To: Menlo Park City Council
Menlo Park Parks and Recreation Commission
I'm forwarding the email below to you so that you are informed about what our group, Flood Park Tree Advocates 2021, is doing to help the local public become more aware of which trees are slated for removal in the Reimagine Flood Park conceptual Landscape Plan 2020 in hopes that the actual design created will save more of the largest oaks. As you will see below, we initiated a petition on 4/19/21 which as of right now has 264 signatures. The letter below with the petition and the above two photos was sent yesterday to the people listed. We plan to continue to collect signatures and resubmit the petition to the SMC Parks Dept. just prior to their public input meeting when the actual design of the park is 30% complete. (No date yet.)
It is important for you to know that our group is NOT opposed to Plan 2020 and that we are eager for the new amenities to be available. The article in the 4/23/21 paper issue of the Almanac erroneously stated that we were opposed to Plan 2020 and printed questions submitted by one person which were not in our press release. Our petition states: "The San Mateo County Parks Department's Landscape Plan 2020 preserves 92% of the trees in Flood Park. Among the remaining 8% (72 trees) planned for removal in Flood Park to build new amenities, over half are healthy native trees of various sizes, many quite old and large. We, the undersigned, value these trees for their beauty, their importance in the ecosystem of the park, and their role in combating global warming. We request that new amenities be built under and around native trees, and that the reason for each of the 72 trees slated for removal be published on the SMC Reimagine Flood Park website prior to the first public input meeting." To sign, go to: https://www.change.org/SaveFloodParkTrees.
The SMC Parks Department is using a county definition of "Heritage" trees such as CA Live Oaks and Valley Oaks which is "more than 48 in. diameter at breast height" (dbh = 54in.) of which there are a few in Flood Park. However, there are large old oaks in Flood Park with smaller diameters slated for removal such as in my attached photos that are thought of as "heritage" trees by the public and the oak meadow of the park has been historically known as the "Heritage Grove." Some of the people who come to Flood Park don't have large old trees where they live. These trees may be 150-200 years old and our group hopes to save more of them for current and future generations.
I have lived adjacent to the park for 34 years, know it well, and will be happy to walk through it with you to point out proposed locations of new amenities, trees to be saved, and trees to be removed. The tree removal maps in the Tree Report at the end of the 9/26/20 Errata to the Final Revised EIR on the Reimagine Flood Park website are very confusing because the paths shown are not the current ones and some of the trees shown are no longer there. I have clarified maps made by a member of our group. FYI, SMC Parks Director, Nicholas Calderon, is on a break returning 5/21. I can walk through the park with you before then, or if you schedule a walk through with him, I'd be pleased to join you to offer the perspective and goals of our group.
Thank you for all you do on behalf of our current and future residents.
Flood Park Tree Advocates 2021
c/o Alice Newton
1023 Del Norte Avenue
Menlo Park, CA 94025
________________________________
From: floodparktrees@gmail.com
Sent: Thursday, April 29, 2021 7:05 PM
Subject: Petition with 254 signatures re: desire to save more large old trees in Flood Park
To: Nicholas Calderon, Director, San Mateo County Parks Department
Scott Lombardi, Superintendent of Operations, SMC County Parks Department
Carla Schoof, Communications Specialist, SMC County Parks Department
SMC Board of Supervisors
SMC Parks Commissioners
I'm writing on behalf of an ad hoc group of people from the communities near Flood Park (Menlo Park), "Flood Park Tree Advocates 2021," who are dismayed that large old trees in Flood Park, mainly CA Live Oaks and Valley Oaks, are slated for removal to build new amenities in the conceptual Landscape Plan 2020. The purpose of our group is to help the local public become aware of which trees are slated for removal in hopes that the actual design created will save more of the largest oaks. We are not only sending this email to our SMC officials, but to supportive organizations and individuals* to ensure that it's abundantly clear that many people hope to retain more of the large old trees in Flood Park than are preserved in the Plan 2020. Other parks in our communities have playgrounds, picnic areas, and pathways built under and around large old trees. Menlo Park has been a "Tree City USA" for 22 years, Atherton 31, Redwood City 39, and San Mateo for 40 years. Menlo Park, Atherton, and Redwood City have tree ordinances that reflect the value the public places on these trees. San Mateo County has been in the process of updating the county tree ordinances for several years. We're aware that county parks are exempt from these ordinances, but at the public input meetings to suggest possible renovations to the park in the summer of 2015, preserving the trees was one of the highest priorities. In the presentations of the Landscape Plan 2020 to the public, the Menlo Park Parks and Recreation Commission, and to the SMC Board of Supervisors in the fall of 2020, SMC Parks listed this priority as one of the "four overarching goals" and said that "no heritage trees would be removed." Yet, a number of large old trees that many people think of as "heritage trees" and that would be protected under the local ordinances are marked for removal on the Parks Dept.'s maps and tree lists at the end of the 9/26/20 Errata to the Final Revised EIR on the Dept.'s Reimagine Flood Park website. The Design Phase for the Plan 2020 is about to begin and we want the design contractor to take the public's desire to save more of the large old oak trees into serious consideration.
