Decision gone wrong
Three arborists sat behind the table in front of the city council last Thursday attempting to tell the story of the condition of the lemon-scented gum tree at the roundabout at Catalina and El Camino del Mar–city arborist Matthew Barker, consulting arborist Evin Lambert of Monarch Environmental, and consulting arborist Peter Harnisch.
Two condemned the tree, and the third, Harnisch, recommended pruning of the canopy. He said that with that reduction of only 15% of the tree’s height, the test calculations showed that the tree would be safe with 90 miles per hour of winds. (The highest wind speed recorded in Laguna Beach is 67 miles per hour.) Instead of taking this recommendation, council voted 4-1 (George Weiss dissenting) to remove this beautiful tree, part of the landmark circle of trees in the El Mirador neighborhood.
The council had voted to take the tree down back in October 2023 after the city arborist Matthew Barker had pointed to root damage that may have occurred in connection with a sidewalk replacement project in 2021. Barker had observed sparser than normal foliage in June 2023 after a neighbor told him he was worried about the tree falling on his property. Members of the public decried what they pointed out was a decision based on speculation of what damage might have occurred. There were tests of the condition of the roots and the strength of the tree that could be performed.
In response, in November, the council agreed to commission a Phase III report, including ground penetrating radar and a static pull test. Staff asked Peter Harnisch to perform those tests. But violating typical protocol, staff hired a third arborist, Evin Lambert, to prepare an evaluation of Harnisch’s work. We never saw a report with Harnisch’s own opinions on the results of his tests. Why did they hire a third arborist? Why did they determine that Harnisch could not prepare his own report on his own work? Why shouldn’t the city benefit from his professional conclusions?
The staff report says they asked Lambert to do the evaluation because she “had not previously given an opinion on the tree.” (Even she said the risk was “moderate” and gave 12 months to remove the tree. Does that sound like an imminent danger?) So they discounted Harnish, the testing arborist because he previously wrote that they should do the two tests in question before deciding on the tree. The council did not direct that they hire a third arborist or effectively silence the arborist who did the tests. No, it appears that staff was manipulating the situation so that the conclusion matched their original recommendation.
After the staff report came out for the Feb. 13 council meeting, members of the public asked what happened to a report from Harnisch. Councilmember George Weiss followed up and insisted that Harnisch be present at the council meeting, and the city manager agreed. That meeting was canceled due to Zoombombing, and instead, there was a surprise replacement meeting on Thursday, Feb. 29. This minimized public participation. Harnisch was there sitting at the table but was not allowed to speak as part of the staff report. He was only there to answer questions, they said.
Councilmembers asked Barker and Lambert about Harnisch’s suggestion that a 15% reduction in the canopy could produce a verifiable safe tree. Their response was that they don’t like to prune a tree already showing stress in the canopy. So it’s better to cut it down altogether than to prune it to reduce its resistance to wind while its roots and canopy recover?
A decision gone wrong, based on manipulated reporting to council.
Councilmembers continue to insist they support trees, yet it’s hard to believe we are a Tree City, USA. Cases like these demonstrate that constant public intervention is necessary to protect the trees of Laguna Beach. Just Thursday, the city’s Arbor Day celebration expresses appreciation for trees, but our urban forest is still threatened. City replacement of removed trees can take years. New trees are neglected and difficult to establish. Proposals for removing trees continue to surface (as at the Promenade). It should not be such a struggle to keep our town beautiful and make it even more so. Preserving and caring for trees and landscapes should be a joyful community effort with the enthusiastic support of city staff.
Ann is a landscape architect and was Laguna Beach’s mayor from 1993 to 1994. She is also a long-time board member of Village Laguna, Inc.
I agree with Anne. We need to take a look at the process and revisit the original idea of testing this tree and then hearing the follow-up to the testing. We need to try to save this beautiful tree.!