Editor,
On June 29 I attended an open meeting to review the landscaping plan recently developed by city staff covering Broadway, Forest, etc.
About 99 percent attending were Village Laguna folks; I was the lone ranger.
The presentation was detailed, well-researched and easily understood. Different trees were proposed to add variety and address anomalies of our streets. After going over each tree to be replaced, removed or not replaced the meeting was open for discussion. The nitpicking started: distance between trees and buildings to accommodate wheelchairs, which city was very careful about meeting requirements; watering methods; poking fun of other cities for their “lollipop trees;” suggestions that Laguna needed tall elegant trees, like telephone poles, for its entrance and its village.
After each storm, which are getting more intense, our town is littered with debris from eucalyptus trees even more than usual. So far no one has been injured or killed and property seriously damaged by the debris or falling of these trees. Also we are now in year round “fire mode” and we need more eucalyptus trees?
Some of those attending claimed to be experts. Well in my opinion I doubted that, especially after the re-landscaping disaster of the slopes around the track field at our high school; for others, I could not find any professional credentials under their websites. One attendee even suggested resurrecting a plan they had submitted five years ago.
No wonder it has taken our city 20 plus years to endless discussions about our entrance, multitude of experts coming and going, and getting no where. Bottom line: Village Laguna and its followers want nothing but eucalyptus trees covering our hills, our streets and any open spots to plant them.
We have an election coming; be careful for whom you vote.
Ganka Brown, Laguna Beach
