Judge approves Main Street ficus removal

Lolita Harper

Shade and ambience on Main Street in Balboa Village fell victim to

practicality Monday as a judge gave the city the go-ahead to proceed

with a $7.5-million renovation project and remove 25 ficus trees, the

roots of which officials contend have created buckling sidewalks and

plumbing problems.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Ronald L. Bauer on Monday found

that arbor activists were, in fact, too late in filing their legal

appeal to the city’s decision to remove the trees and granted the

city permission to go forward with previous plans.

City Manager Homer Bludau said he was pleased with the decision

and relieved that the court agreed that the city followed its due

process.

“It’s nice to see the court affirm that we had done everything

right,” he said.

Members of the Balboa Arbor Society, who filed the lawsuit July 8

to prevent the city from following through with its plan to remove 25

of the trees from Main Street on the Balboa Peninsula, argued they

were well within their 180-day deadline to file an appeal, given they

believed the deciding vote came in late May by a thin majority.

Jan Vandersloot, a member and unofficial spokesman for the group,

said he lamented not only the possible loss of the peninsula

landmarks but what he described as a misrepresentation of facts by

the city.

Vandersloot maintains the final vote on the ficus dispute was cast

at a City Council meeting in May, during which representatives from

both camps debated the issue late into the night. The resulting

council vote was 3 to 2, with two council members absent.

While public hearings about the trees’ removal were held this

year, the city argued that the initial decision to uproot the ficus

trees was made in August 2001, when council members first approved

the renovation plans for the area.

Vandersloot said his organization plans to appeal the decision and

will work industriously to save the 40-year-old, overarching trees,

which he calls essential to the character of Main Street. The group

has consistently encouraged the city to partake in root-trimming

efforts to stop the subsequent damage rather than remove the trees

altogether. It would take years for the trees’ replacements, young

coral gums, to bestow the same amount of shade and beauty to the

peninsula’s busy merchant area, they argued.

“We will continue to fight for the mature trees in the city,”

Vandersloot said.

City officials said they will also keep pace with their plans for

renovation, which calls for the replacement of Ocean Front Walk and

sidewalks and streets on Main, Palm and Washington streets, as well

as other improvements. Time is crucial in the project planning

because certain work is prohibited by the California Coastal

Commission during summer months and would have to be completed before

then. Officials had planned to begin the work on Sunday.

Vandersloot said he hopes the city will let the entire legal

process, including the appeal, take place before the city takes

action to remove the trees.

Bludau said he had no timeline for when the tree-removal portion

of the project would begin but said it could happen at any time.

“The judge said we can go about the removal process whenever we

want,” Bludau said.

* LOLITA HARPER covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at lolita.harper@latimes.com.