The City's behavior on this site was the subject of international news: 

http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/08/urban-trees-as-triggers-from-istanbul-to-oregon

... and an Academy Award nominated film:

http://ifatreefallsfilm.com/film.html

This all could have been avoided: there was a far more creative proposal, a viable community-oriented alternative that promised to preserve the trees. Two years earlier, the City Council spent an entire session rejecting it, in favor of an unambitious proposal by developers in their own business circles. The alternative proposal is worth a read, just for its Eugene-ish urban principles:

http://www.rainmagazine.com/archive/1995/the-west-end