By Daily Press staff
SEVENTH STREET — The orange hazard sign in the roadway here on Wednesday said it all: Crew working in trees.
A project launched to improve safety throughout the city by either pruning or removing aged Eucalyptus trees altogether is underway, a curious sight for many passing through this green city where nature is embraced with a common fervor. The city, however, has concluded the removals are in the best interests of those who live and stay here.
In late 2005, City Hall contracted with HortScience Inc., an arboricultural firm, to provide an assessment of the city’s 517 Eucalyptus trees. The subsequent report identified trees in danger of failing and made recommendations to lower the risk posed by trees that were still viable, but in need of attention, according to a city staff report.
While a rarity, falling Eucalyptus limbs have struck pedestrians in the past. In one extreme instance, a driver and his wife successfully sued the city for $1.5 million after a mature red-flowering Eucalyptus tree fell on their car in 2001, reportedly injuring the man’s neck and back.
In total, City Hall plans to remove 77 of the aging and damaged Eucalyptus trees and trim another 440 over the next six months in efforts to avoid potential limb failures. According to Walter Warriner, City Hall’s community forest and public landscape superintendent, the project will cost somewhere in the area of $175,000.
The areas where trees will be removed are: Broadway, between Centinela Avenue and 11 Street (14 trees); Seventh Street, between California Avenue and San Vicente Boulevard (11 trees); Reed Park (seven trees); and Palisades Park (six trees).
Trees removed will be replaced with smaller species of Eucalyptus, or in some cases, the species of tree that dominates the surroundings area, Warriner said.
Warriner acknowledges that people tend to react strongly to seeing a fully-grown tree chopped down, but previously assured the public that he is an arborist first and will do anything to protect a tree that is worth saving.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 16, 2006. Read the original PDF.