One Noteworthy 7 October 2010 Forest and Beach Commission Agenda Item

UPDATE II:
Five Monterey Cypress trees approved for planting along Scenic Road by Forest and Beach Commissioners, as follows:

Tree #1: 20’ south of 8th Ave. steps to beach. 35’ west of Scenic Rd.
Spoke to property owner directly across the street from this location and he was supportive of planting a new tree next to the large old cypress. No other direct contacts.
Recommend planting at this location.

Tree #2: 10’ north of vehicle ramp to beach, between 8th & 9th Aves.
Same owner as above was in favor of a tree at this location. No other direct contacts.
Recommend planting at this location. This is a location of a large cypress that was removed in 2004-05 and not immediately replaced.

Tree #3: 20’ south of 9th Ave. crossing, along Scenic pathway.
No direct contact. This is a dead cypress and it should be removed and replaced.
Recommend planting at this location.

Tree #5: Approximately 80’ south of 10th Ave. crossing, in planter area between Scenic Rd. and path. No direct contact, but both properties directly across from this site wrote letters in support of planting.
Recommend planting at this location.

Tree #9: Between 13th & Santa Lucia Aves., on the south side of the point at 13th Ave.
Contracted one resident at this location; concerned abut maintenance of existing trees and the city managing its future maintenance obligations.
Recommend planting at this location. A tree at this location will provide additional visual interest to the site but not wall off significant views of Carmel Beach.
(Source: Commission OKs five trees for Scenic Road, MARY BROWNFIELD, October 1, 2010)

UPDATE I: Of the eight Monterey cypress trees recommended by City Forester Mike Branson to be planted along Scenic Road, the Forest and Beach Commission voted on each tree and approved the planting of five Monterey cypress trees, denied the planting of two Monterey cypress trees and took no action on one Monterey cypress tree, according to Margi Perotti, Administrative Coordinator.

ABSTRACT: One noteworthy 7 October 2010 Forest and Beach Commission Agenda Item, namely provide direction of a proposal from the City of Carmel and the Friends of Carmel Forest to plant ten new Monterey cypress trees along the Scenic Road pathway between 8th Aveue and Martin Way, is presented. The MEMORANDUM from City Forester Mike Branson is transcribed. City Forester Mike Branson recommended planting Monterey Cypress Trees #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #7, #8, #9 at designated locations and holding off planting Trees #6 and #10 at designated locations.

CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA
FOREST AND BEACH COMMISSION

REGULAR MEETING AGENDA
Thursday, 7 October 2010
Regular Meeting – 1:30 p.m.

City Hall, Council Chambers
East side Monte Verde St. between Ocean & 7th Avenues
Carmel, California

I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
COMMISSION MEMBERS: JOE FORD, CHAIRPERSON
LESLIE KADIS
VICTORIA LYNCH
TODD HORNIK
TOM LEVERONE

V. APPLICATIONS/PUBLIC HEARINGS
IF YOU CHALLENGE THE NATURE OF THE PROPOSED ACTION IN COURT, YOU MAY BE LIMITED TO RAISING ONLY THOSE ISSUES YOU OR SOMEONE ELSE RAISED AT THE PUBLIC HEARING DESCRIBED IN THIS NOTICE, OR IN WRITTEN CORRESPONDENCE DELIVERED TO THE FOREST AND BEACH COMMISSION, OR PRIOR TO DELIBERATION OF THE ITEMS ON THE TOUR OF INSPECTION/PUBLIC HEARING.

1. Consideration and provide direction of a proposal from the City of Carmel and the Friends of Carmel Forest to plant ten new Monterey cypress trees along the Scenic Rd. pathway between 8th Ave. and Martin Way. The applicant/owner is the City of Carmel.

MEMORANDUM

TO: Joe Ford, Chairperson
Members of the Forest and Beach Commission

FROM: Mike Branson, City Forester

DATE: 29 September 2010

SUBJECT: Review and provide direction on a proposal by the city of Carmel and the Friends of Carmel Forest to plant ten new Monterey cypress trees along the Scenic Road pathway.

The City of Carmel and the Friends of Carmel Forest are proposing to plant ten new Monterey cypress trees along the Scenic Road Pathway between 8th Avenue and Martin Way in an effort to replace removed and dead trees and to enhance areas that currently have no trees or only old mature trees growing.

Prior to the meetings where this proposal was agenized numerous emails and letters, both pro and con, were received and considered by the commission. After discussion during the 3 June 2010 meeting, staff was asked to try to meet with property owners in the immediate vicinity of the proposed new trees and look at the particulars of each site and work for some compromise solution.

I met with or spoke to several property owners in the immediate vicinity of the proposed planting sites; although the majority of the homes are unoccupied or are vacation rentals.

