Kevin McCallum, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
After the changes in traffic patterns that will result from the removal of the one block of Mendocino Avenue between Third and Fourth streets, the felling of trees will undoubtedly be the most significant change to the downtown landscape.
Up to 91 trees of the 114 trees on site today, or nearly 80 percent, will be removed as part of the project.
The final design for the reunification of Old Courthouse Square won unanimous approval from the Santa Rosa City Council early Wednesday morning, a decision hailed by business leaders as a crucial step toward revitalizing the economic heart of the city and denounced by critics as denuding a verdant downtown park of its cherished trees to build roads and parking spaces.
The decision, made shortly after midnight following testimony of dozens of residents for and against the latest iteration of the high-profile project, was punctuated with a group of unabashed tree lovers storming out of the meeting claiming their input had been ignored.
“None of us are happy with cutting down trees, there is no joy in that,” Councilman Chris Coursey said as project critics filed out. “Serving on this council is about balancing competing interests and it’s about making decisions for the greater good. And that’s the decision that I’m making tonight.”
Read more at: Santa Rosa City Council signs off on final | The Press Democrat