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Home My WebLink AboutComment Letter_ RE_ DISCUSSION ITEM ONLY. ITEM #1From:Jarek Dallos To:City Clerk; Planning Cc:Jane Garrison; Bettina Rosmarino; Judy Deertrack; Brenda Fisher; Ken Lyon; Christian Wheeler Subject:Comment Letter: RE: DISCUSSION ITEM ONLY. ITEM #1. CITY OF PALM SPRINGS, REGARDING A POTENTIAL CITYWIDE TREE PROTECTION ORDINANCE Date:Tuesday, April 23, 2024 8:45:37 PM Attachments:EXHIBIT A_Article_One in Four Birds (3 Billion) Has Disappeared in 50 Years_Cornell Univ. Research_Cornell Lab (4pp).pdf Comment Letter_Oswit Land Trust_Palm Springs Draft Protective Tree Ordinance_PC Study Session_2024.04.24.pdf EXHIBIT B_Photo-Truncated Trees_Abusive Pruning_E. Alejo & N. Calle El Segundo, PSpr.pdf EXHIBIT C_Species Protection_Bird-Friendly Native Plants (1p).pdf NOTICE: This message originated outside of The City of Palm Springs -- DO NOT CLICK on links or open attachments unless you are sure the content is safe. Dear City of Palm Springs. I am reaching out on behalf of Jane Garrison, Executive Director of Oswit Land Trust, to share with you a comment letter regarding: RE: DISCUSSION ITEM ONLY. ITEM #1. CITY OF PALM SPRINGS, REGARDING A POTENTIAL CITYWIDE TREE PROTECTION ORDINANCE Please confirm receipt and distribute the attached letter and exhibits to the Planning Commission. Thank you kindly. Jarek Dallos JAREK DALLOS | Executive Assistant Email: jarek@OswitLandTrust.Org OswitLandTrust.org | 760.385.8255 Oswit Land Trust, PO Box 4020, Palm Springs, CA 92263 April 23, 2024 To the City of Palm Springs: City Clerk's office The Planning Director & Planning Staff Members of the Planning Commission Members of the Sustainability Commission CC: Ken Lyon, Planner Christian Wheeler, Palm Springs Sustainability Commission Jane Garrison, ExecuQve Director of Oswit Land Trust BeWna Rosmarino, Land AcquisiQon Project Manager Judy Deertrack, A[orney RE: DISCUSSION ITEM ONLY. ITEM #1. CITY OF PALM SPRINGS, REGARDING A POTENTIAL CITYWIDE TREE PROTECTION ORDINANCE To Whom It May Concern: Oswit Land Trust is a 501C3 non-profit land conservancy dedicated to preserving criQcal habitat for wildlife corridors and sensiQve species. We achieve our goals through the acquisiQon of land and advocacy. We are a proud member of the Land Trust Alliance and have over 3,000 acQve members who are residents within the Coachella Valley and beyond. Please accept our deep appreciaQon to decisionmakers and staff for implemenQng policies and ordinances that advance global warming iniQaQves and regulate damage or removal of mature trees and landscaping. ProtecQng mature trees not only advances human climate control (excessive heat objecQves), but also protects the nesQng (reproducQon) of bird species, and shields birds from predators and heat. Cornell University, in one of the most comprehensive inter-disciplinary studies of the Century, has determined that the overall bird populaQon in the U.S. has reduced by 3 billion birds in the last fiey (50) years, represenQng a species loss of 30% over the course of (less than) the average person’s life span. (EXHIBIT A). Taking steps to ensure birds have nesQng and appropriate cover in urban environments is essenQal. This is accomplished through Qming pruning outside of nesQng season and avoidance of over-pruning. We would like the City of Palm Springs Planning Commission to consider the following: OswitLandTrust.org | 760.385.8255 Oswit Land Trust, PO Box 4020, Palm Springs, CA 92263 1) GENERAL PLAN POLICIES AS THE FOUNDATION FOR ENFORCEMENT OF ORDINANCES: California’s regulatory powers at the local land use level (ciQes and counQes) are exercised as a funcQon of general plan policies. Regulatory enforcement starts with general plan policies and then proceeds through implemenQng ordinances that support those policies. Upon legal challenge, a court of law will determine whether the planning acQon (enforcement of the tree ordinance) is “compaQble with and does not frustrate general plan goals and policies.” Providing clear objecQves and goals for climate stewardship and adopQng them into the general plan will ensure a proper scope of authority is created. Oswit Land Trust recommends the City of Palm Springs incorporate goals and objecQves for climate stewardship through landscaping, associated wildlife protecQon, and mature tree protecQon into its Climate AcQon Plan, Land Use Element, and the Open Space Element of the Palm Springs General Plan. 2) ENFORCEMENT OF LANDSCAPING GUIDELINES IN OLDER PROJECTS: Many aging developments may not have a landscaping plan on file with the City, even though the Plan was required at the Qme of project approval. This is oeen the case with Homeowner AssociaQons (Condominiums) and even Specific Plans with parks, trails, and open space areas. Records are oeen lost or destroyed. Oswit Land Trust encourages the City of Palm Springs to enact a provision in its tree protecQon ordinance that creates jurisdicQon to retroacQvely apply zoning and other ordinance protecQons that were in force at the Qme of original project approval. NeglecQng this provision can leave a significant exposure with older projects; EXACTLY where one would expect to find the mature trees! 