Title
Gibbons Drive Sidewalks and Trees Plan - Public Hearing to Consider a Resolution Recommending City Council Adoption of the Gibbons Drive Sidewalks and Trees Plan. CEQA Determination: The proposed action is categorically exempt from environmental review pursuant to California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15301 (Existing Facilities) and Section 15308 (Actions by Regulatory Agencies for Protection of the Environment)
Body
To: Honorable President and Members of the Planning Board
From: Abby Thorne-Lyman, Acting Director of Planning Building and Transportation
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The draft Gibbons Drive Sidewalks and Trees Plan (Plan) is a community-informed plan that establishes a decision-making framework to address pedestrian safety, accessibility, and infrastructure needs on Gibbons Drive while preserving mature Liquidambar styraciflua (Liquidambar) trees wherever feasible (Exhibit 1). The draft Plan also includes a Gibbons Drive specific tree-planting palette to guide replanting as the existing tree canopy changes over time.
Gibbons Drive presents a challenging combination of mature trees, constrained growing space, deteriorated sidewalks and other infrastructure, and strong community interest in preserving the existing canopy. The Plan recommends a location-by-location approach under which the City would prioritize locations based on the severity of sidewalk, accessibility, and infrastructure conditions; evaluate the tree and site conditions at each location; and consider feasible tree-preservation measures before determining whether removal of an individual tree is necessary. The recommended approach also limits the maximum number of Liquidambar trees that may be removed during five-year increments and provides for replacement planting when removal occurs.
Staff recommend that the Planning Board conduct a public hearing and adopt the draft resolution provided as Exhibit 2, recommending that the City Council adopt the Gibbons Drive Sidewalks and Trees Plan and that future tree removals undertaken in accordance with the Plan be exempt from further Planning Board review under the applicable provision of the City’s Tree Removal Policy. The exemption is appropriate because the Plan constitutes a highly focused and detailed corridor-specific plan that furthers the goals, policies, and objectives of the Tree Removal Policy. All other applicable requirements of the City’s Tree Removal Policy shall continue to apply. The draft Urban Forest Master Plan specifically identifies Gibbons Drive as requiring a separate corridor-specific plan to address its unique tree and infrastructure conditions. The Plan was developed in response to that direction. Accordingly, the exemption would also be incorporated into the draft Urban Forest Master Plan, which will replace the existing Master Street Tree Plan and is anticipated to be presented to the City Council for adoption in early 2027.
BACKGROUND
Gibbons Drive contains a mature canopy composed predominantly of Liquidambar trees (commonly known as sweetgums) planted within the planting strips between the sidewalk and roadway. The trees are a highly valued feature of the corridor and provide substantial canopy, shade, habitat, environmental benefits, and neighborhood character. As the trees have matured, however, their root systems have increasingly affected surrounding public infrastructure, including sidewalks, curbs and gutters, drainage facilities, curb ramps, water meter boxes, and underground streetlight electrical facilities.
The intersection of street tree preservation and sidewalk accessibility presents a complex challenge for local governments. Generally, courts have ruled that accessibility requirements override local tree preservation desires when a direct conflict exists. The basis of these court rulings is that public sidewalks are considered a "service, program, or activity" under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Consequently, municipalities cannot delay repairs indefinitely to preserve non-compliant trees. To balance competing mandates between tree preservation and accessibility, recognized best practice calls for cities to adopt proactive, documented arborist protocols grounded in urban forestry standards.
This tension between preserving mature trees and maintaining safe and accessible public infrastructure is not new on Gibbons Drive. The 2010 Master Street Tree Plan highlighted Gibbons Drive as a priority residential corridor whose uniform, mature canopy provides iconic neighborhood character and wildlife habitat. However, the plan noted that the trees present increasing safety risks and severe infrastructure damage due to aggressive root systems, poor branch structures, and limb failures. The plan recommended systematically removing and replacing the Liquidambar monoculture over 20 years with large, fall-coloring alternative species.
That systematic replacement did not occur. Given the community sensitivity surrounding the mature trees and the potential consequences of root pruning or tree removal, the City has more recently taken a cautious approach to infrastructure repairs along the corridor, relying, in many locations, on temporary asphalt sidewalk repairs. Over time, sidewalk and other infrastructure conditions have continued to deteriorate, resulting in numerous locations that do not provide safe and accessible pedestrian travel and that have poor street drainage. Continuing this cautious approach would further defer needed improvements, leaving existing pedestrian safety and accessibility hazards in place and drainage and other infrastructure deficiencies unaddressed.
