This article provided by the City of Poway appointed LMD Advisory Group
The Landscape Maintenance District (LMD) Advisory Group continues to work with the City of Poway to secure funding that will allow us to improve our neighborhood’s common-area landscaping and maintenance. The May 2 report to the Poway City Council will present progress to date. For a preview, keep reading...
First, A Reminder – What’s The Issue?
The LMDs were established with new housing developments in the 1980s through developer agreements with the City of Poway. Property owners in LMDs are assessed annually for landscape maintenance within the LMDs – sort of like an HOA where revenue is collected for a common purpose.
LMDs are responsible for the landscape areas at neighborhood entrances and along the parkways on both sides of Twin Peaks and Espola roads.
Originally, when neighborhood entrances were landscaped and the trees were small, LMD assessments provided sufficient funding to maintain the landscaping and trees.
For more than three decades, trees have grown, irrigation systems have aged, and costs for maintenance and water have increased while assessments have not changed.
It takes a vote of LMD property owners to increase assessments.
Due to insufficient funding, maintenance and water were reduced, entrance landscaping was lost, and the parkway trees have become overgrown and dangerous. The result is dirt and weeds at neighborhood entrances, and fire and wind hazards from overgrown trees.
Since 2018, the LMD Advisory Group has been working with the City of Poway on partnership strategies to rehabilitate the entrance landscaping, manage the trees, and establish sustainable funding for ongoing maintenance.
What’s Been Happening Recently?
Hazardous Tree Mitigation Program Grant - In 2020, the City of Poway received $1.4 million in Federal funding for a Hazardous Tree Mitigation Program to address the fire and wind hazards of overgrown and diseased eucalyptus trees along Twin Peaks and Espola roads. The City is providing $500,000 for a total of $1.9 million to remove hazardous trees. Since then, the City has had a certified arborist identify candidate trees for removal, provided environmental analyses required by the federal grant, and held two public open houses (April 2022) on the project. At this point, the City (and the LMD Advisory Group) are anxiously awaiting final federal approval to be able to begin tree removal, hopefully sometime in 2023.
The Hazardous Tree Mitigation Program grant is important to the LMDs for several reasons:
Removal of overgrown, diseased and dead eucalyptus trees will reduce the fire and wind hazards of trees within the LMDs.
Reducing the number of trees along Twin Peaks and Espola roads will reduce future maintenance costs for the LMDs by helping to bring the trees back to a more manageable and financially sustainable state.
Tree removal and trimming will improve the health and aesthetics of remaining trees.
For more information on the City’s Hazardous Tree Mitigation Program, go to https://poway.org/1065/Hazardous-Tree-Removal-Mitigation-Grant#update
Landscape Master Plan
The City of Poway hired a landscape architect to prepare a conceptual Landscape Master Plan (LMP) to provide a vision for rehabilitation of the neighborhood entrances and parkways within the LMDs. The draft LMP was presented for public input at the April 2022 open houses. The final LMP will be included in the May 2, 2023 City Council report (and will be available on the City’s website with the agenda report). The final LMP will emphasize drought-tolerant, native and naturalized landscape concepts and will help the City and the LMD Advisory Group identify costs for landscape rehabilitation and better ongoing maintenance. The LMP is a conceptual guide… it is not an implementation blueprint or construction plan. Those will come later with further input from LMD property owners.
Public Input
Over the past year, the City of Poway and the LMD Advisory group (together and separately) have provided several opportunities for LMD property owners to learn more about LMD issues and to provide input on the Hazardous Tree Mitigation Program and the Landscape Master Plan, including:
On-Line Survey - In January 2022, the LMD Advisory Group, with support from the City, conducted an online survey to gather input during preparation of the Landscape Master Plan. LMD property owners were sent postcards informing them of the survey availability. Over 300 people responded. While the survey results are not scientific, they revealed that the vast majority of respondents are concerned about the condition of the eucalyptus trees along Twin Peaks and Espola roads and/or feel that they present a fire and safety hazard. In addition, over two-thirds of respondents want the landscaping at neighborhood entrances to be rehabilitated. Survey results are available on the LMD Advisory Group website at https://www.powaylmd.com/new-page-3
April 2022 Public Open Houses – At the two open houses, attendees shared their priorities for landscaping and maintenance within the LMDs. A large majority want to remove at least some trees and improve maintenance of the remaining trees along Twin Peaks and Espola roads. About a third of LMD 86-1 and almost half of LMD 83-1 attendees want to rehabilitate neighborhood entrance landscaping and replace lost trees in the LMDs.
Neighborhood Pop-Up Meetings – LMD Advisory Group members, independent of the City, held informal neighborhood meetings in the Spring 2022. Neighbors gathered to learn about the LMD issues, LMD Advisory Group goals and activities, get questions answered, and provide input.
This input will help guide LMD Advisory Group landscape and funding proposals to the City.
What’s Next?
City of Poway staff report on LMD issues, status and upcoming activities is scheduled to go to the Poway City Council on May 2, 2023.
We’re hopeful that the Hazardous Tree Mitigation Program receives the federal go-ahead soon and tree removal can begin before the end of 2023.
Once tree removal occurs, the City and LMD Advisory Group can assess the maintenance required for remaining trees and develop cost estimates for further tree maintenance and neighborhood entrance rehabilitation and maintenance.
The LMD Advisory Group will continue to work with the City of Poway to develop an LMD funding partnership and strategy to implement new entrance landscaping and achieve financially sustainable entrance and tree maintenance.
For more information check out the LMD Advisory Group website at https://www.powaylmd.com/.
You can also email us (the LMD Advisory Group) with your questions and thoughts at powaylmdadvisory@gmail.com