3) PUBLIC HEARINGS V. ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS: The ordinance should clearly set out the disQncQon between minor and major modificaQons to landscaping (when a plan is in place or should be because of the size and nature of the development). The public is enQtled to public hearings when the removal is a major modificaQon that affects a criQcal number of mature trees. Appropriate enforcement and penalQes should be incorporated into the ordinance to discourage noncompliance. The ordinance should disQnguish when the proposed change requires a public hearing versus an administraQve decision (Planning Director). The ordinance should clearly address the grounds for minor modificaQon versus major modificaQon, and whether the removal is from legiQmate “tree disease” or removal for what should be prohibited by ordinance -- “a simple design change to smaller trees” only for convenience. Our organizaQon has heard from HOA’s who propose removing mature trees only because they don’t like the droppings of “messy birds” or they don’t like the appearance of the trees because OswitLandTrust.org | 760.385.8255 Oswit Land Trust, PO Box 4020, Palm Springs, CA 92263 they have been so badly pruned over the years. The ordinance should overtly address the grounds for any removal of a mature tree (recommending no grounds for removal of mature trees but health and safety). Our suggesQon is to allow removal upon cerQficaQon by an arborist because the tree is diseased or a determinaQon by a general contractor that the tree is unsafe because it disturbs buildings or infrastructure (pipelines). The request that the ordinance protect mature trees from removal except for health and safety reasons is based upon public and private enQtlement to the beauty, appearance, shade, and ecological funcQon of the tree during a global crisis, and a recogniQon that replacing a mature tree with one or three small trees is not an exchange in kind or in quality. To the contrary, to allow replacement back to small trees defeats the Climate Stewardship purpose of the ordinance. 4) PRUNING ABUSE (TIMING AND METHOD): Injuring viable trees and destroying the aestheQc appearance and funcQon of the tree is a rampant pracQce in Palm Springs, sadly! This is accomplished by property owners who have li[le interest or knowledge in the fundamentals of pruning or do not want to invest what it takes to create healthy landscaping. It occurs from gardening firms who know li[le or nothing of proper pruning and “cut” into the life of the tree. (1) Pruning should never occur during nesQng seasons. Radical pruning and disturbance of the trees citywide will kill a generaQon of birds. (2) Landscape Plans should include “Pruning RecommendaQons and Schedules” and might profit from occasional review by trained and licensed arborists. Pruning too radically or at the wrong Qme will impair and destroy the trees longevity and funcQon. If developments must comply with plumbing and electrical requirements, why shouldn’t they comply with long-term landscaping requirements? Oswit Land Trust again thanks the Palm Springs Planning Commission and Staff (including the Sustainability Commi[ee) for a[ending to Climate Stewardship, wildlife protecQon, and the aestheQcs of our beauQful City. We are deeply grateful and appreciate the public discussion. Sincerely, Jane Garrison, ExecuQve Director Oswit Land Trust OswitLandTrust.org | 760.385.8255 Oswit Land Trust, PO Box 4020, Palm Springs, CA 92263 ATTACHMENTS: Exhibit A – EXHIBIT A (BIRD SPECIES LOSS) Exhibit B – EXHIBIT B (PHOTO OF TRUNCATED TREES IN PALM SPRINGS) Exhibit C – EXHIBIT C (BIRD-FRIENDLY NATIVE PLANT LIST – LANDSCAPING REQUIREMENTS) Our results signal an urgent need…to aver t continued biodiversity loss and potential collapse of the continental avifauna. ~from the 2019 Science article More From Living Bird From the Autumn 2019 issue of Living Bird magazine. Subscribe now. If you were alive in the year 1970, more than one in four birds in the U.S. and Canada has disappeared within your lifetime. According to research published online in September by the journal Science, wild bird populations in the continental U.S. and Canada have declined by almost 30% since 1970. “We were astounded by this net loss across all birds on our continent, the loss of billions of birds,” said Cornell Lab of Ornithology conservation scientist Ken Rosenberg, who led an international team of scientists from seven institutions in the analysis of population trends for 529 bird species. The study quantifies for the first time the total decline in bird populations in the continental U.S. and Canada, a loss of 2.9 billion breeding adult birds—with devastating losses among birds in every biome. Rosenberg, who leads joint research initiatives by the Cornell Lab and American Bird Conservancy, says these study results transcend the world of birds. “These bird losses are a strong signal that our human-altered landscapes are losing their ability to support birdlife,” he said. “And that is an indicator of a