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Residents urge Littleton board to address tree removals, trail paving and pesticide use
Summary
During public comment at the Littleton Environmental Stewardship Board meeting, residents asked the board to investigate tree removal at a planned Costco site and to create a Littleton Tree Trust, urged the board to oppose plans to pave soft trails, and called for restrictions on neonicotinoid pesticide use.
Speakers during the public-comment portion of the Littleton Environmental Stewardship Board meeting called on the board to take a more active role on several local environmental issues, including tree replacement at a planned Costco site, preserving soft recreational trails and curbing the use of certain pesticides.
John Marchetti, a District 4 resident, asked about the Environmental Stewardship Board’s role in the trees to be planted at the Costco development and whether there are requirements for replacing trees that die, and whether more drought-tolerant species will be used.
Gregory Sullivan, a District 4 resident, said the developer had cut trees on the Costco property and urged creation of a Littleton Tree Trust to coordinate planting and protection work. Sullivan said the developer had provided $70,000 for what he described as replacement for 39 trees, and he told the board, “It was a killing field,” describing about 37 trees that he said had been removed on the site (numbers provided by Sullivan during public comment and not verified by the board).
Ned Stern, a resident, urged the board to intervene on a South Suburban plan to pave the Veil spur (referred to in the meeting as the Leogold’s Veil spur) portion of a trail that neighbors prefer remain a soft, crusher-fines surface. Stern said a South Suburban survey favored retaining a crusher-fines surface by about 2.3-to-1 and asked the board to add the item to a future agenda so the board could ask South Suburban to reconsider the concrete pouring scheduled for March.
Pam Chadbourne, a resident, said she supports retaining soft trails and also called for South Suburban to stop using neonicotinoid pesticides, saying, “Neonicotinoids are poison,” and urged planting more native species and using habitat-focused planting metrics rather than plantings that only consider tree survival.
Board members acknowledged the comments and said they would consider the concerns as they finalize recommendations and as staff prepares materials for the March study session with City Council. The board did not take formal action on any of the requests during the meeting.
