BUENA PARK : Property Owner Says City Has Him Treed

Herbert Wysard says the five, 40-foot-tall mature Chinese elms in front of his apartment complex on Knott Avenue make a big difference in the appearance of the heavily traveled street.

“They make that area of Knott Avenue sort of pretty,” said Wysard, owner of the Flower Tree Apartments, a 35-year-old complex.

And for Wysard, you might say he’s up a tree.

The trees must be chopped down to pave the way to widen a section of the street in front of his property as part of a $1-million street reconstruction project.

The City Council this week awarded the project to All American Asphalt Co. of Corona. The project also includes rebuilding a one-mile stretch of Knott Avenue from Orangethorpe Avenue to Artesia Boulevard and landscaping medians with drought-tolerant plants.

Council members also approved replacing the trees with five new trees, likely Australian willows about 1-year-old and 6 feet tall, which cost about $95 each, said Donald K. Jensen, director of public works.

“We simply can’t afford the cost of putting in larger trees,” Jensen said.

The council also agreed that the trees could be replaced with Australian willows that are about 8 feet tall, which cost about $275 each. But Wysard would have to pay the difference in cost.

“I don’t want to pay the difference,” Wysard said. “It’s really not fair.”

But Wysard said he wants trees that come in 36-inch boxes because they are taller, have a wider spread, would offer more shade and are more appealing. Jensen said the trees, which are about 9 to 10 feet tall cost about $700 each.

Wysard said the smaller trees are not “really trees. They’re small bushes.”

He vowed to fight the widening in front of his property.

Jensen said the section in front of the apartment complex needs to be widened six feet. The trees are on dedicated public property, he said.

Council members agreed that they made the best offer the city could make.

“I can’t support spending the extra tax dollars,” Councilman Donald L. Bone said.

Meanwhile, Jensen said Knott Avenue is in terrible shape. It has a lot of potholes, cracks and severe deterioration of the pavement because of the heavy truck traffic.

The project is being paid for from gas tax funds, which includes $300,000 from county matching funds, Jensen said.