coming collapse of the overall environment.” wild bird populations in the continental U.S. and Canada have declined by almost 30% since 1970. If you were alive in the year 1970, more than one in four birds in the U.S. and Canada has disappeared within your lifetime. Cornell Lab of Ornithology international team of scientists from seven institutions in the analysis of population trends for 529 bird species. The study quantifies for the first time the total decline in bird populations in the continental U.S. and Canada, a loss of 2.9 billion breeding adult birds—with devastating losses among birds in every biome. “These bird losses are a strong signal that our human-altered landscapes are losing their ability to support birdlife,” he said. “And that is an indicator of a coming collapse of the overall environment.” EXHIBIT A Palm Springs Planning Comm. Study Session / April 24, 2024 Discussion Item Protective Tree Ordinance (Exhibit Submitted by Oswit Land Trust) Research on Rapidly Declining Bird Populations from Urban Development Graphic by Jillian Ditner. 2.9 Billion Birds Gone The scale of loss portrayed in the Science study is unlike anything recorded in modern natural history. While the Passenger Pigeon likewise suffered cascading losses more than a century ago, that was a population loss among one species, mostly in eastern North America. This research portrays massive losses among hundreds of species of birds from coast to coast. The population models in this study are based on several decades of standardized bird-survey datasets. This research represents the most robust synthesis of long-term population monitoring data ever assembled for animals, said Adam Smith, a study coauthor and biostatistician for Environment and Climate Change Canada. “It’s safe to say that in the natural world, birds are the best studied group of wildlife species,” Smith said. “The data that exist for birds are just so incredible, from 50 years of the North American Breeding Bird Survey and the Christmas Bird Counters from 100 years ago, on to the eBirders of today. “With this study, we have finally managed to come up with a way to estimate the number of birds in North America, to get to a point where we trust the math. And it turns out, over less than a single human lifetime, we’ve lost almost a third of our birds.” Graphic by Jillian Ditner. Photo credits appear at the end of this article. Declines in Every Biome The study authors say their work doesn’t just show a massive loss of birdlife, but a pervasive loss that reaches into every biome in the U.S. and Canada. These bird losses are a strong signal that our human-altered landscapes are losing their ability to support birdlife. ~Ken Rosenberg, Cornell Lab of Ornithology Forests alone have lost 1 billion birds. Grassland bird populations collectively have declined by more than 50%, or more than 700 million birds. Habitat loss is likely to be a driving factor in these declines, say the authors, particularly agricultural intensification and development. “I think this analysis shows that we’re eating away at the foundations of all of our major ecosystems on the continent,” said Arvind Panjabi, study coauthor and avian conservation scientist at the Colorado-based Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. “These numbers show that the world has changed a lot since 1970.” For Adam Smith, the Environment and Climate Change Canada biostatistician, the numbers call out for a radical shift in conservation strategy. “It’s really a wake-up call for the importance of moving beyond just a single species, endangered species conservation framework,” Smith said. “We rescued the Trumpeter Swan and the Peregrine Falcon, and we should be proud and happy about those successes. But we’re at a stage where, given these extreme declines in so many species, we need to move beyond that framework. “These are systems and biomes in serious trouble. I think we need to approach conservation of these endangered systems at a much more holistic level.” Habitat loss is likely to be a driving factor in these declines “I think this analysis shows that we’re eating away at the foundations of all of our major ecosystems on the continent, For Adam Smith, the Environment and Climate Change Canada biostatistician, the numbers call out for a radical shift in conservation strategy. “It’s really a wake-up call for the importance of moving beyond just a single species, endangered species conservation framework,” we’re at a stage where, given these extreme declines in so many species, we need to move beyond that framework. EXHIBIT B PALM SPRINGS PLANNING COMMISSION STUDY SESSION / APRIL 24, 2024 DISCUSSION ITEM PROTECTIVE TREE ORDINANCE (Exhibit Submitted by Oswit Land Trust) EXAMPLE OF TRUNCATED TREES THROUGH ABUSIVE PRUNING EXHIBIT C PALM SPRINGS PLANNING COMMISSION STUDY SESSION / APRIL 24, 2024 DISCUSSION ITEM PROTECTIVE TREE ORDINANCE (EXHIBIT SUBMITTED BY OSWIT LAND TRUST) AUDUBON SOCIETY URBAN RECOMMENDATIONS: “BIRD-FRIENDLY NATIVE PLANT SPECIES” RECOMMENDATION TO CITY OF PALM SPRINGS: BIRD-FRIENDLY LIST OF NATIVE PLANTS PLANT PALETTE FOR LOCAL LANDSCAPING PLANS