These organizations often go above and beyond to provide these services so that all Philadelphia children can experience the benefits mentioned previously.
Obviously, in some instances, as we've often witnessed, this is the only structure, youth sports, that is for these children.
Sometimes it's their only present parental figure that these children have.
Lack of facilities in their communities often results in challenges for access for the most vulnerable youth.
Many of these organizations that have submitted letters do not have means to pay for high-quality facilities or travel, putting local use at a disadvantage on a regional as well as national level.
Thank you.
Ultimately, we've heard that 12 full-size multi-use fields are proposed for the entire FDR park, along with baseball, softball diamonds, basketball courts, and tennis courts.
In your professional opinion, do you believe that the proposed 12 multi-use fields will be enough for Philadelphia to meet the demand it has for athletic fields?
I do not believe they will be able to meet the demand across our system, but it is the first step to addressing the need.
Thank you. Do any members of the board have further questions for Ms. Palatine?
Questions from the board.
Why don't we move on?
No, Chair.
Okay, thank you.
We'd like to elevate Brian Saladin, our arborist for the project, as a panelist.
They will be rejoining as a panelist shortly.
Can you hear me?
Yeah, Brian, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Brian, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Sure. My name is Brian Saladin, B-R-Y-O-N-S-A-L-L-A-D-I-N.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you. Mr. Saladin, can you confirm that your resume is included in the exhibit package as Exhibit 22?
Yes, it is.
Can you briefly summarize your professional background?
Sure. Currently, I'm a senior environmental scientist for an ecological restoration
consulting firm called Biohabitats. I've got over 25 years of experience in natural resource
inventories, evaluations, monitoring, restoration design and management, both in natural and
modified urban settings. I've been a certified arborist with the International Society of
arboriculture for 17 years, and I hold the ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualification.
Thank you. I'd like to introduce Brian Saladin as a certified professional arborist.
Thank you. Mr. Saladin, can you please briefly describe your role in this project?
Sure. I've been on this project for about two years, serving as a senior environmental
scientist and certified arborist for the design team, which included conducting natural resource
and valuations for this specific project, but also for other projects that are continuing
across the park, including wetland delineations and additional tree surveys.
Thank you. Exhibit 10 of our packet, the zoning code requires that any project seeking a special
exception for the removal of heritage trees also complies with the code's tree replacement standards
found in section 147051G, which are showing on the screen. Are you familiar with the tree
replacement standards of this section of the zoning code? Yes, I am. Can you tell us what
constitutes a heritage tree under the Philadelphia zoning code? Sure. A heritage tree is an individual
tree greater than or equal to 25 inches in trunk diameter. That is one of a species of 31 species
listed on the City of Philadelphia heritage tree list. Does the zoning code exempt certain trees
from the replacement requirements?
Yes, trees that are determined by a certified arborist
that are dead, damaged, diseased,
or are in an undesirable species in a present location
or individuals that also pose a potential danger
to life or property are excluded from the heritage tree list
and therefore tree replacement.
Okay, I'm going to turn now to exhibit 8B
or H8A and B, which are tree and landscape plan, as well as a map depiction of the trees
for the site. Can you please tell us about the tree survey that you performed as part of this
project? Sure. Conducted a tree survey over about, it was three days in 2023,
one day in March and the other two in May. The survey included identifying, measuring,
and evaluating the condition of all trees over two and a half inches in diameter that
were within and in close proximity to the limits of this proposed project, which I believe
is about 32 acres.
So for the evaluation of each tree, we used a ground-based visual assessment using the
Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers Condition Assessment Protocol. This involved examining all
visible parts of each tree, looking for defects in each portion of the tree,
defects that might indicate poor health or a compromised structure, and then applying a
numerical ranking to each of those parts, one through four, with one being the worst or four
being the best. And then accumulation of those numerical rankings are used to develop an overall
condition with a potential of 100% being a perfect tree. You prepared an affidavit or
summary of your tree survey, which we've included as exhibit 8C in the record. Do you attest that
this affidavit accurately summarizes the results of your survey? Yes, it does.
I'm going to turn now to the tree impact table, which was included as a summary on the tree
plan that demonstrates the results of the tree survey.
Can you provide us with an overview of the results of your tree survey?
