Save Gibbons Trees
Safe sidewalks. Mature trees. We need both.
Embedded Files
Thank you to everyone who attended Monday evening's Planning Board meeting, submitted comments, completed the community survey, and helped spread the word. We had a strong turnout, and your participation made the difference. At this first of several board reviews scheduled by the City, the Planning Board referred the plan back for additional work before recommending it to City Council. Please keep showing up to preserve these trees and their beautiful connected canopy at the Commission on Persons with Disabilities, Wednesday, October 14, the Historical Advisory Board on November 5, and City Council in December (1st or 15th).
The Gibbons’ beautiful street tree canopy has taken generations to grow. Yet the City's consulting arborist says they have lived only 40% - 80% of their natural lifespan, with “the potential to thrive for many more years.” These stunning, hardworking trees cool the street, help clean the air, intercept and soak up rainfall and shelter wildlife. Parts of the sidewalks beneath them have been under them for generations, too.
Alameda’s adopted Master Street Tree Plan already requires evaluation of tree-preserving alternatives, including new technology, before removal is considered. The new proposed plan needs a process that makes certain those obligations are met at each location, and that removals only occur when repairs are funded and scheduled to be completed.
Please join us in insisting on safe, accessible sidewalks and clear, measurable safeguards that will protect this mature canopy before the plan is adopted.
What We’re Asking For
What We’re Asking For
Start by defining the words that determine whether the trees are protected in clear, measurable terms that prioritize safe sidewalks and retaining the existing mature canopy: "feasible", "reasonable", "practical" and "possible".
Before any nonemergency removal is approved, show how each preservation option was assessed, why any was ruled out, and the evidence that the applicable options have been exhausted. Include relevant new technologies and combinations of options. For any removal justified by sidewalk work, require a repair that is designed, funded and scheduled to proceed.
Measure cumulative canopy loss each time another removal is proposed, against a stated baseline and a protective limit. Protect the connected wildlife habitat so many animals depend upon, as well as individual trees - whether it's nesting season or not.
Keep independent professional reviews, meaningful public review and an effective way to stop irreversible removals when required safeguards have not been met.
Commission on Persons with Disabilities
Commission on Persons with Disabilities
Wednesday, October 14 • 6:30 p.m.
City Hall, Council Chambers • 2263 Santa Clara Avenue
Ask the Commission to support safe, accessible sidewalks and the mature canopy’s shade, beauty, cleaner air and protection from heat for people with disabilities. Email your comment and take part in the meeting.
To: ada@alamedaca.gov • CC: ljewell@alamedaca.gov (Lilian Jewell)
Ask that your comment reach all commissioners and the public record.
Copy a Commission email
Copy a Commission email
If the email button does not open your email app, copy the recipients, subject and message below into a new email. Add your own words before sending.
To:
ada@alamedaca.gov
Cc:
ljewell@alamedaca.gov
Subject:
October 14 - Safe, accessible sidewalks and mature Gibbons trees
Message:
Dear Commissioners,
People with disabilities deserve safe, accessible sidewalks and the shade, beauty, cleaner air and protection from heat that this mature canopy provides. Everyone should be able to enjoy this green corridor. Small replacement trees cannot provide the existing canopy’s benefits today.
Please return the Gibbons draft for more work, as the Planning Board did Monday evening, and require revisions that commit to safe access and mature-tree preservation. Please require the revised plan to return to this Commission for public review before any recommendation to City Council. A tree-removal framework is not a sidewalk-repair plan: it does not tell residents which accessibility barriers will be fixed, when, or with what funding.
Please require:
A framework specifying how needed sidewalk repairs will be identified, assessed and prioritized, and how funding will be provided.
Repairs designed, funded and scheduled before infrastructure-related removal, with safe access during construction.
Clear, measurable definitions of feasible, reasonable, practical and possible.
Documented assessment of every applicable tree-preserving option, including new technologies and combinations of measures, and evidence that those options have been exhausted before nonemergency removal approval.
