Burbank Hatchet Job?

Residents of Burbank’s Rancho area said a private tree-trimming company hired by the city butchered neighborhood trees to make room for a power line.

Trees were cut into flat-top and V-shaped forms, Burbank electric services manager Greg Simay said. Most of the trimmed trees are along a four-block stretch of Parkside Avenue, with some trees along Mariposa Street and Morningside Drive also cut.

Simay said two people have complained to the city about the trimming. In response, City Councilman Michael Hastings has proposed that the city review its tree-trimming policy.

“It’s not so much that the job needs to be done, it’s how it’s being done,” said Jim Vorhees, a Mariposa Street resident who also is a member of the Burbank Civic Pride Committee. “It’s just a hatchet job.”

The trimming was needed to create a five-foot clearance for a 4,000-volt power line along Parkside Avenue, Simay said.