The City initiated development of the Plan in 2025 to establish a long-term framework for addressing these conditions. The objective is not to prescribe the removal of existing trees, but to provide a consistent process for addressing needed infrastructure repairs while evaluating each location individually and preserving mature trees wherever reasonably feasible.
As part of the Plan development, a qualified arborist assessed the 117 Liquidambar trees along Gibbons Drive in 2025 and documented the conditions of the surrounding sidewalk and curb. Five trees identified as being in poor condition were subsequently removed following the City's required posting and notification process. Of the 112 Liquidambar trees remaining, 88 were rated in good condition and 24 in fair condition. The assessment found that the trees are mature and are approximately 40 to 80 percent through their natural lifespan.
The assessment also documented substantial damage to sidewalks and curbs associated with the Liquidambar trees and constrained planting areas. Of the 117 locations evaluated, 45 (39%) had significant sidewalk damage, and another 37 (32%) had moderate sidewalk damage. Curb conditions were more pronounced, with 82 locations (70%) rated as having significant damage and another 18 (15%) rated as moderate. Damage included displaced and cracked concrete, tree trunks and root flares encroaching into the walkway or curb area, and locations where previous temporary asphalt sidewalk repairs have continued to deteriorate. The sidewalk associated with the five Liquidambars removed due to tree health was replaced.
DISCUSSION
Tree Removal Policy and Planning Board Review
The City's Tree Removal Policy establishes procedures governing the removal of City trees, including evaluation, public posting and notification, protest, and appeal procedures. The Policy also requires capital projects proposing the removal of more than five percent of the trees on a block face to be reviewed by the Planning Board and ultimately the City Council.
The Gibbons Drive Sidewalks and Trees Plan is a planning document, not a capital project, and does not identify or authorize the removal of specific trees. Nevertheless, because implementation of the Plan could, over time, result in the removal of more than five percent of the trees on individual block faces, staff are presenting the Plan to the Planning Board and City Council in recognition of the intent of this provision of the Tree Removal Policy.
Staff seeks the Planning Board’s recommendation that future tree removals undertaken in accordance with the Plan be exempt from further Planning Board review under the provisions of the City’s Tree Removal Policy because the Plan constitutes a highly focused and detailed corridor-specific plan that furthers the goals, policies, and objectives of the Tree Removal Policy. All other applicable requirements of the City’s Tree Removal Policy, including review, posting, protest, and appeal procedures would remain in effect.
Community Engagement
Community engagement has been a central component of the Plan development. Outreach began in July 2025 and included six community meetings, online engagement opportunities, direct mail and email notifications, door-to-door outreach, and other opportunities for residents and community members to provide input.
The project website served as a central repository for information and documents throughout the planning process. The website provided access to project background and updates, community meeting materials, technical information, and opportunities for public participation and feedback. It also provided a consistent location for community members to follow the development of the Plan as the planning process progressed. The Plan’s website can be viewed at the following address: https://www.alamedaca.gov/Departments/Public-Works-Department/Street-Trees/Urban-Forest-Plan/Gibbons-Sidewalks-and-Trees-Plan
Early engagement focused on existing tree and infrastructure conditions, as well as community priorities. Subsequent meetings presented potential approaches and treatments, including concrete shaving, selective root pruning, sidewalk meandering, raised or bridged sidewalks, curb modifications and bulb-outs, and roadway-reconfiguration concepts such as chicanes.
A consistent theme throughout the engagement process has been the importance community members place on the existing mature canopy. Participants emphasized the trees' contribution to neighborhood character, seasonal fall color, shade, wildlife habitat, environmental benefits, and the experience of walking and living along Gibbons Drive. Many participants expressed a strong preference to retain healthy, mature trees for as long as reasonably feasible and to thoroughly evaluate preservation measures before determining that removal of an individual tree is necessary.
Community members also recognized the need to address deteriorated sidewalks, accessibility barriers, drainage concerns, and other infrastructure needs. Feedback generally favored approaches that would address these needs while retaining mature individual trees where feasible.
Community input also informed the replacement-tree strategy. Participants expressed preferences for replacement trees with characteristics such as large, mature stature, substantial canopy, wildlife habitat, seasonal interest and fall color, and relatively rapid growth. These preferences were considered alongside long-term species diversity, resilience, available growing space, and compatibility with surrounding infrastructure.
