City tears down Main Street ficus

June Casagrande

To the horror of Balboa Arbor Society members, Main Street’s 25

ficus trees began to topple under chainsaws at 7 a.m. Wednesday -- 23

were razed before an emergency court order stopped the tree removal

at 11:14 a.m.

“This is just sleazy. This shows the total disrespect some of our

local leaders have for the citizens,” said Jan Vandersloot, a

spokesman for the Balboa Arbor Society.

The society on Monday had lost a court battle to stop the city

from removing the trees because, the judge ruled, it filed the suit

too late. Arbor society members immediately filed an appeal, and

asked city officials not to remove the trees until their appeal had

its day in court.

City Manager Homer Bludau said that he decided to remove the trees

Wednesday morning in order to allow the city to move ahead with its

nearly $8-million renovation project for the area.

“No time would have been a good time to remove the trees in the

eyes of the people who want to save them,” Bludau said. “The city is

trying to be as responsible as possible in how it spends $8 million

in improving the Balboa Peninsula.”

According to Coastal Commission guidelines, work such as the

planned renovations can’t take place during the summer. That means

the city is facing an impending deadline to begin work on Phase II of

the improvements in order to finish in time. On Tuesday, the City

Council is expected to vote on a contract for the job.

Arbor society members questioned the city’s motives for starting

the work without notifying residents and for beginning the work so

early that the courts were not yet opened. City noise ordinances

forbid such work before 8 a.m., but Bludau said he decided to make an

exception in order to get the work done in a timely manner. By the

time appellate court justices P.J. Sills and J. O’Leary of the Fourth

Appellate District’s Division Three ordered an immediate stop to the

work, all but two of the trees were shaved down to stumps. And one of

the two that remained was sheared of all foliage.

“The whole thing is in completely bad faith on the city’s part,”

said Steve Miles, attorney for the Balboa Arbor Society. “We had to

race into court. This is sickening.”

Miles explained that the basis of the society’s appeal is that the

council’s August 2001 vote on Balboa Village improvements did not

properly notify the public that the trees would be removed as part of

the project. The society’s case also argues that the city skirted the

California Environmental Quality Act in planning to remove the trees.

But city officials insist that they were well within the law to

remove the trees and that they made the decision with the good of

area residents and businesses in mind.

Proponents for removing the trees say they have caused extensive

damage to sidewalks, sewer lines and buildings. They also say the

trees pose a legal liability, especially if someone were to trip and

get hurt. Miles argued that the total trip-and-fall claims against

the city, which are less than $600, don’t justify removing the

40-year-old trees. Tree supporters have also said that aging sewer

lines and other infrastructure are responsible for damage.

Arbor society members met with city officials in recent weeks to

work out a compromise. Representatives of both sides blame the other

for failing to reach an agreement that could have saved at least some

of the 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.