+ Presentation by Ad Hoc Santa Monica Urban Subcommittee on Tree Selection Forest Master Plan Task Force Susan McCarthy, Peter Jensen, Dryden Helgoe & Grace Phillips January 26 2011
+ TASK FORCE SUBCOMMITTEE Susan McCarthy : former City Manager, Santa Monica Peter Jensen : Landscape Architect; Certified Arborist Grace Phillips : Landscape Designer; Urban Planning Master’s Candidate, UCLA Dryden Helgoe : Landscape Designer, Recreation & Parks Commission Liaison
+ THE TASK FORCE MISSION “…to ensure that the environmental, social, aesthetic and economic benefits of a healthy community forest are available to Santa Monica residents and visitors for generations to come... …the Master Plan will guide the conservation and enhancement of tree canopy coverage over the entire City…”
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+ START WITH WHAT IS THERE
+ Appreciate what is working Mature, healthy canopy in large parts of the city Beauty of both monocultures (street planted with one kind of tree only) and mixed stands (street planted with more than one species of tree) Benefits of a good canopy – shade, sense of scale, specific character, rain water absorption, air quality, habitat (hawks’ nest in a ficus tree on Delaware!) Desirability of streets with beautiful canopies – nice street trees make houses more valuable Street trees for way-finding: we use how streets look to navigate the city and find where we are going (“Look at this gorgeous allee of Casuarinas -- I must be on 26 th Street!”)
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+ GET COMMUNITY INPUT Task Force implemented outreach efforts through: Citywide community workshops 30,000 door hanger questionnaires On-line survey
+ Doorhanger Survey/Workshop Announcement Distribution • 30,000 door hangers citywide Sustainability • 100% post-consumer recycled material • soy-based inks • locally printed • distributed by city maintenance crews on foot Return • nearly 300 surveys returned (1%) • ~75% of attendance at workshops
+ Online Survey Hosted by surveymonkey.com: • Publicized through • Santa Monica Daily Press • Santa Monica Mirror • Citywide door hanger distribution • Linked to the city’s Urban Forest web page www.santamonicatrees.com Response: • Total started survey: 236 • Total completed survey: 223 (94.5%) • Many comments & replies
+ Community Workshops
+ Table Discussion Groups
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+ What neighborhood do you live in?
+ What type of residence do you live in?
Considering the following characteristics of street trees, please tell us what is most important to you.
If you could choose the type of street tree for your street, what would you prefer?
+ Profile/Combination Results from Community Input (Listed in order of Preference) 1. Broadleaved Evergreen Monoculture 2. Broadleaved Evergreen & Deciduous 3. Narrow leaved Evergreen & Deciduous 4. Deciduous Monoculture 5. Combination of narrow leaved Evergreen Species 6. Broadleaved Evergreen & Deciduous with Similar Form 7. Broadleaved Evergreen & narrow leaved Evergreen 8. Combination of multiple evergreen Species 9. Palm Monoculture (compact spacing) 10. Palm & Deciduous 11. Palm & narrow leaved evergreen 12. Combination of Palm Species 13. Palm Monoculture (wide spacing) 14. Palm & Broadleaved Evergreen
+ Community Input - Top 3 Choices 1 st Choice – Broad leaved Evergreen Monoculture 2 nd Choice – Broad leaved Evergreen & Deciduous 3 rd Choice – Narrow leaved Evergreen & Deciduous
+ What are our urban forest issues? Dependence on too few species in the “Top 15” – one disease could decimate the forest Age – trees nearing the end of their lifespan (Prunus carolinianas planted in the 60s, Bottle trees on Pearl Street) Disease – various diseases are attacking certain species (Pittosporum family is dying from xylella, carried by the glassy- wing sharp shooter; oleander leaf scorch killing oleanders; fusarium infecting Canary Island Date Palms ) Lack of unity in plantings Some streets are under planted (the street needs more and/or bigger trees) Some streets are overplanted (trees are too big for grow space) CANOPY EQUITY: Due to how city parkways were laid out, some parts of town have far less canopy coverage than others
