Downtown merchants and visitors watched construction crews chop
down the towering trees lining San Benito street last Friday,
leaving the area shadeless, sapless and under construction.
Downtown merchants and visitors watched construction crews chop down the towering trees lining San Benito street last Friday, leaving the area shadeless, sapless and under construction.
City Engineer Matt Atteberry said it was necessary to chop the old oak, magnolia and sycamore trees down, and replace them with smaller new ones as part of the Downtown Beautification Project.
“Every year we were having to go around and grind down the concrete around the trees, and replace the cement because their roots were breaking it up,” he said. “With the new trees, the city can monitor their growth so they don’t get too big.”
Downtown may look bald at the moment, but Atteberry said the city is only removing 71 trees, moving 83 smaller trees to new locations, and, in exchange, is planting 243 new ones. Some of the smaller trees from downtown have been relocated to local parks, and some will be planted in the San Felipe Road median, next to the Highway 25 exit.
Liz Kresky, of the Hollister Downtown Association, said some downtown business owners have been pleased with the older trees being cut down.
“We’ve received a lot of great feedback,” she said. “A lot of the older trees were big and business owners felt like they hid their businesses. Also, some of them were diseased and caused a lot of sap to drop on their store fronts and awnings, so they’re really excited about the newer, smaller ones.”
Although they’re fairly small now, Atteberry said, the trunks of the new trees are estimated to grow an inch in diameter each year.
“They’ll be a decent size in the next three years,” he said.
Aside from their size, the trees were chosen because they’re ornamental. The capital pear trees, which are being planted on San Benito street, and the crepe myrtle trees, lining the surrounding streets, were picked for their colorful seasonal blossoms instead of their height.
“These trees will change different colors with the seasons, and the ones lining San Benito will have really pretty white blossoms through the winter,” Atteberry said.
The city decided it was time to replace the older trees back in 1992, when it was developing a strategic downtown development plan, Atteberry said. One area that received a makeover but kept its tall, aged trees is the sidewalks surrounding the courthouse and county buildings.
“We were pretty sensitive to Monterey street because it’s kind of known for its big tree feel,” he said.
The project is expected to wrap up in early September.
