
Yes, these projects involve tree replacements on a 1:1 basis but according to a study conducted by the Los
Angeles’ Million Tree Program, tree mortality for planted trees after 35 years ranges between 17% and 56%.
This mortality rate will probably rise in light of the fact that we are presently going on four dry years of drought
with no end in sight. The three year period from 2020 to 2022 is now the driest on record going back to 1896.
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So obviously, maintaining healthy mature trees, particularly those located within riparian corridors, is
preferable to planting new trees.
Each and every one of us has an obligation to look around us, be inspired by the beauty and functionality of
trees, identify opportunities for both the planting, but more importantly, the preservation of trees and act now.
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