ENCINO : Board to Consider Fate of 2 Oak Trees

The Los Angeles Board of Public Works on Wednesday is set to consider the plight of a pair of centuries-old oak trees some authorities say are sick and should be cut down, but others maintain are healthy trees that will live for years.

Last month, the city Department of Public Works issued a permit for the removal of four trees, all at or near the Encino Town Center mall on Ventura Boulevard, after inspectors found that they were in “poor and declining condition” and posed a danger to the public.

When two of the trees were cut down last month, outraged residents won a temporary reprieve for the remaining two trees and have since hired tree experts who say the trees are healthy.

“We want them to remove the stigma that these are a hazard to public safety so they don’t have to cut them down,” said Joe Goldwine, who owns a condominium overlooking one of the trees.

Goldwine, who hired two arborists to look at the trees, said he expects up to 40 residents to join him at the meeting. They will present a petition of about 400 residents who oppose the removal of the trees, he said.

Goldwine said residents are less concerned about a second tree that appears to be dying on the north side of Ventura Boulevard.

Frank Nazarian, who manages the land the trees are on, asked for permission to remove them after his company’s insurer paid $275,000 to a woman who was hospitalized after a limb from one of the trees fell and hit her in 1991.

Nazarian said he would abide by whatever public works officials decide.