Update: On October 14, 2014, the tree was cut down to make way for a hotel.
A century-old living landmark of Broadway Street is slated for imminent demolition despite efforts of many who have written letters of support, protested, and stood vigil for the past four and a half months. If you’ve found yourself on Broadway on a Wednesday afternoon since April, you may have seen community members with signs protesting the removal of a healthy, 110-year-old red horse chestnut tree (Aesculus carnea) outside of the former Unity Temple building. A four-story Hyatt hotel, which has been guaranteed a future Transient Occupancy Tax credit of $2 million by the Santa Cruz City Council, is planned to be built on the land that has been graced by this heritage tree since the early 1900s.
On Wednesdays from 3-5 PM, the local organization Save Our Big Trees holds a vigil/protest at 407 Broadway Street to raise awareness for the decisions that our City government has taken to support the development of the Hyatt without finding a way to protect the tree. People driving, walking, or biking by have expressed support with honking, waving, thumbs up, and shouts of support. One of the organizers, Gillian Greensite, believes that based on the outpouring of support she has seen on behalf of the tree, if this kind of a decision were up for public vote, the tree could be saved. Despite efforts by Save Our Big Trees and others to find ways for the Hyatt and the tree to coexist, the tree’s removal could happen at any time.
Not just any old tree
At last week’s vigil on September 3, eight people stood by the tree with signs expressing frustration that no efforts have been made to protect this tree by the City or architects designing the hotel. Over the past few months, more than one-hundred community members have signed up to receive email updates about the tree, which is no ordinary tree. According to Bradley Allen, “It is a designated Heritage Tree in the city of Santa Cruz, and featured on the city’s heritage tree brochure which was distributed by Santa Cruz Parks & Recreation on April 19, 2014 to commemorate Earth Day in San Lorenzo Park. Gillian Greensite of Save Our Big Trees states that it is the oldest of only three red horse chestnut trees in the city.” Gillian is an active Santa Cruz Sierra Club member who serves on multiple committees. She brought this issue to the attention of the Santa Cruz Sierra Club Executive Committee, who wrote a letter in June in support of the tree (view it here or see more information about it below). Gillian has been instrumental in rallying efforts to protect the tree, but unfortunately the City and developers of the hotel have cited inaccurate information about the health of the tree as evidence of why it should be removed, and they refuse to respond to other ideas for protecting the tree.
Two of the youngest participants in these weekly vigil/protests are Sophia (5th grade) and her younger sister Olivia (2nd grade), students at Gault Elementary School just up the street from the tree.
“We were driving past the protest and I told my mom to pull over, and that's how we learned about this tree,” said Sophia, who has been an advocate for trees her entire life according to her mother Valerie. When asked why this tree is important to her, Sophia replied, “This tree is important to everybody because it’s like a great grandmother. It is like home to everybody and it has memories. It’s home to many creatures.”
“Every time I see this tree it makes me so happy,” shared Olivia, who like her sister is passionate about saving it. “But if they chop it down, everything living in it would lose its home.” Olivia created signs for the protest that read “Every tree needs to live.”
Both Sophia and Olivia had information and ideas to share about the value of this tree for our community, citing the oxygen and habitats it provides, as well as its “memories,” which refer to the historic quality of this tree that has stood watch in Santa Cruz over the last 110 years. Beyond the sense of historic memory the tree provides, it also plays a crucial climate role.
Community members protest the removal of the heritage tree on Broadway Street.
Photograph by Save Our Big Trees.
Environmental impact of tree removal
Large trees like this heritage tree store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through a process called carbon sequestration. According to Alexander Gershenson, PhD, (CEO of EcoShift Development) in a 2013 letter to the Santa Cruz City Council, “Depending on size and species, mature heritage trees store, on average, 1-2 metric tons of [carbon]. Additionally, depending on placement, such trees can help avoid emissions of additional carbon due to protection of living and commercial structures from wind and through moderating temperature variations. […] Since 1995, over 4,000 heritage trees have been removed in the City of Santa Cruz, constituting a carbon pool that is, at least, equivalent to annual emissions of almost 1,000 cars. Since the fate of most of these trees is to be disposed of by chipping, the vast majority of this carbon is released to the atmosphere within 5 years.”
Though the carbon sequestration amount for this red horse chestnut tree is one to two metric tons of carbon dioxide (the same amount of emissions as 113 gallons of gasoline consumed according to the Environmental Protection Agency) the continued removal of these large heritage trees and the weakening of the Heritage Ordinance that occurs each time a heritage tree is not protected can have significant climate effects over time.