The draft Plan was released for public review on October 2, 2026.
Approaches Evaluated
The draft Plan evaluates a range of approaches to address the relationship between existing mature trees and public infrastructure.
Continuing existing management practices would not adequately address current conditions. With unsafe and inaccessible sidewalk conditions now present throughout the corridor, a more consistent framework is needed to allow necessary repairs to proceed while continuing to prioritize preservation of mature trees where feasible.
Several corridor-wide approaches that could potentially provide additional growing space for existing trees, including relocating or raising sidewalks, were also evaluated. These approaches were found to have significant constraints on tree health, physical conditions, accessibility, emergency access, or other feasibility concerns. Removing the sidewalks altogether would reduce pedestrian accessibility and was deemed neither safe nor legally viable.
The draft Plan also evaluated a roadway reconfiguration using chicanes, which provides traffic calming and creates additional growing space. A sample-block analysis found that approximately 30 to 40 percent of existing trees could benefit from additional growing space, while approximately 80 to 90 percent of existing on-street parking could be lost. A corridor-wide roadway-reconfiguration approach would also make it more difficult to prioritize improvements based on the severity of existing sidewalk and infrastructure conditions. It would require substantial upfront capital investment for which funding has not yet been identified.
Recommended Path Forward
The Plan recommends a location-by-location approach that allows infrastructure and tree conditions to be evaluated together and treatments to be selected based on the circumstances at each location.
Locations would be prioritized based on the severity of sidewalk, accessibility, and other infrastructure conditions so that the greatest needs can be addressed first. At each location, the City would evaluate tree condition, root location and size, surrounding infrastructure, accessibility requirements, available right-of-way, utilities, driveways, drainage, and other relevant site characteristics.
When damaged sidewalk is removed as part of a repair, newly exposed roots would be evaluated by a qualified arborist. The arborist would determine whether selective root pruning could be performed without compromising the tree's health or structural stability. Other feasible preservation measures may include concrete shaving, sidewalk meandering, localized curb modifications, bridging or raising sidewalks over roots, and combinations of treatments. This approach is consistent with the City's Tree Removal Policy, which requires consideration of feasible alternatives to removal and additional factors before a City tree may be approved for removal. The measures identified in the Plan are not exhaustive, and other preservation approaches may be considered based on the conditions at each location.
Tree removal would be considered when feasible measures cannot adequately address the infrastructure need while retaining the tree. The draft Plan does not pre-authorize the removal of individual trees. Future removals would continue to follow the City's Tree Removal Policy, including applicable requirements for review, posting, notification, protest, and appeal.
The recommended approach also establishes a maximum pace of tree removal. No more than 20 percent of the Liquidambar trees remaining at the beginning of each five-year increment could be removed during the following five years. The cap is a maximum, not a target. Actual removals may be substantially fewer depending on tree health, infrastructure conditions, and the results of individual location evaluations. Having capacity remaining under the cap would not, by itself, provide a basis for removing a tree.
Because the cap is recalculated based on the number of trees remaining at the beginning of each subsequent five-year period, the maximum number that could be removed decreases over time if removals occur.
Replacement Planting and Canopy Renewal
Where removal is necessary, the Plan requires replacement planting and establishes a palette of six tree species to guide future planting. The City’s consulting arborist identified 11 species suitable for the conditions along Gibbons Drive based on factors including mature size and canopy potential, growth characteristics, species diversity and resilience, site conditions, and compatibility with surrounding infrastructure. Community members were then asked to provide input on suitable species, and the final six-species palette reflects their preferences.
Removal of a mature tree results in an immediate reduction in canopy and associated benefits that a newly planted tree cannot fully replace in the near term. The draft Plan seeks to minimize these impacts by retaining mature trees wherever feasible, limiting the maximum pace of removal, and requiring replacement planting. As replacement trees grow and mature over the following decades, they will progressively restore canopy and associated environmental benefits while contributing to a more diverse and resilient urban forest.
Analysis of the Recommended Path Forward
The recommended path forward does not eliminate the tradeoffs between retaining mature trees and addressing deteriorated infrastructure. Instead, it provides a framework for making those decisions based on the conditions at each location rather than applying a single solution throughout the corridor.