On March 15, during a period of high winds, two of the largest Bay Laurel trees blew down in the oak meadow along Bay Road near where the second lacrosse/soccer field is proposed. We suggest that by removing the remaining Bay Laurel and perhaps a few young redwood trees, there could be room to shift that field south and eastward a few feet and save 4-6 large old oaks at the western end and we request that the design contractor be prepared to discuss this option at the public input meeting when the design is 30% complete. In order for the public to participate in a meaningful way, we hope that the 30% completed plan will be available for the public to study prior to the public input meeting.
People in the communities surrounding Flood Park are eager for the new amenities to be built, but also care deeply about the large old trees, especially since our towns and the County are committed to offsetting global warming significantly during the next decade and these trees sequester a great deal of C02.
The reason for most of the new amenities is clear, but I am repeatedly asked why two large fields are wanted, what sports groups will be using these fields, why they are not being built nearer to where the potential users live, if the public will be allowed informal use of the fields, if the vacant Flood School site adjacent to the park could be acquired for a ballfield, and what are the demographics for the next 30 years or so that justify these playing fields? People are anxious for answers to these and other questions about the Plan 2020. It would be helpful to have these questions answered on the Reimagine Flood Park website prior to the public input meeting when the Plan 2020 is 30% drawn.
"Flood Park Tree Advocates 2021" hosted an Earth Day/Arbor Day Information Event in Flood Park on 4/25. On 4/19 we initiated the following (and attached) petition. Within 24 hours there were 89 signatures. As of 7:00 pm today, 4/29, there are 254. We are now sending it to the SMC Parks Dept., the SMC Board of Supervisors, and the SMC Parks Commissioners, and will continue to collect signatures.
The petition states: "The San Mateo County Parks Department's Landscape Plan 2020 preserves 92% of the trees in Flood Park. Among the remaining 8% (72 trees) planned for removal in Flood Park to build new amenities, over half are healthy native trees of various sizes, many quite old and large. We, the undersigned, value these trees for their beauty, their importance in the ecosystem of the park, and their role in combating global warming. We request that new amenities be built under and around native trees, and that the reason for each of the 72 trees slated for removal be published on the SMC Reimagine Flood Park website prior to the first public input meeting." To sign, go to: https://www.change.org/SaveFloodParkTrees.
I hope for a response from you soon to report to our group.
*I will send a copy of this email minus the actual petition to the following who are aware of our concerns: Menlo Park City Council, Menlo Park Parks and Recreation Commission, Canopy, CA Native Plant Society, Audubon Society (local chapter), Youth Climate Ambassadors of the SMC Office of Sustainability, and local individual supporters.
Thank you,
Flood Park Tree Advocates 2021
c/o Alice Newton
1023 Del Norte Avenue
Menlo Park, CA 94025