Planting other trees to try and remedy the loss of heritage trees is not a real solution either. Gershenson goes on to explain that “in order for newly planted trees to become equivalent carbon sinks, several decades of growth are required. […] the city should significantly alter the replanting policies, ensuring that trees that get planted after harvest have the biological potential to replace the carbon storage capacity of trees that are removed. That will require at least a 3X multiplier on the number of trees planted for every tree harvested, and replanting of trees that are functionally similar to trees that are removed (i.e. trees that usually reach the same diameter and height as removed trees).”
Unfortunately, the City of Santa Cruz has not demonstrated a strong commitment to protecting our heritage trees. The word “tree”/“trees” is only mentioned twice in the City’s Climate Action Plan, and although carbon sinks are briefly mentioned with regard to depletion of our forests, no discussion of the need to protect large, mature trees like this heritage tree is included as part of the climate action plan.
Hyatt continues to deny and ignore requests to protect the tree
Despite requests from concerned community members and organizations like Save Our Big Trees and the Santa Cruz Sierra Club, the hotel developers have refused to alter the design for the hotel to accommodate the tree. Another possible solution that has also been denied by the developers and the City is transplanting the tree to a local park. A posting on the Save Our Big Trees Facebook page from April 30 reads that “The permit to remove the tree was approved by city council based on incorrect information about the tree supplied by the city planning director, the developer and the architect. Tree experts have declared the tree in 'excellent health' with a potential life span of many centuries if saved.” Advocates for the tree suggest that the cost for transplanting the tree should be paid for by the developer, the Hyatt Corporation and the city, all of whom failed to follow the city's Heritage Tree Ordinance. The cost for transplanting this particular tree would be somewhere around $70,000 due to the overhead electrical wires.
Despite their supposed commitment to the environment outlined in their new “2020 Environmental Sustainability Strategy,” the Hyatt has not responded to any letters sent in support of this heritage tree, including the letter sent by the Sierra Club in June to Farley Kern, Vice President of Corporate Communications for Hyatt. You can view the entire letter on our website here, but here’s an excerpt:
“We are concerned that the public record for this project reveals that no attempt to save this tree was made by the parties involved, namely the City Planning Department, the City Arborist, the owner/developer and her architect. The public record shows that the developer, the architect and the planning director made inaccurate statements to council about the tree's health, its roots and space requirements that effectively ruled out options for saving the tree.
"Our city's Heritage Tree Ordinance (HTO) when this project was approved, states that a heritage tree can be removed, ‘only if a project design CANNOT be altered to accommodate the tree.’ (HTO Criteria and Standards 1 (e))
"Despite the mandates of the ordinance, there were no discussions about possibilities for altering the design to accommodate the tree. When questioned at a public meeting of neighbors as to why design changes weren't discussed, the project architect answered that the Hyatt Corporation has standard requirements for its hotels and cannot be flexible on the question of design change. Therefore the tree had to go. […]
"We understand that there were a number of options for saving the tree proposed to the city and the developer by the tree advocacy group Save Our Big Trees in response to the council-directed three month waiting period following the council vote on January 14th 2014. Neither the city nor the developer has responded to their proposal.”
No response has been received from the Hyatt regarding this letter, and the only response anyone involved with protecting the tree has received directly from the Hyatt was when Sierra Club Executive Committee member Keresha Durham spoke with a Hyatt representative on the phone. The person told her that the Hyatt is working to save the tree, which is contrary to all evidence available.
Gillian Greensite, on behalf of Save Our Big Trees, wrote an email to Ms. Kern on June 30 regarding the inaccurate response: “Tapes of both public hearings and the Planning Department's file on this project do not support your contention that the various parties involved tried to find ways to save this tree. On the contrary, the public record shows that the city did not regard the tree as worth saving. The public record shows that the planning director, the developer and her architect gave inaccurate testimony about the tree's condition, root zone and planting requirements. No arborist was present at either hearing to evaluate this testimony and respond to council's questions. No statements were made regarding options for saving the tree. The original project planner in answer to a direct question stated that ‘we had no conversations about saving the tree.’ The project architect at a public neighborhood meeting stated that the reason the design would not be altered to accommodate the tree as required under our city's Heritage Tree Ordinance was that ‘Hyatt has strict design guidelines and won't alter them.’ Contrary to what you claim, there is a feasible alternative to maintain the tree onsite and that is for the Hyatt Corporation to allow a minor design change to accommodate the tree which is eight feet from the sidewalk on a one acre site.
“During the three month period granted to evaluate the possible relocation of the tree, two nationally respected tree experts wrote reports which were submitted to the city and the developer. Their reports independently document that the information about the tree given to council by the planning director, the developer and her architect was inaccurate. This inaccurate information, in addition to the inflexible Hyatt design, was the basis on which it was determined that the site plan could not accommodate the tree. [Read more about the independent tree expert reports here.]