Some of the questions and comments I received are:
Is the city going to plant this many trees every year?
Ten trees at once are too many.
Why plant where there are no trees and never have been?
It will be directly in my view.
Will the city be able to maintain the new trees if it isn’t doing a good job with the existing trees?

Other observations:
Sense of history, visions and perceptions relate to times they are in their homes or since the homes were purchases.
There is a need to replace trees now to have trees in the future and have different life stages.
Several persons like the older trees but object to planting new trees – a bit of a conflict.

The selection of each tree location was done to minimize direct view impacts to the homes along Scenic Road. The city has endeavored to prune other young trees in this area to promote good branch structure and progressively lift the canopy to promote upward growth to avoid the feeling of a green wall along the pathway. It is obvious that these trees are capable of growing to 30-60+ feet tall at maturity and view impacts to homes on San Antonio may be impacted to a certain degree as the years go on. Not planting any new trees will eventually lead to a landscape that may have unhindered ocean views but is devoid of Carmel’s forest character that was established and promoted by the city founders.

This is the staff evaluation and recommendations for each location.

Tree #1: 20’ south of 8th Avenue, steps to beach. 35’ west of Scenic Road
Spoke to property owner directly across the street from this location and he was supportive of planting a new tree next to the large old cypress. No other direct contacts.
Recommend planting at this location.

Tree #2: 10’ north of vehicle ramp to beach, between 8th & 9th Avenues
Same owner as above was in favor of a tree at this location. No other direct contacts.
Recommend planting at this location. This is a location of a large cypress that was removed in 2004-05 and not immediately replaced.

Tree #3: 20’ south of 9th Avenue crossing, along Scenic pathway.
No direct contact. This is a dead cypress and it should be removed and replaced.
Recommend planting at this location.

Tree #4: Between 9th & 10th Avenues, 20’ north of north 10th Avenue stairs to beach.
Spoke to property owner across the street. They were not in favor of planting next to the old cypress tree at this location. Other neighbors are absentee owners (one home is for sale).
Recommend planting at this location. This old cypress is located between tow properties and should be replaced when removal is eventually required; a new tree planted here will hopefully have a good head start and it will be mostly hidden from view by the large girth of the current tree.

Tree #5: Approximately 80’ south of 10th Avenue crossing, in planter area between Scenic Road and path.
No direct contact, but both properties owners directly across from this site wrote letters in support of planting.
Recommend planting at this location.

Tree #6: Approximately 160’ south of 11th Avenue, in planter area between Scenic Road and patio.
Contact with new property owner on San Antonio Avenue. She is not in favor of a new tree at this site. There is a young tree doing well at the south end of the same planter area.
Recommend holding off on this site. This was the location of a single tree that was removed about 7 years ago. Since the other tree is now growing well, staff will endeavor to promote its growth and structure as the replacement for the old tree. The existing tree is also located more in between two properties.

Tree #7: Between 12th & 13th Avenues, approximately 200’ north of 13th Avenue, 15’ west of pathway.
Contacted several residents in this area concerned about view obstruction. Placement of the tree between two properties and down slope lessened concerns but objections remained.
Recommend planting at this location. While there are no trees currently in this location, one tree planted on the slope will provide some visual interest to the site but not be a large visual obstruction with proper maintenance to foster good growth and development.

Tree #8: Between 12th & 13th Avenues, approximately 60’ north of 13th Avenue, 10’ west of pathway.
Contacted three neighbors in this location who were not opposed to this specific tree, but planting plan in general. One resident would like to see some pruning of the existing trees in this area to assure the city has a commitment to the long term maintenance of new trees and old trees.
Recommend planting at this location. There was a tree planted here several years ago that was sprayed with an undetermined substance that killed the tree. This will replace that lost tree.

Tree #9: Between 13th & Santa Lucia Avenues, on the south side of the point at 13th Avenue
Contracted one resident at this location; concerned about maintenance of existing trees and the city managing its future maintenance obligations.
Recommend planting at this location. A tree at this location will provide additional visual interest to the site but not wall off significant views of Carmel Beach.

Tree #10: Between Santa Lucia Avenue and city limit, approximately 75’ south of Santa Lucia Avenue
No contacts in this area. There is a new tree just south of the pathway fork to the public restrooms.
Recommend holding off on planting at this location. This location is in or very close to the area of the ADA access for the proposed permanent public restroom construction at Santa Lucia Avenue. It may be premature to plant this site and then have to remove or relocate a new tree. There is a site further to the south in a planter east of the pathway where there had been a cypress tree growing since the pathway was built. The tree was damaged by a vehicle several years ago. The FOCF has planted several trees in this location which have died from unknown reasons (possible poisoning) and I suggest another attempt to replant this site.