Ficus tree supporters plan next move

June Casagrande

Even as the Main Street trees they fought to protect were falling,

representatives of the Balboa Arbor Society were gearing up for their

next battles.

First on their list is to follow through with the appeal filed

late Wednesday morning that stopped the saws after 23 trees were

already gone. Second is to branch out to survey the city’s other

3,200 ficus trees -- some of which may face eventual removal.

“If the city is going to fight dirty, then we’re going to have to

learn how to fight back,” Balboa Arbor Society President Linda Grant

said Wednesday.

The city has until Wednesday to file its response to the appeal.

Then it will likely be up to the appeals court judges to decide

whether the two remaining ficus trees will be removed. The tree

nearest the Balboa Inn still has foliage. Another tree on the same

side of the street was already stripped of its foliage when the order

came to stop work.

The city’s renovation plans will continue on schedule, though. The

council will vote Tuesday on a contract to begin work there.

In the aftermath of Wednesday’s events, some tree supporters were

left worrying that they should have done things differently.

“If we knew it would just come down to a matter of hours, maybe we

would have chained ourselves to the trees,” said Jan Vandersloot, a

spokesman for the Arbor Society.

City Manager Homer Bludau said it will probably be several months

before the replacement trees are planted on Main Street. Sidewalk-and

street-replacement work must take place before coral gum trees are

planted to replace the ficus. The coral gum trees were recommended by

the city’s General Services Department, with input from urban

foresters.

After a media circus on Tuesday, with TV, radio and print

reporters showing up at City Hall to speak with Bludau, Wednesday’s

fallout was mainly by phone. Supporters and opponents of the city’s

actions called Bludau’s office to register their feelings.

City Council members received a thorough education in ficus trees

in January when they attended a study session on the matter. Between

1998 and 2001, the city paid about $286,000 in property damage claims

by residents and businesses due to tree damage, including by ficus

species. City leaders decided to continue their policy of replacing

individual trees that create excessive damage and to manage those

trees that can be kept in check with pruning, root pruning and other

measures.

Balboa Village’s 25 ficus trees have been the center of a long

battle in Balboa, where the city, as well as some businesses and

residents, agree that the trees’ roots cause too much damage to

justify keeping them.

Others, including the recently formed Balboa Arbor Society, argue

that the actual damage and liability caused by the trees is less than

their opponents suggest.

But the one point all seemed to agree on was that the trees were

beautiful. Wednesday morning, the tree opponents came out on top when

city crews began cutting down the trees at 7 a.m. An emergency court

order to stop the work came through at 11:14 a.m., after 23 of the

trees had already come down.

* 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.