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County plans to relocate seven palm trees Print E-mail
Written by John Saiz / Patterson Irrigator /   
Friday, 09 May 2008

“The historical society is not opposed to this. We moved palm trees before.”

— Claude Delphia
Patterson Township Historical Society


Stanislaus County plans to remove seven palm trees along East Las Palmas Avenue in the coming year to install traffic lights at Elm and Sycamore avenues.

Image
Seven of Patterson's historic palm trees will be removed to make room for stoplights along East Las Palmas Avenue, but they will be replanted elsewhere on the thoroughfare. Photo by Elias Funez/Patterson Irrigator
While the project won’t start any time soon, county engineers were in town Tuesday night to tell the Patterson City Council about their plans. The county intends to move the palm trees to other locations along East Las Palmas, filling in gaps in the distinctive row of palms that line what used to be the city’s main entrance. 

Attendees and council members expressed their worries about the proposed move.

“Where does this end?” Councilwoman Annette Smith asked. “(The palms) are priceless.”

“That’s the gateway to the city,” Councilman Sam Cuellar added.

Still, the council did not object to working with the county on the project, and a representative from the Patterson Township Historical Society said palms have been successfully moved in the past.

“The historical society is not opposed to this,” Claude Delphia said. “We moved palm trees before.”

Delphia said the trees were planted about 98 years ago.

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Distinctive silhouettes: Vehicles cross East Las Palmas Avenue on Thursday to turn onto Elm Avenue. The county plans to move seven palm trees along Las Palmas when signals go up at Elm and Sycamore avenues. Photo by Elias Funez/Patterson Irrigator
Patterson-area resident Kenny Buehner was one of the attendees in favor of the decision. He said the palms at the Elm Avenue intersection make it difficult to pull into traffic safely.

“The council should place a greater value on human life,” Buehner said.

The county promised to provide a one-year warranty on the seven trees. Should any of those trees die while under warranty, the county would replace it with a tree of similar size, according to a draft agreement presented to the council.

Councilman Dominic Farinha said he wanted a longer warranty and wanted the agreement’s wording changed to ensure the replaced tree would be a Canary Island date palm, like the trees to be moved.

The county’s senior civil engineer, Dave Leamon, said the county would prefer to keep the one-year warranty, because the trees are fairly old, but the terms could be negotiated.

He said the county does not expect to move the trees for about another year, and the traffic lights will not be up and running until summer 2009.

“We completely understand it is a sensitive issue,” Leamon said.

Amid the debate, Mayor Becky Campo jokingly offered a distinctly Patterson solution that could solve the traffic issues and let the palm trees remain:  “Let’s put a roundabout there.”

To reach John Saiz at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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