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+ OUR TASK: to boldly go where no other ad hoc tree selection subcommittee has gone before… To go through the city street by street and often block by block and consider all current conditions of tree sites To take as many variables and as much information into account when selecting tree species for the Long Range Master Plan
+ Our task: STEP ONE – define segments Stretches of single streets with consistent parkway sizes that are visually continuous are treated as a single site (e.g., 15 th Street from Montana Avenue to Washington Avenue) STEP TWO – refine lists Review and revise List of Trees from Artecho, including scouring all sources for possible new additions (Santa Barbara tree lists, native CA tree lists, tree experts in the region, etc.) What species are over-represented in the city? How many of each in the Top 15 do we already have? Lists are sorted by parkway size, alphabetically, and by mature size
+ STEP THREE – analyze site & conditions What are the site conditions? How wide is the parkway? How wide is the street? Narrow streets can benefit from smaller trees, while wider ones generally need larger trees What is the above-ground grow space? Are there adjacent two-story buildings? What shape of tree would be best in this site? Vase shaped, broad canopy, upright column? What is the soil like? Is it sandy or solid clay? What are the weather conditions specifically for this site? Is it in the fog belt? How is the street used? Is there a lot of truck traffic? (effect on canopy)
+ STEP THREE cont. Is there a lot of foot traffic on the sidewalks and in the parkway? (effect on roots through compaction, effect on sidewalks and on pruning practices) Types of trees currently in place Effect of current plantings: Are the current trees thriving? If not, why not? Is there a mature canopy in place? Is it a mixed canopy or a monoculture? Does this part of Santa Monica have good street trees? Are some streets better than others? What has been successful and what hasn’t? Number of trees – are there vacancies? What is the effect for the resident, the pedestrian, cyclist or the driver?
+ STEP FOUR – choose a tree! Taking size of street and parkway, shape of grow space, microclimate and existing trees into account, how can we improve the canopy on this street? For some streets, this means leave it as it is, and replace any dying trees with the current selection Some streets have numerous tree species, with some thriving and some languishing We design the best canopy for the particular street, either as a monoculture or a mixed planting, and introduce one or more new types of trees If we are going to add or change the street tree, we work off our exhaustive lists of trees that will thrive in the coastal zone (Zone 24)
+ STEP FOUR cont. Avoid using trees in the Top 15 unless they are already established on that street Use palms as a “ way-finder ” to define boulevards We look for opportunities to introduce trees that are underused as street trees (Hello, Quillaja saponaria!) We choose trees that will not require lots of water once established in case the parkway is not irrigated …and lastly, is the tree available? Is anyone growing it?
+ SPECIAL CASES Air Quality Management District and US Forest Service Project City Forester and staff have identified sites in the city that meet the requirements of the US Forest Service We work from a short list of California-native, drought- tolerant, low-emission trees that AQMD furnished We have suggested a few additions to the list and have been successful in increasing the options We specify trees for the sites that we think would most enhance the beauty of the city street and are most suitable for the site
+ SPECIAL CASES Tiny Parkways & Monolithic Curbs (where there is no parkway, and the curb is attached to the sidewalk) Earmark these sites for the Task Force to look at, proposing that we recommend infrastructure changes Can the city widen the parkway? Can we create a Green Street in the future? (Oak Street between Euclid + 16 th Street, 16 th Street north of Marine, 14 th Street between Hill and Oak, etc.) Can we recommend that the city cut tree wells?
What are the options for street trees with no parkway?
+ SPECIAL CASES Future Projects Expo Line areas, Transit Mall area etc. Caltrans areas – not currently under SM’s jurisdiction but may be in the near future: Lincoln Blvd., Santa Monica Blvd. Depending on circumstances, we either make recommendations or adhere to approved designs
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