Trees that block views can require removal, Laguna Beach City Council majority indicates

A majority of the Laguna Beach City Council indicated Tuesday they favored amending city law to require removal of trees that block residents’ views if trimming doesn’t suffice.

Views are always a hot-button issue in Laguna and the latest discussion was no different. The council agreed to continue the matter to its Aug. 9 meeting to allow staff time to craft a revised ordinance.

The city’s View Restoration Committee suggested the change as an added tool to a revised view ordinance that took effect in January 2015 that codified specific steps for homeowners to preserve and restore views compromised by overgrown trees and other vegetation.

Homeowners testified Tuesday they are fed up with stubborn neighbors who refuse city directives to trim trees. The proposed change would give the committee authority to order a tree reduced to its trunk if lacing, thinning or trimming leaves and branches does not work.

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Under the ordinance, the committee would need to determine an “egregious” or “significant” view blockage occurred, such as “a view that has diminished over time by the growth of vegetation and/or poor maintenance practices and/or lack of consistent maintenance of vegetation…” according to a city staff report.

Councilman Kelly Boyd favored the ordinance change to account for neglect on the part of vegetation owners.

“We can always revisit it if it becomes something we need to look at,” said Boyd, who spurred the city to revise the ordinance a few years ago. “It does give the teeth that we need to have. It’s important to the community. We’ve heard [the city’s current ordinance] has been successful so far.

“I don’t think its going to be something that is floating in in a big way.”

Mayor Pro Tem Toni Iseman voted for the continuance, but said Wednesday she is not comfortable with mandating removal of trees on private property without the vegetation owner’s consent, as is required under the current law. Iseman is concerned about potential lawsuits against the city and associated legal costs.

“We’ve got a pretty successful program now,” Iseman said. “I don’t see the need to spend the amount of money it would take, with the possibility of losing.”

Community Development Director Greg Pfost confirmed Wednesday that the proposed ordinance change would not allow trespassing on a homeowner’s property without permission to remove a tree.

Under the proposed change, the vegetation owner could appeal the committee’s decision to the City Council.

Committee members said the current view ordinance has worked since it took effect. Of 30 claims filed with the city, five have reached the committee for deliberation.

One of the five claims culminated in the vegetation owner refusing to remove and replace several palm trees. In that case, the owner agreed to remove two trees and maintain the existing foliage, Pfost said.

The current view legislation requires property owners to attempt a solution on their own, or with help of a mediator, before filing a claim and the committee considering the matter at a public hearing.

Residents may use the date they purchased the home or Nov. 4, 2003 — the date used in the prior law — whichever is earlier, to establish a record of a view, usually through photographic evidence.

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Bryce Alderton, bryce.alderton@latimes.com

Twitter: @AldertonBryce

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