Santa Barbara council upholds Parks & Rec decision to remove 13 trees for Milpas safety project

Santa Barbara —n(2025-03-11) —n—At its March 11 meeting, the Santa Barbara City Council denied an appeal of the Parks and Recreation Commission's decision and upheld the commission's approval to remove 13 street trees associated with the Milpas Street crosswalk, sidewalk-widening and safety project.

The council's action follows a staff presentation that said the federally and state-funded project is focused on pedestrian safety and accessibility. Jessica Grant, supervising transportation planner for the city, told the council the corridor improvements are funded primarily through the California Active Transportation Program and are concentrated at intersections to shorten crossings, improve sight lines, add lighting and install a new traffic signal at Milpas and Yanonali. "Our staff recommendation is that council deny the appeal filed by Mr. Clayborne Schenck and uphold the parks and rec decision to approve the 13 street tree removals," Grant said.

Why it matters: Council and staff framed the changes as safety and ADA responses on a high-volume corridor used by buses and students. Grant said the project is a Vision Zero priority because of a pattern of collisions on Milpas; the design includes curb extensions, high-visibility crosswalks, accessible push buttons and space for ADA-compliant bus stops. The project team said 95 trees in the project area were analyzed; 82 met protection criteria and 13 were identified for removal, with most removals tied to required sidewalk width, vertical clearance (80 inches) or sight-line obstructions.

Key details: Grant and other staff explained the criteria used to recommend removal: a minimum 36-inch clear pedestrian travel way, 80-inch vertical clearance and unobstructed sight lines at intersections. Grant noted the analysis found 8 trees needed removal for safety or accessibility and 5 trees were located within the proposed curb realignments. Staff also reported 37 new street-tree planting opportunities along the corridor and said they expect to plant at least 30 replacement trees; Parks & Rec conditioned the approval on that replacement minimum.

Speakers and evidence: The appellant, Clayborne Schenck, said he had appealed to protect the corridor's large ficus trees. "The trees...are magnificent and worth saving," Schenck said during his remarks. Kathy McGill, Chair of the Parks and Recreation Commission, who spoke for the commission, said the commission asked many questions about pruning and alternatives and ultimately supported removal for safety while requiring replacement: "There's no doubt in any of our minds that the city intends fully to replace at least 30 trees," McGill said. Nathan Slack, the city's urban forest supervisor, told council that the replacement palette includes several noninvasive, climate-adapted canopy species and that some eucalyptus relatives being discussed have performed well in Southern California plantings.

Public comment and positions: Dozens of residents spoke. Several neighborhood residents and tree advocates urged the council to preserve the mature ficus canopy and look for alternatives such as wider sidewalks or a roadway diet. Others, including active-transportation advocates and some businesses, told the council the safety improvements and ADA access justified the narrowly targeted removals. Move Santa Barbara County, the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition and related groups told the council they supported denial of the appeal on pedestrian-safety grounds and noted the project included planting opportunities.

Council action and next steps: Council Member Jordan moved to deny the appeal and uphold the Parks & Rec decision; the motion was seconded and the council approved the recommendation to allow removal of 13 trees and proceed with project design. Staff said trees that must be removed for immediate safety reasons would be removed ahead of construction and that the five trees within curb realignments would be removed during construction of the new curbs. Grant said some replacement plantings that do not require curb work could be installed before construction begins.

Context and constraints: Grant emphasized the project was scaled to win grant funding and focused on intersections rather than full corridor sidewalk widening; she said wider sidewalks would have required additional right-of-way changes and likely demolition of on-street parking. Staff noted the effort to preserve the urban forest where feasible and stressed the project team's outreach dating to 2019.

Ending: The council's decision clears the way for final design work and eventual construction of the Milpas safety improvements. Staff said it will return to council with construction-phase schedules and plans for replacement-tree plantings.