Parks commission backs ordinance to fund replacement of city trees tied to King Road housing project
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Summary
The Parks and Recreation Commission recommended a parkland improvement ordinance allowing removal of up to 45 city eucalyptus trees along the Baylands Athletic Center tied to a 145‑unit housing project at 2100–2400 King Road, and asked staff to add a finding prioritizing nearby Baylands‑appropriate native replacements.
The Palo Alto Parks and Recreation Commission on Dec. 16 recommended that the City Council adopt a Parkland Improvement Ordinance allowing tree removals associated with a private housing development at 2100–2400 King Road, while asking staff to add a finding that replacement plantings be Baylands‑appropriate and located near the impact area.
Senior planner Steven Switzer told commissioners the project would replace four office buildings with 145 for‑sale townhomes and would require raising the site to meet Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requirements. That earthwork means grading and a retaining wall that could adversely affect roughly 45 eucalyptus trees on city property adjacent to the Baylands Athletic Center, he said.
Developer Michael Cohen of Strata Investment Group said the applicant’s arborist found 31 of those 45 trees in poor condition and that the developer will fund monitoring, reporting and replacement. “At its core, our role is kinda to be the bank. We just pay for this stuff,” Cohen said, describing a proposal to plant about 648 new trees on the project site and to fund urban forestry’s replacement program on city property.
Public commenters urged greater scrutiny. One speaker asked whether the project had been analyzed for airport influence area constraints (height and deed restrictions) before a recommendation was made. Another criticized the greenhouse‑gas and floodplain impacts of bringing fill into the site.
Commissioners framed their review narrowly: the Parks and Recreation Commission’s charge is to advise on impacts to city parkland and trees. Several commissioners pressed staff to ensure replacement plantings provide near‑term canopy, habitat value and local ecological benefit rather than meeting only a numerical tree‑count requirement. Urban forester Peter Bollinger said the intention is to prioritize Baylands‑related native, drought‑tolerant species and to place plantings on or near the site, and staff agreed to draft language for a finding to that effect.
Commissioner Kleinhaus moved the staff recommendation and added that staff prepare language committing the city to locally balanced species and nearby planting; Vice Chair Wei seconded. The motion passed on a roll call: Commissioners Smith, Axelrod, Brown, Wei, Freeman and Kleinhaus voted yes. The Commission’s recommendation and the requested finding will be transmitted to City Council for final action.
Next steps: the project has completed several prior hearings and is tentatively scheduled for city council review in March; staff said that precise tree impacts will be established when final grading plans and an updated arborist report are submitted.
