> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# City ficus tree battle proved costly
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/city-ficus-tree-battle-proved-costly/
- Published: 2008-05-27T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T19:42:44.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Environment, Downtown, #archive-import

(Editor’s note: This story is part of an ongoing series that tracks the city’s expenditures appearing on upcoming Santa Monica City Council consent agendas. Consent agenda items are routinely passed by the City Council with little or no discussion from elected officials or the public. However, many of the items have been part of public discussion in the past.) CITY HALL The ficus tree litigation could prove to have been an expensive undertaking.

Nearly eight months after construction for a Downtown Santa Monica beautification project was slated to begin,the City Council is expected to authorize an additional $50,000 to architectural firm Zimmer Gunsul Frasca, covering the costs of new tree lighting designs and the long hold-up in court. The expenditure is part of more than $4.8 million in spending items the council is expected to approve tonight.

It was in October of last year that the Santa Monica Treesavers filed a lawsuit against Santa Monica City Hall alleging violations in the California Environmental Quality Act for the Second and Fourth streets Pedestrian and Streetscape Improvement Project, focusing specifically on the removal and transplantation of 54 FROM CONSENT PAGE 1 DUE TO THE DELAY IN CON- STRUCTION FROM THE FICUS TREE RESTRAINING ORDER, COSTS FOR CON- STRUCTION SUPPORT DESIGN SERVICES ARE ANTICIPATED TO INCREASE BY $22,000.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 27, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/052708.pdf?ref=smdp.com)