Despite an earlier decision to uproot them, the school board unanimously voted to leave intact 28 newly planted eucalyptus trees on a slope surrounding the high school athletic field Tuesday.
Due to growing controversy surrounding the young saplings, the board’s move reverses a decision made last month to remove 28 trees in response to neighbors’ complaints about their potential to become a fire hazard, drop debris and block views.
The slope’s landscape plan was designed by local landscape architect Ann Christoph. Christoph told board members she was directed by the district’s contractor and her employer, Landscape Support Services of Sherman Oaks, not to seek feedback from neighbors about the sort of trees they would prefer to see replanted.
The district spent $134,000, much of it for maintenance and irrigation, to replace poorly maintained trees and shrubs removed some time ago.
Some of the recently planted variety of eucalyptus can grow up to 50 feet or more and can be laced, according to district reports.
The board agreed to review the landscaping decision as part of a larger analysis over reconfiguring the high school’s baseball field. The field’s orientation has kindled animosity from surrounding neighbors, some of who have also been complaining about the trees. Neighbors are upset about home-run hits that land in their yards and on their vehicles, causing damage and $20,000 in claims that the district has paid in recent years.
