PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — Palm Springs will remove a row of trees blocking a historically African-American neighborhood from a city-owned golf course.
At an informal meeting with neighborhood residents Sunday, Palm Springs Mayor Robert Moon, council member J.R. Roberts and other city officials promised residents they would remove the tamarisk trees and a chain link fence along the Crossley Tract property lines as soon as possible.
Many longtime residents of the neighborhood previously told the (Palm Springs, Calif.) Desert Sun they believed the trees were planted for racist reasons in the 1960s, and remained a lasting remnant of the history of segregation in the city. Residents said the invasive tamarisks, which block views of the Tahquitz Creek Golf Course and San Jacinto mountains, have artificially depressed property values and prevented black families from accumulating wealth in their property over the past half century.
Moon said Sunday he and Roberts had only a combined four years on the council and the problems posed by the trees only recently came to their attention. Moon said after he became aware of the issue, he visited the neighborhood to get a first-hand idea of what residents' concerns were.
Both Moon and Roberts assured residents that the neighborhood had the support of the entire council.
“It’s a new city council and a new time,” Moon said.
City manager David Ready said the tree removal wouldn’t be immediate because the full city council would have to approve the matter. Arborists also would have to be consulted, and the project — like any requiring significant city funds — would have to be put out to bid, Ready said. He estimated the trees could be down within three months.
Ready previously said estimates the city had received for removing the trees were about $169,000. Approval of expenditures more than $20,000 have to go to the city council for the thumbs up, and city officials also have to figure out where, in a city budget stretched thin by rising public safety costs and hundreds of millions of unfunded pension liabilities and retiree healthcare costs, that money will be allocated from.
“It’s not about a price to pay, it’s about finding the money,” Roberts said at the neighborhood meeting.
At an informal meeting with neighborhood residents Sunday, Palm Springs Mayor Robert Moon, council member J.R. Roberts and other city officials promised residents they would remove the tamarisk trees and a chain link fence along the Crossley Tract property lines as soon as possible.
Many longtime residents of the neighborhood previously told the (Palm Springs, Calif.) Desert Sun they believed the trees were planted for racist reasons in the 1960s, and remained a lasting remnant of the history of segregation in the city. Residents said the invasive tamarisks, which block views of the Tahquitz Creek Golf Course and San Jacinto mountains, have artificially depressed property values and prevented black families from accumulating wealth in their property over the past half century.
Moon said Sunday he and Roberts had only a combined four years on the council and the problems posed by the trees only recently came to their attention. Moon said after he became aware of the issue, he visited the neighborhood to get a first-hand idea of what residents' concerns were.
Both Moon and Roberts assured residents that the neighborhood had the support of the entire council.
“It’s a new city council and a new time,” Moon said.
City manager David Ready said the tree removal wouldn’t be immediate because the full city council would have to approve the matter. Arborists also would have to be consulted, and the project — like any requiring significant city funds — would have to be put out to bid, Ready said. He estimated the trees could be down within three months.
Ready previously said estimates the city had received for removing the trees were about $169,000. Approval of expenditures more than $20,000 have to go to the city council for the thumbs up, and city officials also have to figure out where, in a city budget stretched thin by rising public safety costs and hundreds of millions of unfunded pension liabilities and retiree healthcare costs, that money will be allocated from.
“It’s not about a price to pay, it’s about finding the money,” Roberts said at the neighborhood meeting.
