LAKEPORT — Scrapping an idea to plant palm trees on Second Street that would have cost several thousand dollars each, the Lakeport City Council accepted the downtown improvement project Tuesday with a few changes.
Instead, the city plans to plant green vase zelkovas or endowment maples. The zelkovas are the main shade trees for the project that the city plans to line on Main and Park streets. The design includes endowment maples on First Street to avoid blocking the view of the lake.
“All the areas people find very inviting are always ones with all the trees,” City manager Margaret Silveira said of research. “It just draws people when you have a lot of trees.”
The council held a workshop on the Downtown Improvement Project an hour before the regular scheduled meeting Tuesday at City Hall.
A majority of the council members said they liked the number of trees planned, more than 70, while Councilman Bob Rumfelt said he thought the number was excessive.
“It”s not that I”m against trees,” Rumfelt said. “Lake County has tons of trees.”
Rumfelt said he thinks more than 70 trees is a few too many because they”re expensive to buy and maintain.
Roy Fields said he thinks lighting and trees on the street are like the lighting and fixtures in a home that accent the beauty of the space.
“Cutting back on those areas is something you want to consider heavily,” Fields said.
Bill Harris of Harris Design said the zelkovas will branch out like a vase to avoid blocking storefronts while still providing shade. He also spaced the plants with the aim to avoid putting them in front of doorways and signs.
Council members agreed not to use palm trees as designed to link Museum Park and the old Carnegie Library because they are expensive.
Councilman Roy Parmentier said he had a problem with the palm trees.
“We can”t afford them,” Parmentier said. “One hundred dollars a foot could be a lot better spent.”
In another change to the project, council members agreed to leave the bike lanes as is, sharing the space without designating bike lanes.
Rumfelt said in order to share the lane safely, people need to be taught how to ride bikes while Mayor James Irwin replied that people need to be taught how to drive cars.
Councilwoman Suzanne Lyons said a lot of people don”t feel comfortable sharing the lane with the idea of parked car doors opening in front of bicyclists.
The council changed its decision from July 20 on placement of a bus shelter, deciding to put a narrow shelter with a larger roof on Main Street in front of Museum Park rather than in Museum Park off the center walkway. The city controls the roads and sidewalks in downtown Lakeport, while the Board of Supervisors controls the park.
On Aug. 3, the Board of Supervisors voted to put the shelter on Third Street just inside the park where an old bike rack was.
Council members said they wanted to hold off on putting a gateway piece in the center lane in front of the Soper-Reese Community Theatre on Main Street at Martin Street.
Contact Katy Sweeny at kdsweeny@gmail.com or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
