HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-04-2017 - Item 16, LakemanSLO Mayor and City Council 4 v57APP
Public APPEAL Hearing: 71 Palomar
April 4, 2017
Honorable Mayor and Council Members:
The highly respected chair of the San Luis Obispo
Tree Committee and Professor of Biology has written
that the arborist report presented by Rincon
Consultants is so full of errant data ... that "none of
the conclusions are valid" and "there are too many
errors in the report" to delineate and that the two
prepared arborist reports have "the same tree
misidentifications" and "incorrect tree heights,".
As an architect myself, I find it unprofessional that a
site plan has not been prepared showing the existing
historic structure as well as all of the trees. It tells me
that this concept to keep the trees was not even
considered.
I fully believe that the developer and his architects
could easily design a scheme where the Sandford
Family home would stay where it is and living units
could be placed thoughtfully throughout the major
trees on the site. The other day when I was visiting
the site a fellow working on the entry stairway told
me that he works at a place that has fit the units (in
and amongst) the trees and it is a lovely place for the
people living there.
In the book, "The Hidden Life of Trees", we learn
about new scientific discoveries that trees feel and
communicate amongst themselves via electrical
impulses that pass through the roots of trees. They
also have a sense of smell and taste that protect them.
In the book, "About Trees", "a tree is described as a
computer powered by the sun". "But the most
astonishing thing about trees is how social they are.
The trees in a forest care for each other, sometimes
even going so far as to nourish the stump of a felled
tree for centuries after it was cut down by feeding it
sugars and other nutrients, keeping it alive."
If we could have a "Landmarks Commission" for
such buildings and trees, as in Santa Monica, we
could as a group save this site. I believe that we can
do better as a community to keep this "small forest"
alive for the animal, avian and long established raptor
nesting sites established here and for the future and
present human residents.
Sandra Davis Lakeman
Professor Emerita of Architecture
San Luis Obispo, California
361 words