Title
Consider Providing Direction to Staff Regarding: 1) Designating the Contiguous Mature Canopy of American Sweetgum Trees Lining Gibbons Drive as a Protected Tree Corridor and Historic Cultural Landscape, and 2) Drafting an Ordinance Amending Alameda Municipal Code Section 13-21.7(c) to Establish a Permanent Regulatory Framework. (Councilmember Daysog)
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COUNCIL REFERRAL FORM
The Council can take any of the following actions:
1) Take no action.
2) Refer the matter to staff to schedule as a future City Council agenda item. Concurrence that staff time will be devoted to the item does not signify approval.
3) Take dispositive action only on time sensitive legislative matters if sufficiently noticed such that the public and Council have been provided sufficient information by the published agenda, and no formal published notice of a public hearing is required.
Name of Councilmember(s) requesting referral: Councilmember Daysog
Date of submission to City Clerk (must be submitted before 5:00 p.m. on the Monday two weeks before the Council meeting requested): October 5, 2026
Council Meeting date: October 20, 2026
Brief description of the subject to be printed on the agenda, sufficient to inform the City Council and public of the nature of the referral: Pursuant to Chapter 13-21 of the Alameda Municipal Code (AMC), formally nominate the contiguous mature canopy of American Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) trees lining Gibbons Drive for formal designation as a Protected Tree Corridor and Historic Cultural Landscape. In tandem with this nomination, formally request to amend AMC Section 13-21.7 (c) to establish a permanent regulatory framework. This framework ensures that while -- taking into account the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and other applicable regulatory and legal requirements -- any future infrastructural modifications, utility work, or structural alterations impacting one or more trees within the Gibbons Drive tree canopy undergo a rigorous Certificate of Approval process through the Historical Advisory Board, after all reasonable tree preservation options and corresponding hardscape modification options have been reviewed and considered by the HAB.
The City Council approved a Strategic Plan on November 21, 2023, which established the following 5 priorities:
A. Enhance Community Safety & Services
B. Build Resilience to Climate Change & Water Level Rise
C. Invest in Transportation, Infrastructure, Economic Opportunities & Historic Resources
D. House All Alamedans & End Homelessness
E. Practice Fiscal Responsible, Equitable & Inclusive Governance
If applicable, briefly describe which Council priority the subject falls under and how it relates:
A and C. The proposed changes have to do with designating and then protecting trees as historic resources along Gibbons Drive. For additional information, see attached report prepared by Alameda resident Mark D. Minor.