Independent review before roots are damaged, continued Planning Board review before irreversible work, and protection of cumulative canopy and connected wildlife habitat.
[Add a sentence about what matters to you.]
Please distribute this comment to all commissioners and include it in the public record for the October 14 meeting.
[Your name]
Separate draft-plan feedback deadline: October 23.
The City’s online form remains open after the October 14 Commission meeting. Send comments for those meetings before they take place.
Thank the Planning Board for listening
Thank the Planning Board for listening
The Planning Board voted unanimously, 4–0, to continue the item and ask Public Works to revise the draft. Thank the Board for listening and asking for more work.
Copy a Planning Board thank-you
Copy a Planning Board thank-you
To:
stsou@alamedaca.gov; awang@alamedaca.gov; xcisneros@alamedaca.gov; hhom@alamedaca.gov; kfreed@alamedaca.gov; truiz@alamedaca.gov; jly@alamedaca.gov
Cc:
jwarner@alamedaca.gov; planning@alamedaca.gov
Subject:
Thank you — October 12, Item 5-A, Gibbons Drive
Message:
Dear Planning Board Members,
Thank you for listening to residents and voting unanimously to continue the Gibbons Drive item and ask Public Works to revise the draft.
Your requests for a more specific, analytical plan; clearer standards; greater community involvement; and a return to the Board for public review matter. Safe sidewalks and mature trees deserve that care.
Thank you for giving resident concerns serious consideration.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Please circulate this thank-you to all Planning Board members.
Nearly two in five original trees could be gone by year six
Nearly two in five original trees could be gone by year six
Five trees have already been cut down. The proposed plan allows removal of up to 20% of the remaining trees in the first five-year period, with another allowance beginning in year six.
If both allowances are fully used by then, another 40 trees could be cut down. Including the five already removed, that means 45 of the original 117 trees could be gone within six years. Emergency removals can exceed the cap, so it is also not an absolute limit on tree loss.
This corridor deserves enforceable preservation requirements before this removal framework is adopted: clearly defined measurable standards, documented assessment of tree-saving alternatives showing which may or will not work, independent review, and a meaningful opportunity to challenge nonemergency removals before irreversible work begins.
What residents asked for
What residents asked for
At the May meetings, 75% of first-choice votes favored the slowest removal option offered. None favored the faster option staff recommended in July.
The separate community survey, with more than 100 responses, shows a nearly uniform preference for preserving trees unless removal is absolutely necessary. Those results have been shared with Public Works. And the words have changed, while the actual policy consequences of the words have not.
Why This Matters Now
Why This Matters Now
A mature tree can come down in a day. This canopy took generations to grow. The City’s consulting arborist places these trees roughly between 40% and 80% of their natural lifespans, with the potential to thrive for many more years.
All residents—including people with disabilities—deserve safe, accessible sidewalks and the shade, beauty and protection of this mature canopy.
Ask the Commission on Persons with Disabilities to return the draft for binding, measurable, preservation-first requirements and funded, scheduled sidewalk repairs before recommending adoption. A tree-removal framework is not a sidewalk-repair plan.
Upcoming Meetings & Updates
Upcoming Meetings & Updates
Wednesday, October 14, 6:30 p.m. — Commission on Persons with Disabilities
Ask the Commission to insist on funded, scheduled accessible sidewalk repairs while applying binding, measurable, preservation standards fir these mature trees. Email ada@alamedaca.gov, copying Lilian Jewell at ljewell@alamedaca.gov. Ask that your comment be distributed to all commissioners and included in the public record.
December 1 or 15, 2026 — City Council consideration expected
The City says the revised plan will go to Council in December. A specific meeting date has not been confirmed here.
Stay Updated
Stay Updated
Want meeting news and updates by email? Subscribe to email updates.
The link opens a subscription request to gibbonstrees@gmail.com. Send the message to join the list. To leave, reply to an update and ask to be removed.
Follow @SaveGibbonsTrees on Instagram and Facebook for campaign updates, new information and ways to help.
Learn More
Learn More
Explore the questions, City documents and residents’ analysis behind these requests.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse