RE: Palouse Mall: business as usual

["Shahab Mesbah" <meteor2@moscow.com>]

Furthermore, I would like to add that placing the images in the website is
not only possible and desirable but it would not "take hundreds of hours and
thousands of dollars". It would be good for the individuals involved in this
project to remember that some of us are computer literate and even experts.

As for my friend Jerry's comment that we should just watch CH13 for the
presentation I would say that having a website that you can refer to all the
information again and again to make sure you understand exactly what is
going on is not easily substituted by a presentation. We the residents have
to understand exactly what is being proposed here. This requires study and
thought. We have to be able to validate the facts and analyze the
assumptions.

Also... Sean may be surprised to know that there are a few of us who have
much experience in design and have no difficulty picturing the outcome of
ideas. As I said before we have the right and indeed the duty to have and
study the proposal so we can be better informed in our discussions. Most of
the individuals in this post have time and again proven themselves capable
of analysis and critical thought. I would again highly encourage Sean to
post the complete plans (text and all) including a PowerPoint presentation
(I assume you have one for the council) on the web so everyone can see
exactly what is being proposed... anything else will hint of cover-up!

"Your brother in arms"

Shahab...

-----Original Message-----
From: Bill London [mailto:london@moscow.com]
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2001 4:06 PM
To: Gordon and Madeline Edgren
Cc: Smith, Dahlia; Michael, Sean; McCarthy, Michael M.; Bendickson, Jim;
Agidius, Paul C.; Vision2020
Subject: Re: Palouse Mall: business as usual

I have received two emails since my posting to Vision 2020 regarding my
concerns about the landscaping proposal for the Palouse Mall.  One email
(reprinted below) was sent to me (with copies to a group of mall
officials) and the other to Vision 2020 from Sean Michael.  Two basic
points appear in both emails.
    The first is: this landscaping plan is better than what we have now.
    The second is: some trees and bushes now growing there are dying, and
will have to be killed to make this plan work.
    Regarding the first point....Perhaps this plan is better than what we
have now.  But remember, the ripped and tattered planting strip we have
now is the DIRECT RESULT of the Mall's Sunday morning raid last fall.  It
was the Mall that hired all those beautiful mature shrubs and trees
removed in violation of city ordinance.  It was the Mall that proclaimed
that they were sorry and wanted to make it right.  It was the Mall that
promised to produce a plan to REPLACE the vegetation they killed.  So,
their plan to stick in some tiny plants is not replacing what we
originally had and it's not better than what we originally had.
    Regarding their second point: Take a look at the trees and bushes that
are still growing in that planting strip.  Would you call them as "old" or
"worn out" or "ailing" as they are described in the email below?  These
trees are not even 30 years old, even if they were planted when the Mall
was first being constructed.  These trees are just entering their middle
years, and could live for many decades--if they are not killed off by this
landscaping plan.  An unidentified number of plants will be removed from
the planting strip if this plan is approved.  These trees may be
inconvenient for the Mall's plans and be targeted for removal for that
reason, but to say they need to be removed because they are dying is
ridiculous.
    When I look at both of these basic points made by the Mall, I can only
respond: Let's look behind the happy-face facade here.  The Mall is just
continuing its effort to keep out the pesky plantings that screen their
buildings from the highway.
BL
------------------------------------------
Gordon and Madeline Edgren wrote:

> Dear Bill,
>
> Thank you for taking the time to comment on the Palouse Mall Proposed
> Landscape Plan. We regret that you do not like the plan, but we value
> your input.
>
> It was difficult to present the scope of this plan on the website. As
> you know the site itself is very long and narrow. To show what the
> front would look like from the road would require piecing together
> separate photos. Sean Michael has done this for every inch of the
> existing landscape, and it takes an entire wall to display. However,
> to digitally enhance these photos to show what the site would look
> like would take hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars -  dollars
> that can be better used to actually replant the site. Sean will have
> some more representative drawings etc. at the Monday meeting and will
> be able to answer more of your concerns at that time. Alternatively,
> you can contact him at his e-mail o2design@wsu.edu . We made a
> judgment call on what to display on the website. We opted for the one
> drawing that would give the best overall feeling of the project scope
> to the greatest number of people.
>
> In describing the landscape as "worn out", I was trying to say that
> the landscape design was outdated - not the trees and shrubs
> themselves. The existing design does not meet any modern criteria.
> Sean Michael will be speaking to this subject on Monday night at the
> Council meeting. He is extremely knowledgeable on quality of life
> issues and has devoted 5 months to analyzing this site to produce a
> plan to meet these needs.
>
> However, Sean Michael, Wil Sinclair and Andrew Tull have cataloged,
> described and analyzed each and every shrub and tree on the site, and
> many of them are indeed approaching the end of their lives. Plants,
> like people do not live forever, and as they get older they develop
> problems typical of old age. In the case of the trees, we will be
> leaving all but a very few, even though some of them have limited life
> left. We will deal with replacing the ailing ones when we have to, but
> at least we now know the problems we are facing in the future. We are
> not throwing the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak. We will be
> keeping most of the existing shrubs. We will be removing a number of
> suckering plants. We will be adding some 800 + shrubs in addition to
> ornamentals, to revitalize the site for the next 25 years. We have had
> the plan reviewed by arborists and landscape architects for
> recommendations of the best plants to put back into the site.
> Interestingly, one of the plants they said was wrong for the site, for
> a variety of reasons, was the Flowering Quince, the main plant in the
> old pallet. However, the important thing to note is that we will be
> increasing the screening of the mall. Sean has calculated these
> percentages and will present them to the Council as well. To attain
> these goals we needed to revise the old "worn out" plan. We couldn't
> manage the needed changes within the old framework. These changes will
> carry the right of way well into the future, while living with the old
> framework would work only until the existing trees and shrubs started
> to die off of disease or old age.
>
> The size of the plants we will use will be determined in part by what
> the nurseries offer and in part by what the professionals tell us will
> be the optimum size to assure survival of the individual plants. It is
> not our intention to purchase the smallest plants available.
>
> I hope I have been able to address some of your concerns and that you
> will eventually like the results of our landscape project.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Madeline Edgren
> Palouse Mall Associates, LLC