A total of 648 trees were identified across the survey area for a total caliber inches
for a total caliper inches of tree that equaled 7,743 caliper inches.
of tree that it that equaled seven thousand seven
About 180 of those, or roughly 30%, were in poor condition.
And also of those 648 trees, 73 heritage trees were identified,
with about 25 or a quarter of those being excluded from replacement
due to being in poor condition.
All right. Ultimately, how many caliper inches of tree will be replaced or need to be replaced
on the property? There are 2,556 caliper inches of replacement required. And do you agree that 48
heritage trees are required to secure special exception approval as part of this plan? Yes,
that is true um thank you uh do any members of the board have any further questions for mr salad
any questions from the board no chair thank you thank you no chair you're welcome you want to
move on to your next client um yes uh we'd like to elevate mr michael trumbauer the restoration
ecologist for the project to panelists how many more how many more witnesses do you have uh we
have Mr. Trumbauer and then one more. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. We thank you all for your time.
Oh, sure. Are you able to hear me? Yes. Good afternoon, sir. Could you please state your
name and spell for the court stenographer? Yes. Michael Trumbauer. T-R-U-M-B-A-U-E-R.
Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
I do. Please proceed, counsel. Thank you. Mr. Trumbauer,
Can you confirm that your resume is included in the exhibit package as Exhibit 21?
Can you please briefly summarize your professional background?
I'm a senior restoration ecologist and team leader for the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay's
bioregion at Biohabitats, a nationally recognized leader in restoration ecology.
I have over 20 years' experience in restoration ecology, which involves the recovery of damaged
ecosystems. For people not familiar with restoration ecology, what I do is best described
as an ecosystem doctor that assesses the health of the system and determines what is needed
to make it more functional and resilient. Thank you. Have you ever been introduced as
an expert in restoration ecology in Philadelphia? Yes. I'd like to introduce Mr. Michael Trumbauer
as an expert in restoration ecology. Thank you. Mr. Trumbauer, can you please briefly
describe your role in this project? Yeah, my work started in FDR Park in 2019 with the airport
wetland mitigation project, which was recently constructed in the southern portion of the park
near I-95. I served as the project manager and senior restoration ecologist for that project.
As part of that work, biohabitats delineated wetlands throughout the west side of the park
to identify the stockpile staging and sorting areas for the wetland construction that would
not impact these valuable resources. In 2021, we were formally brought on to the master planning
team to help them quantify the project's resource impacts and assist in redefining the ecological
core for the western side. Thank you. I'm going to turn back to Exhibit 5B. We heard from Ms.
Shapker about the intent of elevating the edges for FDR Park. Can you tell us a little bit more
about the rationale for this design? Based on our assessment work, we defined the areas in the center
of the property to contain the more significant ecological resources. So these were things like
forest, wetland, wildlife habitat. As you move out from this corridor to the perimeter of the site,
the quality of these resources diminished as they became disconnected from that larger
contiguous core habitat. The areas along the perimeter consisted of former fairways with
individual trees dividing them. And overall, this was a heavily disturbed area and was adjacent to
the urban edge, which also diminishes the ecological value. Thank you. I'm going to turn
to exhibit 4B, which are some historic aerials of the project site. Can you please tell us a little
bit about the trees that are shown here? And this is an aerial taken about 20 years ago in 2004.
Yeah, this appears to be a very highly managed landscape with a number of open-grown fairway
trees. These open-grown trees can grow quickly and get large quickly because they don't compete
for light and other resources like they would in a forested condition. Overall, this area is
dominated by individual trees or clusters of trees, and it was managed as a golf course for so long
as a forest would be a more naturalized setting with larger groupings of trees
with varied age classes, a canopy, and understory and herbaceous layers that forms a diverse and
complex ecosystem. Thank you. Is it accurate that the site of the formal golf course experience
Thank you. Is it accurate that the site of the formal golf course experiences regular flooding?
Yes, we can see signs of the regular inundation in the aerial signatures from the Google Earth
imagery when you scroll through time. This is one of the reasons that prompted us to recommend that
the airport perform a more comprehensive look at the wetlands on the entire west side of the park
in order to locate their soil hill. We also measured water levels in Shedbrook Creek from
august 2020 to may 2021 and the water level in the creek which is normally around elevation zero
rose to uh rose by one foot more than four times during that period and the west side of the park
is uh very flat and low so when the creek level is high when it raises by a foot large areas get
inundated by water and the flooding is also a result of the poor drainage in the park because
of the very uh flat topography the water just doesn't drain off into the creeks there's poor
soils and a high water table that also influenced the ability for the landscape to drain.
