Ficus tree battle in hands of the court

June Casagrande

Zero hour has arrived in the ficus fight. At 10:30 a.m. today a

judge is expected to decide whether 25 ficus trees should be torn up

on Main Street in Balboa Village. If a final decision is handed down,

it will likely mark the end of a battle in which even the most

impassioned enemies can’t help but have sympathy for the other side.

Even the people who most desperately want the trees removed agree

they’re gorgeous. They agree that the trees create delightful shade,

a stunning canopy and ambience that just won’t be there once the

trees are replaced with much smaller, much younger coral gum trees --

at least not for years.

At the same time, residents fighting to save the trees have

expressed sympathy for the merchants and residents who have suffered

plumbing and sewer line problems as well as structural, sidewalk and

even foundation damage, though many disagree that the ficus trees are

to blame for these problems. Also, most concede, it’s unfortunate

that the tree fight directly threatens Balboa Village renovations,

which they hail as a desperately needed boost for the area.

No resolve

The mutual sympathy hasn’t been enough to keep them out of court,

despite an 11th-hour attempt to mediate the problem.

“Unfortunately, and in spite of good faith on both sides, the

parties have been unable to reach a mutually agreeable settlement,”

Mayor Tod Ridgeway announced at the Aug. 13 City Council meeting.

As a result, Judge Ron Bower today will consider whether to grant

an injunction to the Balboa Arborist Society to stop the city from

removing the trees. City Atty. Bob Burnham said it’s likely that

Bower will make a decision today, instead of postponing the decision

for a future date.

The city has a lot riding on the matter.

A decision would give officials just one day to address the

question of a $2.8-million contract on Tuesday’s City Council agenda.

The contract with Hillcrest Contracting is for Phase 2 of Balboa

Village improvements -- an extensive plan to replace Ocean Front

Walk, sidewalks and streets on Main, Palm and Washington streets, and

to make some other improvements. Time is of the essence. If the city

can’t come close to its goal of starting work by Sept. 15, it won’t

be able to finish soon enough to comply with a California Coastal

Commission rule that forbids such work during the summer months.

“It’s pretty much down to the wire,” Burnham said.

Different solutions

How the judge will rule is anybody’s guess.

The arborist society members make a good case. Some of the trees

have been designated as “special city trees.” This designation, under

the city’s own rules, requires that officials make an extraordinary

effort to save them. Arborist society members led by Jan Vandersloot

along with other tree supporters have advocated root pruning,

installing devices to block root growth or perhaps removing only the

handful of trees actually causing problems.

City Council members, who have supported removing the trees

throughout the years-long process of planning Balboa Village

renovations, say these solutions would just be a Band-Aid.

Fast-growing ficus roots, they say, will eventually overwhelm any

attempts to restrain them. Further, they say, these measures can be

very costly and disruptive, as sidewalks would have to be torn up on

a somewhat regular basis to prune the roots. The council is supported

by a surprising number of merchants and residents who also feel it’s

time to bid the 40-year-old trees a fond farewell.

New debates to grow

Regardless of what the judge decides, it’s likely that trees will

continue to sprout up in city politics.

The Balboa Arborist Society was created in recent months to

address the Main Street ficus issue, but the group will likely

outlive its first battle.

“We hope to be able to expand our group to consider the mature

trees throughout the city,” Vandersloot said last week. “We are

concerned about the direction the city is going in preservation of

its mature trees.”

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport.

She may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

june.casagrande@latimes.com.