Thank you Christian for forwarding our concerns on to the Building Department for its review of the 1911 Menalto foundation question. In addition to the report by the developer’s arborist that clearly stated the heritage live oak was not to be cut; he also defined the kind of foundation to be built to protect the roots of the tree. It appears that the foundation constructed did not conform to the arborist's notes that required a pier & grade beam foundation within the drip line of the subject oak. Was the arborist’s instruction passed on to the architect and incorporated into the foundation plan for the house? How was the foundation in this part of the plan actually constructed? The concern we have is that there may to be a serious gap between the developer’s instructions by his arborist and the building department’s inspection and sign-off on this part of the permit. Is it protocol that the Building Department has a copy of the plans when performing inspections on site? Would the foundation plans include the arborist’s notes? The City has an environmental commission and a Heritage Tree Committee that is now revisiting the ordinance that protects our city’s trees. Menlo Park is a member of the Tree City USA program. The last and most important step might be to make sure that there is continuity between conditions of approval of a project and the finished product that sticks with our goal to protect our heritage trees. Steve Schmidt > Begin forwarded message: > > From: "Bonner, Christian R" > Subject: RE: 1911 Menalto > Date: April 17, 2019 at 1:22:48 PM PDT > To: gabrielle johnck > Cc: "Henry, Brian P" > > Steve, > I have forwarded your comments to the Community Development Department’s Building Division for their review. > > Regards, > > > > Christian R. Bonner > Public Works Supervisor | City Arborist > City Corporation Yard > 333 Burgess Dr. > tel 650-330-6793 > menlopark.org http://www.menlopark.org/ > > > From: gabrielle johnck > Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2019 5:21 PM > To: Bonner, Christian R > Cc: Henry, Brian P > Subject: 1911 Menalto > > Hi Christian, > Attached below from page F5 of the arborist’s report: Was the pier and grade beam foundation system required within the drip line of Tree #1 employed according to the arborist’s recommendation? The Additional Notes clearly state that a pier & grade beam foundation would be required at the NE corner of the house nearest the tree in order to protect the tree’s established root system. I didn’t see any clear evidence of piers at the three corners where they would logically be found. > The building official/inspector should have records of the pre-pour foundation inspection that he could show you. > Steve > > > Received on Fri Apr 19 2019 - 10:38:49 PDT