“Save Our Big Trees submitted a proposal to the city and the developer based on the tree experts' reports, with a viable plan to save the tree, ideally where it now lives and thrives or onsite in a new location or the least desirable but doable option of relocation to a new site. The cost of relocation to be shared amongst the city, the developer and the Hyatt corporation. Neither party responded to this proposal. […]
“It's important for you to appreciate that this is no ordinary tree to be casually replaced by a couple of saplings of the same species. It has a long history. Many people in Santa Cruz have marked milestones in their lives in the presence of this tree. Our weekly vigil in front of the tree has generated a vociferous response of appreciation. Given that your prior understanding of the situation was inaccurate, we hope that this correction of the facts based on the public record will result in a reconsideration and an effort to work with the parties involved to save the tree.” Read the full letter on the June 30 posting here. Again, no response was received.
$2 million to support tourism, but “not a cent” for the tree
In July of this year, Santa Cruz City Council voted to give hotels of 100 beds or more a $2 million windfall of transient occupancy taxes, providing the Hyatt hotel project with funding that will likely allow it to move forward with construction. The Council voted 6-1 on this decision, with Micah Posner voting against. As one of the signs at the protest states, “not a cent” has been provided to protect “this tree,” though evidently funds from the City were necessary for the hotel project to move forward since it still has not broken ground on the property.
History of the tree
The granddaughter of the original owner of the land where the tree lives wrote a letter to the Hyatt detailing the history of this tree and what it means to her and her family. Here is an excerpt: “Oh that tree, that wonderful tree. I think [I] could write a novel about the uniqueness of Broadway and the history of Santa Cruz. A history that spans more than 110 years for this tree. […] It has been the sentinel tree that protected the family living there during the early 1940's. Those were the years Santa Cruz lived in fear of attack from ships and aircraft. As long as the tree stood guard, there was a feeling of safety. […] Sacred animals were buried under that tree, Jill dog, Blackie cat... even goldfish. These treasured pets were buried in a place of trust and security. Children climbed the tree, nestled in the safety of its branches and felt its strength. Birds flew in and out, their nests only detected in the fall when the leaves were gone. Three generations lived there, at 407 Broadway. […] It has been a landmark of beauty and strength for over a hundred years. Now, a four story hotel is to be built on the property. […] It has provided comfort, security, beauty, joy, healings. It is a touchstone, a place where one can travel back over 100 years by sitting under or standing by it. It is a prayer, it is a meditation, it is a calmness, it is a strength. If this tree is cut down, the hotel will be built on a tragedy. The Red Horse Chestnut Tree cannot plead for itself. We are pleading, praying, asking for a miracle. Let the tree stand. Be the legacy, the [heroes], the ones that saved this beautiful tree. It will continue to bless and protect all who enter your hotel. Maybe YOU could be the miracle it needs.”
The full letter can be read on the Save Our Big Trees Facebook page if you scroll to the post from July 3, 2015.
How to get involved
Unfortunately the Heritage Tree Ordinance in Santa Cruz is not strong enough to protect other heritage trees like this one from removal. In 2013 (after the approval to remove this tree was granted), the City Council made changes to the ordinance that makes it even easier for property owners to remove heritage trees. If you are interested in learning more about this issue and what possible steps may exist to better protect our heritage trees, please email Gillian Greensite at gumtree AT pacbell DOT net.
If you would like to support the efforts of Save Our Big Trees and others who are working to honor this tree and raise awareness for the City's actions, please join fellow community members at 407 Broadway Street on Wednesdays from 3-5 PM.
For questions or updates, please visit the Save Our Big Trees Facebook page or email Gillian (email address above).
You can also write a letter or call Ms. Farley Kern, Vice President of Corporate Communications for the Hyatt at farley.kern AT hyatt DOT com or 312-780-5506.
Please also share this article with friends and others in the community who may not know about this issue or understand why heritage trees are important to our community.
Additional articles about the 407 Broadway Red Horse Chestnut Tree:
Santa Cruz Sentinel: "Activists vying for Santa Cruz tree protection" (April 2014)
KSBW: "Santa Cruz activists attempt to save chestnut tree" (video, April 2014)
Good Times Weekly: "News Briefs: When a Tree Falls" (April 2014)
Santa Cruz Patch: "Chestnut Chainsaw Massacre! Locals Beg Developers to Spare 110-Year-Old Tree in Santa Cruz" (May 2014)
Bradley Allen: "City Allows Hyatt to Cut Down 110-Year-Old Heritage Tree" (May 2014)