Commentary: UC is shortening the tree-cutting schedule to stifle community concerns

Albany resident Bill Dann wrote a commentary on the latest dispute between Albany and UC-Berkeley on the tree-cutting plan at the Gill Tract:

“The UC spokesperson who stood up at the 1/22 city council meeting to defend the university’s rush to clear cut the 317 pine trees (180 next week and the remainder soon after) admitted that the university is shortening the schedule to stifle any community concerns.

First, as the Albany City Attorney Robert Zweben pointed out, the University claims an exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) that cannot be challenged for 30 days, by  which time the first 180 trees will already have been clear cut.  Once the first 180 are gone, then the remainder must follow (due to wind exposure).

UC plans to cut down several hundred trees at the Gill Tract in Albany

The Monterey pine grove on the Gill Tract of Albany will soon disappear. Photo by Linjun Fan.

Several hundred trees on the Gill Tract in Albany will be cut down by the University of California at Berkeley soon, causing concerns from a number of residents in the community.

All the 317 Monterey pines, which have grown into a dense grove on the corner of San Pablo Avenue and Buchanan Street in the past half century, need to be cut down because many of them are infected with pitch canker and could hurt passers-by when falling onto streets,  according to university staff.

Albany Mayor Robert Lieber said he was skeptical of the plan, and questioned whether it’s necessary to cut down all the Monterey pines, some of which are still healthy.