Gibbons Drive Trees Could Get Protected Status in Alameda
Councilmember Daysog wants the century-old sweetgums treated like Alameda's famous palms and oaks, just as the city drafts a plan to remove some.
By The Alameda Pulse
The Alameda City Council will consider a referral on Tuesday, Oct. 20, that could make the 112 mature sweetgum trees on Gibbons Drive protected trees. If it moves forward, the city couldn't remove one of them without a certificate of approval from the Historical Advisory Board.
- Where: Gibbons Drive in the Fernside neighborhood of Alameda, CA's East End.
- When: Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m., item 10-B.
- Who: A council referral from Councilmember Daysog, built on a nomination written by a Fernside resident.
- The trees: 112 liquidambars, also called American sweetgums, all in fair or good health per the city's arborist.
- Next: Public comment on the city's draft plan closes Oct. 23.
Here's why it matters: the city's Gibbons Drive sidewalks and trees plan would let some of these same trees come down over time.
What would protected status mean for the Gibbons Drive trees?
It would put Gibbons Drive on the short list of protected trees in city code, next to the palms on Burbank Street and Portola Avenue, the street trees on Thompson and Central avenues, and coast live oaks 10 inches or wider.
The Oct. 20 City Council agenda asks whether to direct staff to name the canopy a Protected Tree Corridor and Historic Cultural Landscape and draft an ordinance adding it to that list. The Historical Advisory Board would then have to weigh every reasonable sidewalk fix before approving a removal.
Why does Alameda want to remove some Gibbons Drive trees?
The roots are wrecking the sidewalks and curbs, and the city says it can't put off fixing them forever.
The trees grow in planting strips only about 4 feet wide. City staff's Oct. 12 slides to the Planning Board rated 36% of the street's sidewalks and 67% of its curbs as significantly damaged. Staff said disability law requires those sidewalks to be accessible.
The draft checks each tree one by one and would remove no more than 20% of the remaining sweetgums in any five-year stretch. That's a ceiling, not a goal, and it was 25% before neighbors pushed back. A slower 10% cap would cost about $4.05 million, the plan estimates, versus about $3.28 million at 25%.
When will the Gibbons Drive tree plan be decided?
Not yet. The Planning Board took up the draft Oct. 12, but the city hasn't posted that meeting's official record.
Here's the schedule staff showed:
- Oct. 23: Public comment on the draft plan closes.
- Nov. 5: The Historical Advisory Board discusses the Gibbons trees.
- Dec. 1: The final plan goes to the City Council.
What this means for Alameda
The city's plan says the oldest trees are about 100 years old, likely planted as the street was laid out. The resident's nomination says the crowns grew so evenly because Fernside's power lines run along back property lines, so crews never had to top them.
Tuesday's vote won't settle the plan, but it'll show which way the council leans before December. Follow along in our Alameda community news.
