'Treegate' Hashed Out at Los Robles

We're sorry. Our bad.

Essentially that was the message by a contracting company that was entrusted to cut down some trees that were in the way of the train tracks near the Los Robles Mobile Home Park in Novato.

The subcontracting company cut down 12 trees to help make way for the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit cars that will ride the rails in a few years. And that ticked off park residents because there hadn't been any notification or discussion about it. Over two days, several homes adjacent to the SMART right-of-way lost their aesthetic and audio buffer that helped shield them from the noise and frenzy of Hamilton Marketplace shopping center and Highway 101.

Some residents whose properties back up to the tracks were in a tar & feather mood after the chainsaw massacre, so Novato Mayor Pat Eklund arranged a summit between representatives of the park, SMART and the city of Novato so that park residents could ask questions and vent some frustration. More trees will be cut, but there was a promise that better communication would take place with park residents and anyone else who lives along the railroad tracks in Novato.

How did the meeting go? Click on this story in the Marin Independent Journal and check out these videos and photos. Make sure to share your thoughts with a comment below.

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