The Planning Board unanimously sent the Gibbons plan back for more work. Now ask the Commission on Persons with Disabilities to do the same: require an actual sidewalk-repair plan with funding, a schedule and clear, measurable protections for mature trees.
Wednesday, October 14 · 6:30 p.m. · Item 4-B
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Send your comments before noon Wednesday, before the meeting.
City Hall, third-floor Council Chambers, 2263 Santa Clara Avenue, Alameda. Attend in person if you can, or speak by Zoom.
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To:
ada@alamedaca.gov
Cc:
ljewell@alamedaca.gov
Subject:
October 14 - Safe, accessible sidewalks and mature Gibbons trees
Message:
Dear Commissioners,
People with disabilities deserve safe, accessible sidewalks and the shade, beauty, cleaner air and protection from heat that this mature canopy provides. Everyone should be able to enjoy this green corridor. Small replacement trees cannot provide the existing canopy’s benefits today.
Please return the Gibbons draft for more work, as the Planning Board did Monday evening, and require revisions that commit to safe access and mature-tree preservation. Please require the revised plan to return to this Commission for public review before any recommendation to City Council. A tree-removal framework is not a sidewalk-repair plan: it does not tell residents which accessibility barriers will be fixed, when, or with what funding.
Please require:
A framework specifying how needed sidewalk repairs will be identified, assessed and prioritized, and how funding will be provided.
Repairs designed, funded and scheduled before infrastructure-related removal, with safe access during construction.
Clear, measurable definitions of feasible, reasonable, practical and possible.
Documented assessment of every applicable tree-preserving option, including new technologies and combinations of measures, and evidence that those options have been exhausted before nonemergency removal approval.
Independent review before roots are damaged, continued Planning Board review before irreversible work, and protection of cumulative canopy and connected wildlife habitat.
[Add a sentence about what matters to you.]
Please distribute this comment to all commissioners and include it in the public record for the October 14 meeting.
[Your name]
The Planning Board voted unanimously, 4–0, to continue the item and ask Public Works to revise the draft. Thank the Board for listening and asking for more work.
To:
stsou@alamedaca.gov; awang@alamedaca.gov; xcisneros@alamedaca.gov; hhom@alamedaca.gov; kfreed@alamedaca.gov; truiz@alamedaca.gov; jly@alamedaca.gov
Cc:
jwarner@alamedaca.gov; planning@alamedaca.gov
Subject:
Thank you — October 12, Item 5-A, Gibbons Drive
Message:
Dear Planning Board Members,
Thank you for listening to residents and voting unanimously to continue the Gibbons Drive item and ask Public Works to revise the draft.
Your requests for a more specific, analytical plan; clearer standards; greater community involvement; and a return to the Board for public review matter. Safe sidewalks and mature trees deserve that care.
Thank you for giving resident concerns serious consideration.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Please circulate this thank-you to all Planning Board members.
For your message to the Commission on Persons with Disabilities:
Ask for a framework that identifies, assesses, prioritizes and funds needed sidewalk repairs.
Ask for clear, measurable definitions of feasible, reasonable, practical and possible. Require documented assessment of every applicable tree-preserving option, including new technologies and combinations of measures.
Require independent review before roots are damaged and continued Planning Board review before irreversible work. Protect cumulative canopy and connected wildlife habitat.
A personal observation can make your message concrete: an accessibility barrier you want repaired, shade you rely on, or what safe access to this canopy would mean to you.
What we’re asking the City to do
Keep sharing the safeguards you want in the Gibbons plan. The existing City Council email and copy-and-paste version remain below.
City public-comment and meeting information — general/City Council guidance
The City’s draft-plan comment form for comments before City Council review is open through October 23, 2026. Submit feedback for consideration as an official comment when the plan is revised before the presentation to City Council.
You can also email City Council directly about the safeguards you want in the plan. See the link below.
CITYCOUNCIL-List@alamedaca.gov
esmith@alamedaca.gov
Gibbons plan - safe sidewalks and mature trees
Dear City Council Members,
Please require stronger safeguards before adopting the Gibbons Drive Sidewalks and Trees Plan. Residents deserve safe sidewalks and the existing mature canopy.
Please ensure the requirements of the existing Master Street Tree Plan continue to apply. Require clear, measurable definitions of the most critical protective terms: feasible, reasonable, practical and possible. Require documented assessment and exhaustion of applicable preservation options in the existing Master Street Tree Plan policy, including new technology such as the steel root plates mentioned by the Public Works Director in public meetings. Ensure any repairs or replacements are designed, funded and scheduled before infrastructure-related removal; cumulative canopy limits and connected-habitat protection impacts are calculated and confirmed not to exceed limits; and opportunities for independent and public review exist before irreversible removal of trees.
[Add a sentence about what matters to you.]
Thank you,
[Your name]