The location-by-location approach allows the City to address the most significant pedestrian safety, accessibility, and infrastructure needs first while providing flexibility to consider preservation measures appropriate to each tree and site. It also maintains the basic configuration of Gibbons Drive and avoids many of the constraints associated with corridor-wide roadway reconstruction, including substantial parking loss and significant upfront capital costs.
The approach can be incorporated into the City's existing sidewalk repair and tree maintenance programs and implemented incrementally as locations are prioritized and funding is available.
The existing mature trees represent valuable community assets. Their value extends beyond the trees themselves to include the benefits of an established, mature canopy, such as shade, stormwater interception, carbon sequestration, improved air quality, wildlife habitat, and other ecosystem services. Retaining healthy, structurally sound trees where possible preserves these existing assets and avoids premature removal and replacement costs. At the same time, retaining mature trees in constrained planting areas may require additional or more frequent investment in sidewalk and other infrastructure repairs.
The recommended approach, therefore, involves tradeoffs. Where mature trees are retained, the City may need to use more complex repair techniques, accept a shorter service life than improvements constructed without an existing tree and root system, and return to some locations for additional repairs over time. Where a mature tree cannot reasonably be retained, removal may allow the City to more fully address the infrastructure condition, but results in an immediate loss of mature canopy and associated benefits that replacement planting will take many years to restore.
CONCLUSION
The draft Gibbons Drive Sidewalks and Trees Plan provides a community-informed framework for addressing existing pedestrian safety, accessibility, and infrastructure needs while preserving mature trees wherever reasonable. The recommended approach recognizes that conditions vary from location to location and that neither tree preservation nor infrastructure needs can be appropriately addressed through a single corridor-wide physical solution.
Staff recommend that the Planning Board consider the draft Plan, community input, and information presented in this report, and adopt the resolution provided as Exhibit 2, recommending that the City Council adopt the Gibbons Drive Sidewalks and Trees Plan.
Following Planning Board review, staff will consider comments received from the Planning Board, the Commission on Persons with Disabilities, and the public during the draft Plan review period and make appropriate revisions to the Plan. The revised Plan, together with the Planning Board's recommendation and a summary of changes made following public review, is expected to be presented to the City Council for consideration of adoption on December 1, 2026.
PUBLIC NOTICE
A public notice was published in the Alameda Journal on October 2, 2026, and mailed to residents and property owners within 300 feet of the corridor, in compliance with public noticing requirements. In addition, the City has posted on the City website and social media to inform the public. The agenda was posted on the City website and made available to the public 10 days prior to the public hearing date.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Adoption of the Gibbons Drive Sidewalks and Trees Plan is categorically exempt from environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15301 (Existing Facilities) and 15308 (Actions by Regulatory Agencies for Protection of the Environment).
Existing Facilities. CEQA Guidelines Section 15301 applies to the operation, repair, maintenance, and minor alteration of existing public facilities involving negligible or no expansion of existing or former use. The Plan provides a framework for targeted repair and maintenance of existing sidewalks, curbs, gutters, drainage facilities, and related infrastructure, as well as the management of existing street trees along Gibbons Drive. Implementation would occur on an as-needed, location-by-location basis and would not involve reconstruction of the entire corridor or expansion of the existing use. Section 15301 specifically identifies existing streets, sidewalks, gutters, pedestrian facilities, and street trees among the facilities and alterations that may qualify for the exemption.
Protection of the Environment. CEQA Guidelines Section 15308 applies to actions taken by regulatory agencies, as authorized by state or local ordinance, to assure the maintenance, restoration, enhancement, or protection of the environment where the regulatory process includes procedures for environmental protection. The City previously relied on this exemption when adopting the 2010 Master Street Tree Plan, which established policies for managing and protecting Alameda's urban forest. The Gibbons Drive Sidewalks and Trees Plan builds upon existing urban forest policies by establishing a location-specific decision-making framework that prioritizes the preservation of mature trees wherever feasible, requires consideration of feasible preservation measures before tree removal, limits the pace of tree removal, and requires replacement planting when removal is necessary.
RECOMMENDATION
Conduct a public hearing and adopt a resolution recommending that the City Council adopt the Gibbons Drive Sidewalks and Trees Plan and find that adoption of the Plan is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15301 (Existing Facilities) and 15308 (Protection of the Environment).
Respectfully submitted,
Brian McGuire, Secretary to the Planning Board
By,
Erin Smith, Public Works Director
Exhibits:
1. Draft Gibbons Drive Sidewalks and Trees Plan
2. Resolution