HomeMy WebLinkAbout4/4/2023 Item 6b, Cooper
Allan Cooper <
To:Hermann, Greg; Hill, Robert; CityClerk; E-mail Council Website
Subject:Letter to the City Council
Attachments:404_01_23...lettertocouncil.pdf
This message is from an External Source. Use caution when deciding to open attachments, click links, or respond.
Dear Greg, Robert and City Clerk -
Would you kindly forward the letter attached below to the SLO City Council?
This letter pertains to the City Council's April 4, 2023 review of Agenda Item
#6.b “Adoption of the Community Forest Plan”. We would also like this letter
to be placed in the City's Correspondence File. Thank you!
- Allan Cooper
1
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, Greg Hermann, Deputy City Manager and Robert
Hill, Sustainability & Natural Resources Official
Re: April 4, 2023 Meeting Agenda Item 6b: “Adoption Of The Community Forest
Plan”
From: Allan Cooper, Secretary Save Our Downtown
Date: April 1, 2023
Honorable Mayor & City Council -
Regarding the Draft Community Forest Plan, Save Our Downtown supports the following near-
term objectives and concerns:
1. Reexamine Tree Removal and Mitigation Policies: Work with the Tree Committee and
community to adopt stronger protections for existing, mature trees that would be affected by
planned new development
2. Set a minimum target size(s) for replacement trees (mitigation planting) that will maximize
survival chances
3. Require compensatory planting after tree removal to match total diameter of mature
trees removed, or another determined metric that ensures that compensatory tree planting
efforts are commensurate with impacts
4. Continue to work with external partners to publicize urban forestry’s importance in climate
action and natural resources management, emphasizing long- term urban forest care and
health over merely “planting trees”
5. Consider the use of technology including engineered soils, soil cells, permeable hardscape,
and new planter designs, for optimal tree health and stormwater management outcomes in
high- profile locations with space constraints or poor soils (e.g., downtown streetscapes) and
implement as appropriate. Save Our Downtown believes that this objective should changed
from mid-term to near-term.
6. Explore incentives for retention of large trees in new construction.
7. Alternative designs are considered when possible. For example, bricks are included when
sidewalks cannot be ground down. To allow for more space and water infiltration, the City
has implemented engineered soils in the downtown core around carrotwood (Cupaniopsis
anacardioides), a species known to frequently cause hardscape damage.
8. The Tree Committee is the last governing body to review large development proposals. In
most situations, by the time these projects are presented to the Tree Committee, they have
already been approved and the Tree Committees recommendations may or may not be taken
into consideration.
9. Currently, neither the Tree Committee nor the City Arborist serve as a liaison/ support for
the Architectural Review Commission yet this Commission reviews projects that involve
consideration for tree preservation and removal permits.
10. Consider the amount of authority the Tree Committee should have in large development
proposals.
Save Our Downtown disagrees with the following:
One example of a species that is not particularly well-suited for San Luis Obispo is the
coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens). The city’s climate is very dissimilar to the fog-shrouded,
damp coastal environment where redwood grows naturally. While some local redwoods are
reasonably healthy, many others are in poor condition, unable to thrive in our present climate
and presumably even less so in the future considering the predicted effects of climate change.
San Luis Obispo is located 12 miles from the ocean where coastal redwoods can thrive. Coastal
redwoods do well in SLO if they are regularly irrigated. Four of the seventeen Heritage Trees are
mature, healthy redwoods. Why is this the case if this particular type of tree is not “well suited”
to San Luis Obispo?
Thank you for your time and consideration!