Laurelhurst
Community Club
Serving 2800 Households in
Tom Hinckley,
Director
Center for Urban
Horticulture
University of
Washington, Box 354115
Seattle,
Washington 98195-4115
Re: Proposed Removal of Cornelian Cherry Trees
Dear Tom,
Thank you for attending the March meeting of the Laurelhurst Community Club (LCC) Board of Trustees meeting to discuss the status of the reconstruction project at CUH. Your presentation was informative and much appreciated by the Trustees. The LCC also appreciates CUH’s efforts to keep the neighbors apprised of its plans, and to solicit input from the neighborhood on issues of common concern.
During your presentation, you
mentioned that CUH was evaluating the removal of several of the Cornelian
Cherry trees on Mary Gates Jr. Memorial Boulevard, and invited members of the
LCC and neighborhood to share their opinions on the issue.
Since that time, we have received nearly unanimous feedback: First, the neighbors appreciate the early
notice and opportunity to participate in the decision making. Second, neighbors and Trustees alike expressed
a strong preference toward retaining as many trees and other greenery as
possible. Retaining the trees is
consistent with CUH’s mission and also serves as a critical noise and traffic
buffer for adjacent neighbors. Finally,
the trees are beautiful and attract birds and butterflies, which benefit both
CUH and the neighbors equally.
Accordingly, we were pleased to receive your email of May 1st
suggesting that you too are in favor of retaining the Cornelian Cherries! We urge you to do all you can to preserve
this beautiful stand of trees.
We look forward to hearing more
about the construction plans at CUH and how LCC may support those plans.
Sincerely,
Jeannie Hale, President Bonnie Zinn, LCC Trustee
3425 West
Laurelhurst Drive
206-525-5135 /
fax 206-525-9631 206-523-1843