Something Missing Here?
My neighbor mentioned that the utility company was concerned about her palm tree growing up closer and closer to the wires that run along Second Avenue.
I suggested that soon the utilities might be undergrounded and then the Canary Island date tree’s fronds would be a non-issue.
“I asked them if they could just trim it one more year until I can figure out a solution,” she told me.
So when we were out on our walk, that is what I thought the tree workers were in the process of doing.
I should know better than to make that assumption. When I returned only a stump remained of that beautiful and very valuable tree. If we had known they were hell-bent on removing it, perhaps we could have arranged for a tree moving service to take it for replanting elsewhere.
Have you noticed the palms at the entrance to Fashion Island, for example? They most likely came from situations just like this. It takes way too many years to grow palms that tall to make it practical for nursery growing. So when tree companies get an order for large Canary Island date palms, private yards are important resources.
But this one just went to waste.
The tree permit process that the council authorized two weeks ago could deal with situations just like this by inserting some thoughtfulness into the tree removal process. Often, just as in this case, there are tree supporters, including the owner, who would like to find alternatives for tree removal. At present there is no forum for looking into options. The tree service pulls up in its big trucks and starts cutting. The public is helpless to intervene. The loss is forever.
Something has been missing in our tree policies—we have hedge height controls, opportunities to evaluate and control view blockage, review for proposed removal of city-maintained trees, but our tree preservation controls are lacking.
The Saturday removal of trees in front of Ruby’s restaurant was the incident that really emphasized the need for permits for removing trees. These trees were shown on a city approved landscape plan and so they should have been protected from removal unless a revised plan was approved. But the tree workers and their heavy equipment were already at work before the telephones started ringing and the emails were flying questioning what was going on. How to answer the question and who to call? On Saturday there is no one available in Community Development or Public Works at the city. The police are not interested without a permit violation taking place. By the time we reach council members and they call the city manager and the city manager checks into it the trees are already chipped mulch in the back of the truck.
This is the most recent of many incidents of this type, and council members were convinced that the problem needed to be addressed.
Now we will be engaged in developing the ordinance and spelling out how a permit process would work. My dream would be for concerned residents to be able to ask the tree contractor to show his permit to remove a tree. No permit, no tree removal. This would allow an evaluation of the status of the tree and time to explore options to removal.
We’ll be several steps closer to being confident that our familiar trees will still be in place tomorrow. It will be comforting to feel, “Trees are still here, nothing missing.”
