Antonovich Suggests More, Bigger Trees

Reminiscing about the lush urban forests he viewed during several trips to Israel, Supervisor Mike Antonovich has called for more aggressive county policies to save existing trees and plant larger ones in new developments.

Los Angeles County supervisors unanimously agreed Tuesday.

They voted to hold hearings on the issue before the Regional Planning Commission during the next two months.

“One cannot help but notice that new subdivisions too often include barren landscapes punctuated by sporadic plantings of sapling trees,” Antonovich wrote in his proposal.

The two changes Antonovich asked the Planning Commission to consider would, if approved, require the planting of larger trees under the county’s oak tree ordinance, which mandates planting two oak trees for every one removed, and greater protection of existing trees.