Neighbors Defy Saws, Builder Spares Trees

Awakened by the snarl of chain saws, about 30 residents of a rural Agua Dulce neighborhood ran to rescue a row of eucalyptus and pine trees in the way of a housing tract road, winning at least a temporary reprieve for them.

The residents parked their cars and pickup trucks Friday between the trees in a quarter-mile stand that lines the dirt Domino Hill Road, began taking snapshots of two workers sawing, then stood in front of the trees asking the workers to lay down their saws.

After sawing two large branches off two pines and hacking a deep chunk out of the trunk of another, the workers left on orders of their field supervisor.

“These trees are a landmark in this area. They provide a windbreak, shade, a refuge for hawks and owls,” said Barbara Hall, 37, a nearby resident. “The developer is a big company, and this is a piddling thing for them. But it’s not for us.”

Resident Darlene Small tied yellow ribbons around the trees. She said workers at the site assured residents that the trees would not be cut. But word “leaked out” that the chain saws were on their way, Small said.

“I think the developer wanted to cut them down real quick before we had a chance to do anything about it,” Small said. “When we heard the buzz saws . . . we came running.”

Few Trees Survive Climate

Small and other residents said the trees were especially important because few trees can survive in the arid, desert-like environment of Agua Dulce.

“The old trees that we do have mean a lot to us,” Small said.

Michael Keston, president of Encino-based Larwin Construction Co., which is building 49 ranch-style homes on the land and is building the road where the trees are in the way, said in a telephone interview after the protest that he was unaware of the residents’ sentiments. He ordered a halt to their destruction Friday afternoon.

“I appreciate the need to be sensitive,” Keston said. “I did not know there was a problem with the trees.”

Keston said he received clearances and permits from the Los Angeles County Planning Department to build the subdivision, and grading already has begun.

“The parcel map clearly showed that the trees were in the roadway easement,” Keston said. “It was no secret that they would have to be removed to pave the road.”

Eucalyptus and pines are not protected in the county, planning officials said. Only so-called “heritage oak trees” with diameters of eight or more inches require environmental reviews and a county permit before they can be altered or removed.

Keston explained that the trees lining the narrow dirt road must be felled to make way for a paved road 24 feet wide, required under county Fire Department regulations. Further, other county land-use regulations in Agua Dulce require that house lots must be a minimum 2 1/2 acres, he said.

If the road were moved to save the trees, the lot sizes of housing property that abuts it would have to be reduced, Keston said. He said the project would then be in violation of the building permit.

Keston said a company representative will attempt to seek a county variance on Monday to either decrease the size of the housing lots so the road can be moved over or decrease the width of the road.

Water Lines Ready

Reducing the number of housing lots is “impossible at this point” because construction is in advanced stages of grading, and water lines have already been laid out, he said.

“The issue will be in the hands of the county,” Keston said.

Debbie Gardner, 33, who circulated a petition to save the trees and helped lead Friday’s protest, said her group is pleased that the company took notice of their protest. “Up until now, they wouldn’t return our phone calls,” she said.

Gardner said the residents’ group will support a land-use variance to reduce the lot sizes. “As long as it’s an exception only for these lots and will not change the community standard, it would be acceptable if it means the trees will be saved,” Gardner said.