After Sam Shanely moved into his home in Oceanside, he decided his street needed a little sprucing up.
Shanely approached the city about making improvements to South Myers Street and plans for repairs were made.
“When visitors come to our beach, their first impression of the city ought to be a good one,” Shanely said.
At the same time, KB Home was looking to donate some trees to the city but didn’t know where they should go.
The end result was the donation of 24 queen palm trees worth $6,500, which were planted along the sides of South Myers Street by KB Home employees and Oceanside residents Aug. 18.
South Myers Street runs through beachside neighborhoods in the city and is one of three streets west of the railroad tracks in Oceanside running parallel to the ocean. Cracked curbs, sidewalks and gutters are in the process of being repaired between Wisconsin Avenue and Seagaze Drive and are expected to be completed in the fall.
Michael Harris, marketing manager for KB Home, said, “We feel very strongly about building more than just homes. We want to help create the neighborhoods our homebuyers live in.”
Although the homes along South Myers Street are in an older section of Oceanside where KB Home has not built any homes, the builder wanted to help improve a prominent section of Oceanside.
Harris said, “It is a focal point for the city for visitors.”
KB Home is building and selling homes in six housing developments in Oceanside. In addition to KB Home employees and residents of the area, the homebuilder asked residents of the homes it has built in Oceanside to help plant the trees.
Golden State Fence Co., a KB Home subcontractor, donated an auger, which the volunteers used to dig the holes for the trees.
After the work was finished, Papa John’s donated pizza for the volunteers.
