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Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 26, 2016. When water lines crossed the Red Car Property, yet another neighbor texted photos and suspicions of the Riverside Drive developer of who appeared to take a very large portion of the Red Car Property in the past week. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 26, 2016. I spoke to the architect for the Riverside Drive project (between Gilroy and Clearwater) on September 23. I asked him to clear the path adjacent the fence, since he claimed we could still walk through. (He also hoped the fence would stop people from dumping. The photo above indicates otherwise.)
The photos and reports I'd received from neighbors, said it was very difficult to walk through due to the heavy build up of trampled dry brush and castor beans. It was a fire hazard. I had already sent the photos of the fence to the Red Car Property owner's rep, asking when brush clearance would be done, since this is the start Santa Ana Wind season. Brush clearance happened the next day.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 26, 2016. The architect claimed the water lines are temporary for the trees and other landscaping they will plant on the Red Car Property slope. The Red Car Property actually extends 20-30 feet downslope.
The fence to the right of the formerly most beautiful protected native Black Walnut Tree on the Red Car Property was placed by a previous Riverside Drive lot owner in an attempt at extending their backyard.
I questioned the Riverside Drive project architect's agreement with the Red Car Property owner. He seems to be doing what everyone else has done throughout the years, counting on the fact the Red Car Property is very hard to develop and hopefully the trees won't get taken out by future development on the Red Car Property. He said they would maintain and water the newly planted trees on the Red Car Property for 2 years. I asked if there was an agreement in writing. He failed to answer.
Worth noting, cultivated trees (planted in a landscape project) are not protected by the City's Protected Native Tree Ordinance.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 26, 2016. Last weekend
people panicked when brush clearance was finally done on the upslope
side, between the fence and homes on Adelbert.
The Riverside Drive architect swears they will not be using the fenced portion of the Red Car Property for grading, hauling, staging, storing or for deliveries for anything other than landscape related to planting the the slope. Nor are they building the Red Car Property. The fence seems a bit of overkill for a fence to keep out dumping and to keep people off their plantings. He claims to have an agreement with the Red Car Property owner. The Red Car Property owner's rep did not reply to questions regarding this agreement.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 18, 2016. The developer for the 8 (or 13) Riverside Drive lots below the Red Car Property left one protected Black Walnut Tree on the Red Car Property when they were grading well beyond the property line, right up to and around the large protected Coast Live Oak Tree. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 6, 2016. Earlier this summer, neither the Red Car Property nor the Riverside Drive lot owner had done brush clearance by May 1, like responsible hillside property owners. Little did we know, every tree in this shot, despite their protected status, would be gone by mid-August.
Worth noting in the second photo, according to the Riverside Drive developer's property line stakes that had been in the ground and updated several times in the past few years, the dead Eucalyptus is on the Red Car Property. The Coast Live Oak is the dark green tree in the upper right corner, is also on the Red Car Property. Almost all the other bright green trees are California Black Walnuts that had grown back after earlier removals without permits.
As I've said before, the City's Protected Native Tree Ordinance is a joke. The point of protecting specific native species is because they are integral to the hillside habitat. Razing and entire ecosystem, building on almost every inch of available hillside lot and planting a couple of 15 gallon trees in a graded slope, hoping they'll grow really isn't responsible urban forest management.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 17, 2016. The developer of 13 lots on Riverside Drive left not only a denuded hillside, grading and further taking out trees on the downslope side of the Red Car Property, but also deposited a giant tree stump pulled out of the ground and left on the Red Car Property. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 17, 2016. Earlier in the day, neighbors sounded the alarm when the backhoe was digging right up against the protected Coast Live Oak Tree's trunk. The Red Car Property line is 20 - 30 feet downslope from the flat part of the Red Car Property. Clearly, the Riverside Drive developer moved earth around, well beyond the rear property of the Riverside Drive lots.
