ENCINO : City Will Remove Aging Oak Tree

Despite a final plea by a resident bent on saving it, a centuries-old oak tree was approved for removal from the parking lot of an Encino shopping mall Friday by a vote of the Los Angeles Board of Public Works.

Citing reports by experts that the tree was in “poor and declining health” and posed a threat to the public, the board reaffirmed an earlier decision to allow the property manager of Encino Town Center to cut the tree down.

The tree is one of four aging oaks the Department of Public Works said should be removed from the mall at 17200 Ventura Blvd. But when two of the trees were cut down in October, outraged residents protested to City Councilman Marvin Braude and other officials and won a reprieve for the tree in the mall’s west parking lot.

Joe Goldwine, who led the fight to save the tree and whose condominium overlooks the towering oak, said he was not surprised by the board’s decision.

“You know the old saying that you can’t fight city hall, well this just proves it all over again,” Goldwine said. “They already had their minds made up.”

At issue had been whether the tree represents a hazard. Some experts say the tree or one of its branches could fall at any time, but others maintain it is safe and healthy.

But one city official, who herself had intervened to explore options for saving the tree, said testimony given Friday definitely tipped the scales.

“The evidence was pretty overwhelming,” said Cindy Miscikowski, planning deputy for Braude. “The city attorney made it very clear that if we left it standing the city would be in a liability situation.”

Still, she said she would be sorry to see it go.

“It’s really hard because you see a tree that you think is worth saving and you find that it’s not, at least without a very, very big price tag,” Miscikowski said.

The fourth tree, which experts say appears to be dying, is located across the street from the mall entrance at 17200 Ventura Boulevard and will be cut down.