Thank you.
What are some of the impacts that we'd expect to see on the existing trees, given the regular
flooding at this site?
Yeah, many of the trees, especially the pine trees, cherry trees, and some of the oak
species are not well adapted to having wet feet with that high groundwater and high water
table perched at the surface.
So these trees would become stressed and in time would decline in health.
Thank you.
Can you please tell us about how the proposed improvements address this flooding issue?
Yeah, in the areas of the proposed park improvements, the elevation is going to be raised above the elevation of the regular creek flooding.
As part of this, the entire site will be graded to better drain, and stormwater infrastructure will be installed to further improve the drainage and treat the stormwater runoff from the fields and parking lots.
In the process of filling the land, the soils in the tree planting areas will be amended to better support new plantings, and the plantings will include a diverse selection of native trees and other native vegetation that are adapted to the proposed conditions and more resilient to the climate change.
Thank you. Is it correct that following the community planning process for the park, which began in 2018, your firm then engaged in a detailed survey of the park's wetlands and ecological features?
Correct. As I previously mentioned, our work started with the wetland assessment of the west side of the park for the airport in 2020, and work with Fairmount Park started in 2021.
We work with Fairmount Park tied all that previous work together and demonstrated where the high-value ecological resources were located.
And are those the resources shown here in Exhibit 5A?
Correct.
Thank you.
And at the time of your survey, Parks and Recreation and the Conservancy had already created an initial draft plan for FDR Park, which is also shown here on the exhibit underlaid beneath the ecological resources.
Did the results of your survey conflict with the original 2019 park plan?
It was clear from the original park or the original park plan was developed without the benefit of a detailed ecological survey.
The original plan appeared to be mainly about making sure their program elements could fit within the park.
It did, however, include a smaller ecological core and a space for nature and passive recreation.
In your professional opinion, does the current plan minimize the impact of the proposed athletic fields on the park's ecological resources?
Yes, the current plant cites the fields and supporting infrastructure in one of the more damaged and least ecologically sensitive areas of the park.
In your professional opinion, would raising the elevation of the formal golf course give future trees and landscaping a better chance to thrive at this location?
Yes, the proposed trees and landscaping will consist of species adapted to this environment and will be installed in amended soil so they will thrive in this location.
Is it correct that doing nothing to address the flooding and elevation of this area will ultimately lead to the further loss of healthy native tree canopy in this part of the park?
Correct. Many of the trees that are not adapted to the wetter site conditions will be stressed and start to decline.
And based on your extensive knowledge of the park's ecology, could the placement of the proposed fields and parking be practically changed to avoid the tree removal without compromising the other important goals of the plan,
including flood management or programming and uh protection of other ecologically sensitive uh
areas no not without impacting other ecological resources uh thank you uh that's all for mr
trumbauer um do any of the members have members of the board have any further questions i'll do it
Okay. All right. We'd next like to elevate Mr. Charles Neer, who's our landscape architect for the project.
We'd next like to elevate Mr. Charles Neer,
who's our landscape architect for the project,
to panelist and Mr. Neer is our last witness.
Thank you for joining us as a panelist.
Hello, can you hear me?
Mr. Chairman, you're muted.
I'm sorry, I'm unmuted.
No, not you, Chairman.
Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the court stenographer?
Yes, my name is Charles Nier.
C-H-A-R-L-E-S-N-E-E-R.
You're breaking, sir, you're breaking up.
Could you try again?
You're breaking up.
I'm having an unstable connection.
My name is Charles Neer, last name N-E-E-R, first name Charles.
Charles. C-H-A-R-L-E-S. Right. Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth,
nothing but the truth? I do. Please proceed, counsel. Thank you. Mr. Neer, can you confirm
that your resume is included in the exhibit package as Exhibit 20? Yes, it is. Can you
please briefly summarize your professional background? Yes. I'm a principal at WRT
where I've worked for over 25 years. I'm a registered landscape architect for the past
18 years. I have a master's degree in landscape architecture from the University of Pennsylvania
and an undergraduate degree in architecture from Washington University. I'm a member of the
American Society of Landscape Architects, City Parks Alliance, Urban Land Institute, and World