City Promises to Treat Historic Palm Trees

Aerial view of Mission Cliff Gardens, 1916. Historically-designated Canary Island Palms at lower right.

Thanks to the many community members who submitted comments for the City Council meeting tomorrow (October 27th), Tyler Renner in Chris Ward's office informed us that he is working with the City Forester to identify and implement a safe treatment for palm trees at risk for weevil infestation in University Heights. 

According to Tyler, the City will not be able to treat every palm in University Heights so are working to determine how many and which ones can be treated. The historically-designated palms in the 4700 block of Park Blvd will be prioritized. These eight graceful palms once welcomed visitors at the southeast entrance to Mission Cliff Gardens, established in 1898 by John Spreckels.

While this is a good step forward, the community needs to keep the pressure on to make sure this plan is implemented.

I will be speaking during public comment at the City Council meeting tomorrow to educate the Council about this citywide problem and to convey my gratitude to Chris Ward's office and the City Forester for their promise to preserve these graceful reminders of our historic past in University Heights, as well as our critical tree canopy. 

If you have not already done so, I encourage you to submit comments as well. Click here for more information about the weevil infestation in University Heights.