New Interest in Urban Trees Takes Root in South Bay : Environment: In Lomita, the surprise buzz of chain saws and quick civic action have resulted in formation of an advisory committee. Other cities are taking similar action or seeking professional advice.

When Rose and Mike Munoz moved to Lomita eight years ago, they had their eyes on a hilly, shady area of town known as the Pines. With its tall, old-growth pine trees and quiet streets, it is one of Lomita’s most desirable residential sections.

“We always wanted to move there,” Rose Munoz said.

So it was a happy day a little over a year ago when the Munozes got their wish and moved into a three-bedroom house on Monte Vista Avenue.

But one morning last August, Rose Munoz awoke to the sound of chain saws buzzing; crews had cut down a large pine tree near her house to make way for road repairs.

The city would have cut down 41 trees in the Pines area, but residents were so angered that cutting was stopped on the spot.

Outraged, Rose Munoz and others vented their feelings to the City Council. The council put a one-year moratorium on removing trees from the Pines and created an advisory committee to draft policies on managing the city’s trees.

While it took the drama of chain saws and citizen outrage to stir Lomita to action, cities throughout Southern California are starting to see their trees as more than just items to be trimmed or removed. Trees, they are finding out, reduce pollution, air-conditioning costs and energy usage, while fostering civic pride and enhancing property values.

In the South Bay, several communities are forming committees or negotiating with consulting firms for advice on managing their trees.

“In Southern California, especially, we’re a lot farther behind,” said Karen Fraser of Urban Forestry Consultants, an Irvine firm that drafts tree management plans for cities and businesses. “In Northern California, they’re more ahead. You would think it would be the other way around because we need (trees) more down here, with the heat and the smog.”

Some cities are beginning to see their trees as real resources, thanks in part to a growing awareness of environmental issues.

Manhattan Beach residents want to identify historic and unusual trees and protect them legally. Manhattan Beach and Inglewood are negotiating with Urban Forestry Consultants for the services of tree specialists to help them with various aspects of tree management.

And many cities have ordinances prohibiting tampering with or altering trees on public land. Manhattan Beach requires the replacement of any tree removed from public space.

Like Lomita, other cities have areas that are particularly noted for their trees, including the Willows in Gardena and a hilly residential section of Manhattan Beach located north and east of Marina and Highland avenues.

One of the chief benefits of trees in urban areas is the reduction of the “urban heat island” effect, according to Fraser. Because asphalt and concrete soak up and retain heat, cities can be as much as 10 degrees hotter than rural areas. Shade from trees reduces the need for air conditioning, cutting costs by decreasing the need for power. Southern California Edison Co. sometimes gives trees to businesses.

Other benefits include removal of dust and carbon dioxide from the air and replacing them with oxygen, increasing an area’s aesthetic value and greater civic pride.

“If I see a street with no trees, I think it’s a blighted street,” said Bob Kennedy, street tree coordinator for the city of Los Angeles. Kennedy is responsible for 680,000 trees on city property. However, he said that because budget cuts have trimmed his staff, he can only keep up with emergency removal and maintenance.

Only within the last year has a committee of residents and professionals in Los Angeles started to examine every aspect of managing trees, including funding for services, maintenance schedules, areas for new plantings and removal of hazardous trees, Kennedy said.

In Lomita, the new Tree Management Committee met for the first time in late October and is expected to draft a management plan for the Pines area before looking at the city as a whole.

“It’s such a unique area in the whole South Bay,” Munoz said. “That’s why people live in this neighborhood.”

Trees have been removed from the area over the years for road improvements or because of storm damage, but removal did not create much stir until the road project in August.

Lori Kamrath, vice chairman of the committee, favors allowing hazardous or diseased trees to be removed a few at a time so that an entire area is not stripped all at once. She also wants the trees replaced. The city is giving residents a choice of replacement trees, but not all residents want pines.

Tall, old-growth trees such as the ones in the Pines can add as much as $5,000 to the selling price of a home, according to Leo Nordine, a Redondo Beach real estate broker who has sold homes in the area.

“It makes a huge difference. It adds ambience and character, just like in other areas,” Nordine said. A three-bedroom home in the Pines generally sells in the $300,000 to $400,000 range, he said.

Although it may seem easy, managing trees is not simple work, professionals say. Some trees are not suitable for certain environments because of their height or their root systems, and keeping track of thousands of trees is itself a daunting task. One of the consultants for Urban Forestry Consultants has created a software program for cities and large institutions to keep track of trees.

Lomita does not have to go that far, but it needs to formulate its tree policies before the moratorium expires.

The residents have made it clear to the council that they will not stand for random removal of their trees.

“The day before it was cut down, I almost took a picture of my daughter in front of the tree, just to show it was there,” Munoz said. “Now I wish I had.”