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# Carob tree removal plan moves forward
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/carob-tree-removal-plan-moves-forward/
- Published: 2008-05-24T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T00:05:13.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Environment, Montana, #archive-import

*City to remove carob trees*

A group of declining carob trees that stirred some controversy last month after city officials unveiled a plan for the specimen’s removal will soon be on the outs.

The City Council on Tuesday approved a $395,000 project that calls for the removal and replacement of approximately 300 carob trees that were identified in an independent study as posing a safety hazard to the public.

The project drew the ire of several residents in the north of Montana Avenue neighborhood last month after city officials released the results of the study by HortScience, questioning whether all of the 300 carob trees in the report were really in declining health. While the 300 trees targeted for removal is spread throughout the city, a sizable portion comes from the north of Montana Avenue neighborhood.

The tree proposal was unveiled in the midst of the ficus controversy in Downtown Santa Monica which came to a head last week when 23 of the shady specimens were removed from Second and Fourth streets. About seven ficus trees are awaiting relocation.

“It’s always good to go the extra mile for the trees and to preserve our mature tree canopy,” Jerry Rubin, the leader of the Santa Monica Treesavers, said.

While city officials initially proposed removing all 300 trees identified in the report, approximately 202 will be reassessed to see whether their status can be rectified by corrective pruning, according to Elaine Polachek, the community maintenance director.

The report rated trees on a scale of one to 12, the latter posing an immediate threat to the public. The 98 trees that will be removed first have a risk rate of 10 or higher while the remaining 202 have a risk of eight or nine.

“We are going to come back to the council for that plan and continue community outreach process in the interim by going to the neighborhood groups,” Polacheck said.

The reassessment came as a result of a community meeting earlier this month when several residents requested that city officials give the 202 trees another look. Some residents pointed out that the methodology used in the tree rating, based on aggregate scoring, could mean that a low failure risk tree could be removed simply because of its size.

The rating system was based on three factors, each of which were ranked on a scale of one to four — the tree’s likelihood of failure, the size of the tree or limb most likely to fail and the type of activity and object on which the tree or limb might fail. The score for each factor was tallied for the final rating.

Several carob trees have failed in the city in the past several years. Since 2001-02, more than 60 carob limbs have fallen, half of which have occurred since the 2005-06 fiscal year.

Walt Warriner, the community forester, said among the factors considered in assessing a tree’s failure potential is its condition, overall health and the history of the particular species.

He noted that a phased-in approach to removing the trees is important in order to maintain a healthy forest for future generations. Warriner pointed to stretches of 10th and 12th streets, which he said are packed with carob trees that are all the same age and same condition.

“It’s important we phase those trees out and put in new species so our successors are not faced with this problem in the future,” he said.

Jump hedline: City to remove carob trees

Suggested pullquote: “We are going to come back to the council for that plan and continue community outreach process in the interim by going to the neighborhood groups.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 24, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/052408.pdf?ref=smdp.com)