A notice to remove 25 apricot trees by the Los Altos police station triggered outcry last week by heritage orchard preservationists who assert that city officials are removing trees all over the civic center despite a pledge that the trees remain undisturbed for perpetuity.
Led by Catherine Nunes, Mary Cunneen Lion and Alice Mansell, orchard supporters filed an appeal June 27 to stay the removal of the trees.
City officials appear to justify the removal in a June 6 letter from orchardist Terrance Welch. Welch said some of the trees were infected with brown rot and that spores containing the disease could be spread to other healthy trees if left alone.
But in the appeal, supporters said the orchardist recommended pruning back to treat brown rot, not removal. She added that 12 of the 25 trees were rated as healthy or in satisfactory health.
According to the orchardist documentation, “most of the 25 trees included in this tree removal permit are stressed and in need of immediate water and care (maintenance).” This is not cause for removal, preservationists stated.
Further, Nunes said she found it puzzling that the applicant on the removal permit was the Los Altos History Museum. She said the museum doesn’t have the authority.
“The History Museum was contracted for maintenance services per the July 2023 agreement ($225,000 over three years) with the city of Los Altos,” read the appeal. “The museum is not an authorized lead agency for any modifications, plans, permits or changes to this historic resource (or its trees) under this resolution agreement.”
This latest dispute echoes a recent challenge by orchard preservationists over proposed removal of trees for a patio expansion project at the Los Altos main library. In both cases, proponents argue all orchard trees at the city’s 18-acre civic center are protected by a legally binding agreement that declares the trees part of a historical landmark preserving them in perpetuity.
“The protected tree stipulation and site location on the Civic Center inclusive of the police station is evidenced in the historic resource description in the 2011 State of California Department of Parks record and in the county recordings as the recorded description,” the appeal states.
Further, Nunes suggests the city is “erasing history” by quietly decreasing the number of trees over time. She claims the orchard, listed at 2.84 acres, now covers about two acres. In the case of police station trees, the appeal alleges “demolition by neglect,” because the trees were not properly maintained.
In a June 28 online post to staff and board members, Julie Bly DeVere, Los Altos History Museum interim executive director, reacted to appeal claims by pointing to the museum’s “multi-year plan to restore our Los Altos Heritage Orchard.”
She added that to date, the museum, led by the Orchard Commons Committee, has replanted 300 missing trees and added a new drip irrigation system “within the heritage orchard footprint. Harvest is currently underway with sales available through DeMartini Orchard Stand across (San Antonio Road).” She said the goal is to restore 444 tree sites by 2027.
DeVere said the police station trees “are not part of our Los Altos Heritage Orchard, … these trees are infected with a fungus that is putting the nearby heritage orchard at risk. … The museum initiated that permit process as we are responsible for the restoration and maintenance of the orchard.”
Nunes questioned the museum’s and city’s facts. She noted the orchard tree sites have been only “partially irrigated” and that the orchard commons committee listed 419 trees in the orchard. She counted approximately 19-30 tree sites that are being “held back” to make way for the library’s patio project and an additional ten orchard trees were considered “stressed, with no other mitigation or management plan to treat them.”
City Manager Gabriel Engeland said the trees, posted for removal on June 26, can be appealed to the Los Altos City Council within 10 days after posting.
“I won’t get an update until after the ten days has passed,” Engeland said.
