On Monday, November 28, KOWS radio authorized its contractor Schafer Electric to trench through 320 feet of mature tree roots on Sebastopol’s Pleasant Hill Road water reservoir site without a permit, as confirmed by Sebastopol Planning Director Kenyon Webster. Schafer was on the job site along with the backhoe operator. No one from the City was present, although the still unsigned land lease agreement between KOWS and Sebastopol stipulated that a city staff member must always be present when a KOWS representative was on the property.
The KOWS backhoe operator obliterated the roots of more than a dozen 40-50 foot Italian Stone Pine trees that were planted over 30 years ago to screen the water tanks from the surrounding neighborhoods. The 3 foot deep, 15” wide trench is littered with mangled roots, some as big as a human limb, severed within a few feet of their trunks.
An arborist who visited the site today was shocked at the devastation. He said it was extremely rare for cities to allow any trenching around mature trees without an arborist on site. Once he understood that the KOWS backhoe was operating on the site illegally, he said it was a criminal act against the trees and that the trees will have an extremely difficult time surviving over the next 10 years.
The route taken by the backhoe on Monday bore little resemblance to the one submitted with the KOWS application to the City. On those plans, the trenching path avoids most of the trees and stays closer to the tanks. Somehow the original 300 feet path became 415 feet, right through the gorgeous mature grove of pine trees on the property.
Work has been stopped by the City of Sebastopol and city officials are evaluating the next course of action, according to the Planning Director.