Recommendation to request City Manager to have the Parks, Recreation and Marine Department and the Public Works Department review the list of trees approved for planting in parks, parkways, medians and other public properties and report back to council with a new list of approved trees.
Motion carries. Thank you. Next item, please. Item 15. Communication from Council Member Pearce and Council Member Super Nan. Recommendation to request the City Manager to have Parks, Recreation and Marine and the Public Works Department review the list of trees approved for planting in public properties and report back to council with a new list of approved trees. Council member, Peter. Thank you. This item came up through the discussion of how many trees we were going to be trimming and possibly the trees that we would be removing due to the drought or just the fact that they're old and we have an outdated list of trees that we would like to ask for, a new list that includes drought tolerant, that also considers historical context and neighborhood context. So it's a simple request. All right. Motion in a second. Councilman Mongo. Okay. Councilman Price. Thank you. I want to thank my colleagues for bringing this item. I think this is a fantastic item. It's something that an issue that comes up all the time. I know that the city is currently undergoing a bike history policy. Is that right? The ficus tree policy. I'm not aware of that. I think, Mr. Beck of ficus tree policy. Councilmember Price, I think you're referring to a recent action taken by the city's tree committee relative to focus trees in the public right of way. And basically the committee took action that that looked at removing ficus trees from the right of way because of the damage that they caused to sidewalks and to storm drains and other utilities . So I apologize for the interruption, but the Tree Committee basically felt that there are other trees that are more appropriate for the park, for the parkways, besides effects. Okay. Thank you. Well, that's a that's an exact makes my point. Exactly. We have a lot of trees that are planted in medians that later turn out to be visual obstructions or require too much irrigation for medians. And I know we have reoccurring issues on sidewalks, so I think this is a great agenda item. I want to commend my colleague, Council Member Pearce for bringing this item and Councilman Super now for signing on. I think this is some this is this should help guide us in the future when we're planning new park spaces and medians because we I cannot tell you how many calls our office gets about landscaping in the public right away. So thank you. Thank you, Councilman Austin. Yes. Thank you. A question for staff. Do we already have a list of what's released? That actually speak to this motion already? Yes, Councilmember Austin, there is an existing approved street tree list. It was last updated, to my knowledge, in 2012. So I think it would be worthwhile to look at it again. I don't have the number, the exact number in front of me, but it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 to 90 different species of trees. Okay. Well, our interns actually did did some research and came up with the list. And I think that's that's about accurate. But I think I see about, you know, at least 15 or so drought tolerant trees in California, native trees. Um, have there been new trees? Kind of. Created since 2012. That's the question. I don't have an answer to that. But again, as staff, we're more than willing to look at the tree list. And if there's updates necessary to bring forward, we'd be happy to do that. Okay, I'll make sure that my colleagues get a copy of this list as well. Councilman. Gringo. Thank you. The only one concern I would raise is that in my district, we have Christmas tree laying. And there are trees already in. Who have lived their their lives and are at the end of their longevity. And the neighborhood in that area, the association and the Wrigley Area Neighborhood Alliance, are very concerned about those trees. If they were to come down, what would they be replaced with? Obviously, there's discussion about replacing them with like trees, however, that those trees are highly, highly. High maintenance in respect to what they require. So if we do the study, I would want to include some kind of tree, if you will, as an alternate that would serve a purpose of a Christmas tree lane. Well, maybe not a a similar tree to the ones that are there now, but at least something that would provide the same type of environment and the type of of celebration that we have every year with the Christmas tree laying. Now, there is some discussion taking place in regards to funding for that type of tree. We know that it's going to be expensive and we're going to be looking at that. We've been in discussions with the staff at Parks and Recreation to look at what are our options and what are going to be some of the the costs involved. So not that I want to separate myself or separate the Christmas tree limb from from the study. However, I want to make sure that there is some kind of sensitivity to that particular stretch of street to ensure that we can continue to have the great celebrations that we've had year after year in the past. Councilmember Pearce. Yes. Thank you, Councilmember Yanga. In the discussion section, we talk about the historical context of trees, definitely recognizing Daisy Lane and the history that's there. And so we want to make sure that in this approved list of trees that we take into consideration those neighborhoods that might have some historical context. So definitely including that. Public comment. CNN members, please cast your vote. Motion carries. Q I'm going to try to move that. I know we're trying to get the national night out, which is probably not going to happen, but I'll try. I will try my best, please, if we can. Item 23, please.