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96 | CITY OF PLEASANTON URBAN FOREST MASTER PLAN <br />URBAN FOREST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES <br />schools for tree planting, so City staff would need to set aside <br />a significant amount of time to conduct outreach to the seven <br />schools within the targeted neighborhoods, as well as to <br />research grants that may be available to these schools such <br />as the Green Schoolyards grant program (See Appendix C). In <br />addition to having schools plant trees on school property, the <br />City may be able to purchase additional trees for the schools <br />that the teachers could then give away to their students for <br />planting in the yards of the student’s homes. <br />Opportunities for More Residential Front Yard Trees <br />A third strategy that the City may consider is implementing <br />a front yard ordinance that would require residents to plant <br />and maintain at least one tree in their residential front <br />yards. While the City encourages its residents to voluntarily <br />plant and maintain trees in their front yards, a stronger <br />approach could be taken with a front yard ordinance, but <br />this may come with pushback from the community. The <br />City of Hayward currently has requirements in their Zoning <br />Ordinance under the Minimum Design Standards section <br />10-1.204 that each front yard and side street yard have <br />a minimum of one 15-gallon tree planted for low density <br />residential, and residential natural preservation districts. <br />Other cities such as San Jose, Temecula, and Claremont <br />have language in their municipal code that assigns property <br />owners the responsibility to water and maintain the street <br />trees that are in front of their property. Pleasanton may <br />find that starting with a tree giveaway program paired <br />with outreach, education on the benefits of trees, and the <br />provision of informational materials for how to plant and care <br />for a tree, may be a more successful strategy for getting <br />more residents to plant trees in their front yards. If there is <br />still a need to get more residents to plant trees on private <br />property after this initial effort, then a front yard ordinance <br />could be considered. <br />Opportunities for Cost Savings from Tree Establishment <br />A large portion ($40 million or 57%), of the total cost in the <br />budget model comes from the establishment program that <br />is recommended the City implement for newly planted trees, <br />which would include watering and structural pruning for <br />three years. The City currently only waters newly planted <br />trees for the first growing season and does not conduct <br />structural pruning. A longer watering period should result <br />in higher survival rates for young trees that have to make it <br />through Pleasanton’s hot summers, and structural pruning <br />can eliminate problems like co-dominant leader stems early <br />on, which can reduce mature tree pruning costs in the future. <br />If the City is not able to find sufficient additional funding to <br />meet the projected urban forestry program funding gap, <br />the City may need to consider reducing the establishment <br />program to only one or two years.