Time to enforce the Law at Oakshade Mall?
By Alan ”Lorax” Hirsch
To give the landlord more flexibility to find tenants, Davis council is being asked to rezone the Oakshade Mall (Safeway) located at south Pole Line Rd x Cowell. This is before council on the Tuesday 8/27/24 agenda ( see staff report item #4). However this landlord is notorious for their neglect of its trees and is in violation of city tree protection ordinance.
So, while makes sense for city to update zoning in response to a changing retailing climate, it also makes sense to do updates in city’s relationship with this out-of-town landlord in regard to the Climate Crisis and city’s CAAP policies, changes to sustain Davis’s quality of life by deal with global heating.
More Shade is Existential
It is forecast that half Davis’s summer days will be over 100 degree in 50 years. Unshaded asphalt reachs 140+ degrees in those conditions. Davis’s CAAP climate plan appropriately calls for more tree shade as part our adaption plan. To have that shade in 50 year tree need to be planted now. And investing in tree is just good marketing sense of a long-term landlord- as contrast with incentive for on-site property manager who often just think about next quarter’s cash flow so look everywhere to cut maintenance cost.
But beyond increased tree shade called for Davis CAAP climate plan, this shopping center development has for years been in gross violation of the city’s 1990’s tree ordinance under which it was approved. That ordinance required “50% parking lot shade in 15years” The landscape plan the developer/landlords signed off as part of plan- check had them agree to no just plant trees, but maintain the newly planted trees to obtain that 50% tree shade level. This was not an impossible requirement: If you drive West of Cowell just 2 block to the Kaiser clinic you can see tree can be grown in Parking lots.
However, the landlord & his property managers have not grown and maintain trees as agreed over near 30 years the mall has been in operation. And when trees have died they have either not been replace, or replace with a shorter species. And the irrigation system has been neglected.
As you can see from attached recent arial pictures- (and picture in below linked article from 2018), the landlord has not met their legal requirement of 50% shade. A visit the site will make obvious the gross number of missing, stunted and dead trees. The north parking area is nearly tree-free.
The trees at OakShade have a history before city:
- The shopping center was named for the Oak trees removed to enable its construction
- Over the years photographs of issue have been shared with city, including topping of tree that should have been allowed to spread out so they can shade the Parking spaces
- Even if city had not attempted enforcement, this issue was written about in the DavisVanguard in 2018- so the landlord could not have aware that his tree neglect issue is of community concern. See: “Will City Enforce Its Building Code on Trees At Oakshade?” (February 2018 DavIS vanguard)
Approving this rezone is a discretionary action and city council does not have to grant approval without requirement land lord at least bring his property in compliance with 1990’s ordinance – and agree to requirements to assure not further recidivism on their decades of neglect.
We won’t go back: Leveraging off the DISC Negotiations
The city council should update the Development Agreement (DA) for Oakshade with the same tree protections like those included in DA for DISC 1 (2018) and DISC 2 (2020)- and even Target (2010).
- “A plan accepted by the City Arborist should be submit to city by the Landlord with a revised landscape/irrigation plan. This plan should show a plan to bring parking lot up to 50% share requirement in 15 year. This Plan must be submitted and accepted within 120 days of approval of the DA rezone. The tree planting component of this plan shall be a releasable-in-hard copy public document so citizens can monitor compliance.”
- “Landlord agree to a one-time initial tree inspection by city arborist or his designee, before any before new occupancy permit are issued after 3/1/2025 to assure that the new landscape plan is complied with, (e.g. trees replaced/ replanted per new landscape plan, and all irrigation system is operating to support the tree. )”
- The landlord agrees to a plan to assure maintenance of trees going forward in compliance landscape plan. Landlord agree to reimburse the city when it conducts periodic landscape/tree care and irrigation inspections. This shall be done by city arborist or designee in years 1-2-3 5-8-10 and every 5 years thereafter assure tree care is done in compliance with the landscape plan to reach and sustain the “50% shade in 15 years” requirement. The inspection report by city raise issues and confirm previously raise issues were address (dead or compromised trees, poor pruning, broken sprinklers, etc). Non- resolution of issues can be grounds for city’s Director of Community Development to block issuance of future building or occupancy permits by the city until these issues raise are rresolved. If landlord challenges issues raised, they can be appeal to the tree commission.
These are not radical new ideas. The Target Shopping Center (“2nd street Crossing”) Mall DA also requires annual inspect by an arborist and the Dan Ramos, developer of DISC agreed to this with the city in 2020 in his DA.. These may have been before Staff members and Director Sheri Metzker times, but they are still “best practices.”
We should not go back.
These three requirements are especially important if gas station are allowed here, Gas stations in Davis are notorious for engaging in tree topping and neglect without consequence- i.e. violation of their landscape plan. See the recent illegal tree topping at Shell station at Anderson x West Covell) or the Shell station at Richard near the freeway.
I also suggest city should do a site review to adding requirement for other low cost CAAP-aware changes like adding, such as non-tesla EV charging, improved bike parking and review of pedestrian access. Many of bike racks are of outdated unsecure style and there is an inadequate in number.
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I apologize to city for not raising this earlier. Planning Department did not reach out to me or other well-known tree stakeholder in the city who would have been aware of tree issues at this development. I hope city council, with it heightened concern for community involvement note this oops to staff for not preemptively engaging well know stakeholder so avoid issues like this not surfacing at before the final public hearing..
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Just as we should be updating zoning for a changing retailing climate, so we should be should upgrading our old Davis shopping centers to comply with CAAP-driven improvements to protect Davis quality of life.
Davisite 
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