Guest Commentary: Will Davis Update for Both Climate and Retail Changes?

Time to enforce Tree Law at Oakshade Mall? 

Will council let out-of-town landlord ignore Climate Policy?

By Alan ”Lorax” Hirsch

To give the landlord more flexibility to find tenants, the Davis council is being asked to rezone the Oakshade Mall (Safeway) located at south Pole Line Rd x Cowell.  This is before council on the Tuesday 8/27/24 agenda (see  staff report item #4).  However, this landlord is notorious for their neglect of its trees and is in violation of city tree protection ordinance.

So, while it makes sense for the city to update zoning in response to a changing retailing climate, it also makes sense to do updates in city’s  relationship with this out-of-town landlord in regard to the Climate Crisis and city’s CAAP policies, with changes to sustain Davis’s quality of life by deal with global heating.

More Shade is Existential

It is forecast that half of Davis’s summer days will be over 100 degrees in 50 years. Unshaded asphalt reaches 140+ degrees in those conditions.  Davis’s CAAP climate plan appropriately calls for more tree shade as part our adaption plan.  To have that shade in 50 years, a tree need to be planted now. And investing in trees is just good marketing sense for a long-term landlord—as contrasted with any incentive for the on-site property manager who often just thinks about next quarter’s cash flow so looks everywhere to cut maintenance cost.

But beyond increased tree shade called for in Davis’s CAAP climate plan, this shopping center development has for years been in gross violation of the city’s 1990’s tree ordinance under which it was approved.  That ordinance required “50% parking lot shade in 15 years.”  The landscape plan the developer/landlords signed off as part of plan-check had them agree to not just plant trees, but maintain the newly-planted trees to obtain that 50% tree shade level.  This was not an impossible requirement:  If you drive West of Cowell just 2 blocks to the Kaiser clinic you can see trees can be grown in parking lots.

However, the landlord & his property managers have not grown and maintained trees as agreed over the near-30 years the mall has been in operation. And when trees have died they have either not been replaced, or replaced with a shorter species. And the irrigation system has been neglected.

As you can see from attached recent aerial pictures (and pictured in below linked article from 2018), the landlord has not met their legal requirement of 50% shade.  A visit the site will make obvious the gross number of missing, stunted and dead trees.  The north parking area is nearly tree-free.

The trees at OakShade have a history before city: 

• The shopping center was named for the Oak trees removed to enable its construction.
• Over the years, photographs of issue have been shared with the city, including the topping of trees that should have been allowed to spread out so they can shade the parking spaces
• Even if the city had not attempted enforcement, this issue was written about in the Davis Vanguard in 2018—so the landlord could not have been unaware that his tree neglect issue is of community concern. See: “WILL CITY ENFORCE ITS BUILDING CODE ON TREES AT OAKSHADE?”  (FEBRUARY 2018 DAVIS VANGUARD)

Approving this rezone is a discretionary action and city council does not have to grant approval without requiring the landlord at least bring his property in compliance with 1990’s ordinance—and agree to requirements to assure no further recidivism on their decades of neglect.

We won’t go back: Leveraging off the DISC Negotiations

The city council should update the Development Agreement (DA) for Oakshade with the same tree protections like those included in DA for DISC 1 (2018) and DISC 2 (2020)—and even Target (2010).

1. “A plan accepted by the City Arborist should be submitted to city by the Landlord with a revised landscape/irrigation plan. This plan should show a plan to bring parking lot up to 50% share requirement in 15 years. This Plan must be submitted and accepted within 120 days of approval of the DA rezone. The tree planting component of this plan shall be a releasable-in-hard copy public document so citizens can monitor compliance.”
2. “Landlord agreed to a one-time initial tree inspection by city arborist or his designee, before any before new occupancy permit are issued after 3/1/2025 to assure that the new landscape plan is complied with, (e.g. trees replaced/ replanted per new landscape plan, and all irrigation system is operating to support the tree).”
3. The landlord agrees to a plan to assure maintenance of trees going forward in compliance landscape plan.  Landlord agree to reimburse the city when it conducts periodic landscape/tree care and irrigation inspections. This shall be done by city arborist or designee in years 1-2-3 5-8-10 and every 5 years thereafter assure tree care is done in compliance with the landscape plan to reach and sustain the “50% shade in 15 years” requirement.  The inspection report by city raises issues and confirms previously raised issues were addressed (dead or compromised trees, poor pruning, broken sprinklers, etc). Non-resolution of issues can be grounds for city’s Director of Community Development to block issuance of future building or occupancy permits by the city until these issues raised are resolved.  If landlord challenges issues raised, they can be appealed to the tree commission.

These are not radical new ideas.  The Target Shopping Center  (“2nd Street Crossing”) Mall DA also requires annual inspect by an arborist and Dan Ramos, developer of DISC, agreed to this with the city in 2020 in his DA..   These may have been before Staff members and Director Sheri Metzker times, but they are still “best practices.”

We should not go back. 

These three requirements are especially important if gas stations are allowed here. Gas stations in Davis are notorious for engaging in tree topping and neglect without consequence—i.e. violations of their landscape plan. See the recent illegal tree topping at the Shell station at Anderson  x West Covell or the Shell station at Richards near the freeway.

I also suggest city should do a site review to adding requirements for other  low-cost CAAP-aware changes like adding non-Tesla EV charging, improved bike parking and review of pedestrian access.  Many of the bike racks are of outdated unsecure style and they are inadequate in number.

* * *

I apologize to the city for not raising this earlier.  The Planning Department did not reach out to me or other well-known tree stakeholders in the city who would have been aware of tree issues at this development.  I hope city council, with it heightened concern for community involvement, notes this oops to staff for not preemptively engaging well-known stakeholders so as to avoid issues like this not surfacing right before the final public hearing.

Just as we should be updating zoning for a changing retailing climate, so we should be should upgrading our old Davis shopping centers to comply with CAAP-driven improvements to protect Davis quality of life.

What sort of legacy are we going to leave our children?

Near Treeless North Parking at Oakshade Mall

30 year old oak at Oakshade Mall.

In the past, a large shade tree was (killed?) and replaced with small shrub…that was then topped.

Main Parking Lot = 30 years of growth no where near 50% shade.

Stunted 30 Year old trees at Oakshade mall

Kaiser Davis Clinic just down the block  from Oakshade Mall: big shade trees are possible This is a winter aerial picture so you can see shadow of trees trunk and branches cover 75% of parking spaces:

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