On a tiny triangular lot at 3802 S. 74th Street, a big Tacoma fight is unfolding over a stand of old oaks and a new self-storage project that would mostly wipe them out.
A developer wants to build a four-story self-storage building that would clear roughly 80% of the site’s vegetation. Up to 37 Oregon white (Garry) oaks stand in the building footprint and, based on measurements and growth estimates, some could be between 450 and 600 years old. The proposal has triggered objections from neighbors and former city biologists as city staff review a critical-areas development permit that will ultimately decide the trees’ fate.
According to reporting in The News Tribune, an arborist survey counted 91 trees on the roughly one-acre site and concluded 54 could be retained while 37 would be removed if the permit is approved. The arborist’s report recommended that 20 of the 37 trees be excluded from mitigation requirements because they show decay, damage or decline. It also lists trunk diameters, including two-stem oaks measuring about 42 and 36 inches and a single-stem 32-inch tree…