Tree issue no. 2

On May 1 our city planning commission held a public hearing and approved the application for the construction of two additional office buildings at the northwest corner of Agoura Road and Liberty Canyon. There is presently one fairly low-key office building on the property now.

The problem, as I see it, is that (at least) two big concerns of the public- especially of the public who actually live in the neighborhood- were not sufficiently recognized at the hearing.

The first issue is the inyourface deep orangered color the architect is pushing for all three buildings.

The commission approved this color despite the fact that many of us who will actually be living with and looking at these rather large buildings every single day, possibly for the rest of our lives, would prefer a color that is more consistent with the natural oak and Grassland Savannah that we live in, rather than this loud color more suited to the red clay desert mountains of Santa Fe.

The second issue is that a massive and ancient valley oak tree that will be removed for this project.

To be fair, it's not the developer that wants to remove it. Rather, it's your own city of Agoura Hills that wants to cut it down.

Apparently the city has some decades-old "master plan," that calls for Liberty Canyon to be a four-lane road. Therefore the city is forcing the developer to widen the west side of Liberty Canyon from one lane to two, and in doing so this exquisite and centuriesold oak tree will be chainsawed.

If the city has its way, the only remnant of that tree will be the black and white photo of it displayed on my living room wall that I took eight years ago.

Please, if you care, call your city and ask that the City Council not approve this application without more public input. Agoura City Hall: (818) 597-7300.

Andy Coradeschi

Agoura Hills

Coradeschi is vice president of the Liberty Canyon Homeowner's Association