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Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Saratoga city arborist Barrie Coate is at the center of the efforts to keep the city verdant.
Arborist stands tall in city planning
By Oakley Brooks
Not long after Saratoga developer Greg Howell submitted a design proposal to the city in January, he saw a significant roadblock--of the leafy sort--standing on the property on Carnelian Glen Court.
The city's arborist Barrie Coate found that a driveway on one of Howell's subdivisions would slice between a cedar tree and a Japanese black pine, and threaten the roots of both.
Coate presented two options: shrink the driveway, or rearrange the site plan. City code wouldn't allow Howell to shrink the driveway. And Option B didn't sound very good to him. In another city, Howell might have disregarded Coate's suggestion. But in Saratoga, where extensive tree regulations give Coate some clout, Howell had to pay heed.
He and Coate eventually worked out a compromise--Howell's driveway would be made of a permeable substance to ensure the trees' roots would get the water they need.
"Individuals may gripe because they have to keep certain trees up," said Coate, who's been a horticulturist in the area since the early 1960s. "But if you took a vote in town they'd tell you tree canopy is part of what attracts people here."
Coate says that of the 14 Bay Area cities he works with, Saratoga has the most effective, if the strictest, tree regulations.
According to Coate, the Saratoga City Council began adopting more comprehensive tree rules about a decade ago, after several cases of abuse by developers. That was around the time Coate began working for the city.
Today, developers like Howell aren't put off by the arborist's powerful role in the planning process: "Trees sell houses," said Howell.
But, in working to maintain Saratoga's tree health, Coate and his associates don't waste any time beating around the bush with developers.
"We just tell it like we see it," he said.
Coate is free to do that because the city retains his Los Gatos firm as a contractor and pays him from a bond that developers give to the city at the start of the planning process. Saratoga associate planner Mark Connolly says other cities have the developer hire an arborist themselves, if they require a tree report.
Coate says this leads some arborists to shape their report favorably towards the developers' wishes.
"If people don't like what the arborist writes they don't pay for the report," he said.
Connolly says that as Coate or an associate prepares a painstaking initial report in Saratoga--evaluating the health and value of each tree on a property and the potential threats of development--all the developer's comments are channeled through the planning department.
Coate and Co. then recommends which specimens to keep and how best to insulate those trees from the impacts of construction.
Diseased trees or alien species are often removed at the arborist's request and always replaced by native species such as coast live oaks or redwoods.
Coate says this is an important step in improving Saratoga's floral health.
"If we see a stand that's too dense we'll also recommend that the builder thin it out," said Coate. "We're trying to arrange for healthy trees for the next 30 to 50 years, not just at the end of construction."
To prevent damage during construction, builders must put a 5-foot chain link fence around each remaining tree at a distance 30 feet from the trunk. Coate and Connolly say the barrier protects against heavy machinery much more effectively than the snow fence with the smaller circumference required by many other cities.
Developers must also post a bond equivalent to a portion of trees' values, sometimes up to 40 percent of valuable trees. Howell recently had to post over $20,000 for trees on one of his five lots on Carnelian Glen.
The arborist keeps a close eye on the site with periodic visits during the construction phase. Builders lose bond money, or even risk being shut down by the community development department, if the arborist finds trees are being harmed.
When developers finish construction a final inspection allows them to recover bond money if they have a healthy site.
Despite the heavy tree regulations, Howell says dealing with Coate, as he has on several different projects, is a happy experience. Especially compared to other sections of the planning process.
"Things need to be improved here," Howell said. "But it's hard with all the turnover we've had at the city."
Howell will face another hurdle this week when four of the five proposals his company has for Carnelian Glen Drive are presented to the Saratoga Planning Commission.
The plans call for townhomes on subdivided lots just off the Saratoga-Los Gatos Road. Howell and McNeil Development received approval to subdivide the property at 20251 Carnelian Glen Court in September. Currently, the parcel has one large house with a guest residence and is bordered on the street side by a line of coast live oak trees. All will be protected under the current plan before the commission.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