By the end of the day Saturday, concrete posts (reinforced with rebar) that marked the property lines since the dawn of the Big Red Car Trolleys (1905) had disappeared.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 17, 2016. Looking in the opposite direction from the oak tree, things are even more bleak. We'll take a closer look at those trees in coming days. Here too, the property line is 20 to 30 feet downslope. But the slope has been changed significantly so who knows where the line is anymore.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 17, 2016. Saturday morning, neighbors let me know the developer of the Riverside Drive lots (between Gilroy and Clearwater) was moving earth perilously close to the Protected Coast Live Oak Tree. The Coast Live Oak is on the Red Car Property. Checking the Building & Safety website, I saw no grading permits issued for either of the two adjacent Red Car Property lots. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
The Red Car Property line is about 20 to 30 feet downslope from the flat part of the Red Car Property as well as the oak tree. In the photo above, the backhoe is working on the edge of the flat part. So the Riverside Drive developer was definitely moving earth around the Red Car Property.
The ancient concrete post property line markers, in place since at
least the dawn of the Big Red Car Trolleys, marked the rear property line of the Riverside Drive Lots where they back into the Red Car
Property. They're about 3' tall and 4" square. Whenever these lots have been surveyed, the new property line markers line up with the concrete property marker posts.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 27, 2016. Last month, neighbors were alarmed when a developer began clear cutting trees on 13 vacant lots on Riverside Drive adjacent to the Red Car Property.
The most consistent comment I'm hearing from neighbors about the Riverside Drive/Gilroy development is, "How is it possible they didn't need approval from the City [Planning] for this?" I'd like to know that too. It appears that by submitting applications for building permits for each of 8 lots separately, they seem to have snuck in under the radar for hillside grading and retaining walls. (There seems to be a question of lot ties and parcel map cases because there are actually 13 legal substandard lots they're using for 14 units, but they only submitted 8 or 9 lots, and I'm not seeing lot ties.)
If you've ever lived near a construction site - you know there are environmental impacts like the constant vibration during grading. I wonder how much damage the hundred year old homes next door will incur on this not so stable slope.
With no discretionary actions by City Planning (i.e., size of retaining walls, height, setback, parking, yard variances) there was no public review. Thus, the protected native tree removal permits were issued in August this year, prior to granting grading and retaining wall permits. (It's not clear if grading permits have been issued on all the lots yet.)
In practice, granting protected tree removal permits prior to issuing grading and retaining wall permits is just poor urban forest management. Grading is the single most important decision that dictates how things are designed and built on hillside lots. So often, we see lots sit denuded of trees for decades, before someone comes along willing to throw enough money at it to build it. Even then, it doesn't always get built. That is one reason the City's Protected Native Tree Ordinance was favored by environmental and neighborhood groups.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 24, 2016. Earlier this year, neighbors were happy seeing many of the protected California Black Walnut Trees growing back after the last tree carnage in 2014. When you live so close to a freeway, EVERY TREE MATTERS.
It appears the City, in its rush to streamline the building permitting process, is
ignoring the fact that Hillside development is not always urban infill
(redevelopment). This is greenfield development (lots in a natural state supporting wildlife) that actually attach to a known wildlife corridor (the Red Car Property). There was a thriving protected native
tree habitat on the 13 lots before the developer began cutting down
trees without permits (apparently without much of a penalty) 2 years
ago.
Clearly this 8/13 lot project is one project, involving a lot of grading between the already built lots on Riverside
Drive.
Related: Silver Lake Neighborhood Council Wants To Clean Up Riverside Drive (Yes, you should always ask "Why and who is sponsoring it?")
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor September 17, 2016. A backhoe was digging and pushing earth around, right up against the huge and healthy protected Coast Live Oak Tree on the Red Car Property this morning. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor September 17, 2016.Within minutes of sending photos to the Red Car Property owner's rep, he responded saying they called the developer who said "they didn't touch the tree." A Red Car Property rep was en route to the scene.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 17, 2016. The property line is about 20 to 30' downslope from the Coast Live Oak Tree. The oak tree is on the Red Car Property. It is one of the few protected native trees left on this portion of the Red Car Property. The Riverside Drive developer cut down the protected black walnuts on the Red Car Property without permits.
He had permits to cut down protected native trees on Riverside Drive lots, not on Red Car Property lots.
