District will remove some trees around baseball field

The Laguna Beach Unified School District board voted Tuesday to remove 28 eucalyptus trees from a slope surrounding the high school baseball field after neighbors complained that the plants could grow too tall and pose a fire hazard.

The board’s 3-1 vote — trustee Jan Vickers dissented — directed the district to uproot 10 lemon-scented gums and 18 red-flowering gums along a 60,000-square-foot slope that borders St. Ann’s Drive and Wilson Street. Trustee Carol Normandin was ill and did not attend the meeting.

Board members considered removing 10 coast live oaks but deadlocked 2 to 2, so those trees, 30 toyons and 12 dragon trees will remain.

In August, the district hired landscape architect Ann Christoph to design the slope for $4,000, and in the fall crews planted 80 new trees.

Residents from the get-go weren’t pleased with her selections, especially the lemon-scented gums and oaks, which can rise to 90 and 70 feet, respectively, according to a district staff report.

The flowering gums, which have red blooms, can reach between 18 and 45 feet, according to the 2012 Sunset Western Garden Book. Toyons average 8 to 15 feet, and dragon trees can reach 20 feet.

Residents discussed concerns at earlier board meetings and at a joint meeting with the City Council in January.

The district will pay about $3,000 to remove the trees, facilities director Jeff Dixon said Wednesday.

Board members said they struggled with the decision but ultimately sided with neighbors.

Trustee William Landsiedel said he recalled hearing Christoph at the joint meeting say no tree would grow more than 20 feet and that the kinds of eucalyptus planted weren’t as prone to catching fire as others.

“I don’t like to waste money taking [trees out], but if it’s the type of eucalyptus that burns, safety outweighs killing a tree or the cost,” Landsiedel said Wednesday. “I’ve gotten so many different versions of the truth that it’s almost at the point of bringing on an independent landscape architect to say what was planted there.”

Vickers does not want to see the trees go, saying they provide valuable habitat.

“Laguna is a bird sanctuary and trees are vital to air quality,” she said. “Some people would rather have a view through a tree.”

Dixon said the focus will be at the base of the slope. “We’re ... not replanting the top part of the slope,” he said Wednesday.

The biggest issue with the red flowering gums is the tendency for the flowers to stain the ground, he said.

Christoph said she was not aware that the board had discussed the trees until the Coastline Pilot contacted her Wednesday. She called the decision to remove the red gums “terrible” and said they wouldn’t block views.

“They would be gorgeous,” Christoph said. “I was trying to do something nice for the neighborhood. To not have asked me to be there is not right.”

Foliage of a lemon gum is not as thick as its often-maligned cousin, the blue gum, Christoph has said.

Dixon said it’s not typical to alert contractors who have completed their assignments about a board item, and there could be possible costs of doing so.

“It’s tricky with contractors and consultants,” Dixon said. “They can bill you. We’ve had all the info out there for so long.”

Resident Stephen Crawford suggested two evergreen trees — magnolia and carrotwood — as possible replacements for the eucalyptus.

“I like trees surrounding the base of a bank or slope,” Crawford said. “It’s attractive along the sidewalk and gives you a sense of comfort walking under a tree.”

Dixon said neighbors will be consult on future plantings for the slope.