More on Street Trees

Re “Street Trees,” Letters to the Valley Edition, Jan 2.

I must add another voice to the deplorable condition of sidewalks as a result of poor planning, root maintenance and sidewalk repair.

I think it is irresponsible for the city to require contractors to pay for parkway trees, for the city to plant these trees without taking into consideration the geological nature of the ground in which they’re planted, and then not maintain the trees so that they don’t cause property damage and personal injury. Our trees were recently trimmed above ground, [but] require a corresponding root trim and sidewalk repair.

It appears that the city has contracted for curb ramp modifications, required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Think about the folly of such modifications without first repairing the sidewalks on which the disabled would have to then maneuver once they made it back up the curb.

I spoke with a City Council staff member who told me she could get the sidewalk patched with asphalt; but I would have to pay for, as well as get any permits, to have the tree roots cut and the sidewalk re-cemented. Much of the sidewalk is raised, broken and fractured. I am surprised no one has been injured.

RICK MARQUSEE

Chatsworth