None of the trees the City of Gilroy wants to cut down need to be immediately removed, according to a local certified arborist who reviewed the city’s list of 235 trees it has identified for felling due to public safety reasons.
The statement, by Moki Smith, founder and lead arborist for Smith Tree Specialists, Inc., which serves over 1,500 customers in the tri-county area, was part of a declaration submitted in support of a preliminary injunction filed with Santa Clara County Superior Court on June 14.
“Of the trees that I was able to identify from the city’s list, my opinion is that none of them posed an immediate threat to public health or safety, particularly to human pedestrians or vehicles,” the statement reads. “Indeed after significant rainfall, which would cause high soil liquefaction, and high winds, in March and April, the trees on the city’s list were still standing when I surveyed them.”
Attorney Laura Beaton, who represents Gilroy resident, Camille McCormack, in the lawsuit against the City, City Council and business contractor, West Coast Arborists, Inc., over its plan to remove the trees in Christmas Hill Park and citywide, said they had asked the city to halt its removal plan until the court case could be decided, but got nowhere.
“The only recourse we had is to go to court to file a preliminary injunction,” she said. The hearing on the preliminary injunction is set for July 7.
