SLO just cut down some of its largest trees along Monterey Street. Why?

Kaytlyn Leslie
·2 min read
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San Luis Obispo wasn’t expecting to remove several large ficus trees that shade much of Monterey Street as it started work on a new project downtown — but then it discovered what was happening underground.

According to city spokesperson Whitney Szentesi, the city had initially planned to just trim tree roots along the stretch of road from Santa Rosa Street to California Boulevard as it worked on a SLO in Motion project to make “transportation safety and mobility improvements to Monterey Street.”

“Originally, tree removal was not a planned part of the project,” Szentesi told The Tribune. “Once we started the project, the city’s arborist assessed about five to six trees on Monterey Street and approved removal for safety reasons.”

San Luis Obispo has cut down several large trees along Monterey Street as part of a streetscape project seen here on April 12, 2024. Construction is estimated to run through mid-May.
San Luis Obispo has cut down several large trees along Monterey Street as part of a streetscape project seen here on April 12, 2024. Construction is estimated to run through mid-May.

Szentesi said the arborist “determined the level of root trimming necessary to build ADA-compliant sidewalks would result in unstable trees.”

She added that one of the trees in front of Taqueria Santa Cruz at 1308 Monterey St. had a root growing through a culvert, and many were along a high-pressure gas line that ran under the sidewalk and trees in the area.

“Removal and replacement of these trees allows the gas company to relocate this line to avoid future impacts,” Szentesi said.

In total, six trees were marked to be removed. They have all since been taken down.

The removed trees were all ficus trees, Szentesi said, ranging in height from 30 to 60 feet.

The removal was a surprise to some residents, who wondered why it was necessary. The Tribune looked into the work as part of its new Reality Check series.

‘It’s a real bummer.’ Residents question SLO tree removal

In recent days, residents concerned about the tree removals took to social media platforms like Nextdoor and Reddit to question the decision.

“They are taking down so many of them along Monterey Street,” one Reddit user wrote. “It’s a real bummer, and I’m hoping there’s a good reason for it.”

San Luis Obispo takes its trees seriously, after all.

The city of San Luis Obispo removed six large ficus trees from Monterey Street after an arborist found the trees’ roots would impact plans to build ADA-compliant sidewalks along the street. A Google street view shows four of the removed trees at the intersection of Monterey and Toro streets in January 2021.
The city of San Luis Obispo removed six large ficus trees from Monterey Street after an arborist found the trees’ roots would impact plans to build ADA-compliant sidewalks along the street. A Google street view shows four of the removed trees at the intersection of Monterey and Toro streets in January 2021.

For 40 years, the city has earned the title of Tree City USA, a program that recognizes cities’ commitments to their “urban forests.”

According to Szentesi, San Luis Obispo currently maintains more than 20,000 trees across the city. In 2021, it announced an ambitious plan to plant an additional 10,000 trees by 2035. The first-of-its-kind plan funded city tree planting with hotel tax revenues.

So it’s understandable that some were concerned by the decision to remove some of the city’s largest down trees.

For those concerned by the removal, however, the city has some good news — Szentesi said it plans to replace each of the removed trees with a new one.

Those will all be northern red oaks, she said.