Trees Obstruct Street-Widening Project : Builder Told to Transplant Woodland Hills Cedars

Admitting that they’re going out on a limb, Los Angeles officials said Thursday they have ordered the preservation of a controversial row of 75-year-old cedar trees in Woodland Hills.

City Councilwoman Joy Picus said the developer of a 760-unit condominium project west of Warner Center will be required to transplant 10 stately cedars that obstruct the widening of Shoup Avenue a few feet closer to the development site.

The tree-moving will cost townhouse builder Geoff Palmer about $100,000--a sum that many neighbors say they would rather see spent to improve landscaping at the townhouse project.

“It’s money down the drain,” said Stan Greenfield, a neighborhood leader.

‘Nothing but Trouble’

“The trees will have to be severely pruned to where they look like spindly sticks. Some will die later on and someone will have to pay to take them down. I think the transplanting will lead to nothing but trouble.”

Picus said the preservation attempt is worth the effort. She said tree experts inspected 20 trees along the east side of Shoup Avenue and decided that half were healthy enough to survive a move.

“I live near there and I’ve seen these trees almost every day for the past 26 years,” Picus said. “I appreciate their beauty and size. I felt it was worth the effort to attempt to save them.”

Picus said she remembers her anger about the removal of a row of pepper trees from nearby Canoga Avenue about 20 years ago. “I didn’t want people to feel deprived by the loss of these trees,” she said.

She acknowledged that some Woodland Hills residents do not share her view.

“What did startle me was that in a community meeting over development of that property not everybody was enthusiastic about saving the trees,” she said. “Some were openly hostile to the trees. I told them you have to understand that a lot of people drive down that street and they have a real emotional stake in the trees.”

Some nearby residents applauded the tree-moving plan on Thursday.

“My personal view is it’s a good idea,” said Larry Houston, a 14-year resident of the neighborhood. “Those trees will improve the looks of the overall project. Right now, they’re a terrible traffic hazard.”

Aides to Picus said city transportation planners had recommended that the trees be cut down so that Shoup Avenue can be widened as part of Palmer’s project. Transplanting was described as risky by one aide, who said it was uncertain that the old trees would survive.

Trees Very Hardy

The trees are deodar cedars, which are extremely hardy, said Andy Lipkis, executive director of TreePeople, the Sherman Oaks-based conservation group.

“They are very disease resistant. I’ve never seen one of them die of old age,” Lipkis said. “Deodars can be transplanted.”

Lipkis said transplanting projects are often a matter of weighing cost against trees’ value to a community. “We can plant a lot of new trees for $100,000,” he said.

Palmer, who has clashed with homeowners about the height of condominiums to be built on his 45-acre project site, refused Thursday to comment on the tree-moving order.