Ficus preservation efforts take root in Newport Beach

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT HEIGHTS -- For about as long as Councilwoman Norma Glover has

lived in the city, the 15 Clay Street ficus trees have formed a canopy

with their heads. And that’s going on 18 years.

Glover has long viewed the trees as a unique feature in her district,

if not the whole city. With new homeowners cutting down many of the

mature trees in her neighborhood, she said it’s important to keep

city-owned trees alive.

But ficus trees are a mischievous species, horizontally spreading

their roots as far as they can. At some point along the way, they’re

bound to come across building foundations and do damage.

On Clay Street alone, the city has paid $220,921 to homeowners for

damage cause by trees since January 1998, said Lauren Farley, the city’s

risk manager. Often, such damage claims result in the tree’s removal.

“I’ve got to get in there and get them cut back,” Glover said. “The

roots of them, in order to save them. . . . We need to snub their toes

before they do” damage.

To do so, Glover asked city officials to set aside money for a

root-trimming project. But then, she recently learned that her request

had been “knocked out of the budget.” At Tuesday’s council meeting, she

asked to place the proposal, estimated to cost $60,000, before a council

vote.

Councilman Steve Bromberg, who joined Glover on Thursday to check out

the canopy, said he didn’t even know the arching trees existed.

“I love them,” he said, adding that he would support Glover’s proposal

to save the trees. “How can you take a resource like this away?”

On Thursday, Glover also gave $1,000 in leftover funds from her

election campaign to Stop Polluting Our Newport and has asked members of

the group to use the money to help her save the trees.

Jan Vandersloot, a member of the organization, had supported her plea

to save the group before Glover’s council colleagues.

“I think it’s much more appropriate to [use] some preventive

medicine,” he said. “And the time to do that is now and not wait until

the trees cause problems.”

Standing under the shady canopy, which he sees as a “beautiful visual

experience,” Vandersloot said four trees on the other side of Irvine

Avenue had already fallen as a result of root problems.

He added that his group would probably use Glover’s donation to hire

an independent arborist to ensure the trees are handled in the right way.

“We don’t want them to kill the trees by inappropriately trimming the

roots,” he said, adding that root barriers would force the trees to

extend their roots vertically and thereby prevent damage.

Even if the trees get replaced with less intrusive species, “you’re

going to lose what you have,” said Vandersloot, pointing to Corona del

Mar’s East Coast Highway, where ficus trees were removed a few years ago.

That action sparked village leaders to come up with Vision 2004, a

remodeling plan for the highway that would create a more

pedestrian-oriented atmosphere. The project could take off by early next

year.

Vandersloot said his group will also lobby city officials to place the

Clay Street trees on the city’s “special tree list,” which gives them

some protection and makes it more difficult to remove them.