FILLMORE : Council OKs Removal of 12 Blaine Ave. Elms

For 30 years, Peggy Hungate watched helplessly as the elm tree fronting her property sprayed sap on her vegetable garden and dropped limbs on curbside cars.

On Tuesday night, she got her revenge.

Responding to a sheaf of complaints from Hungate and her neighbors, the Fillmore City Council voted 3 to 2 to chop down 12 of Blaine Avenue’s stately, sap-spitting elms and replace them with sweet shade saplings that officials pledge will be less offensive.

The city could end up doling out about $5,200 to remove and replace the trees.

“I wouldn’t want to inflict a tree on anyone,” Councilman Don Gunderson said as he agreed to demolish the elms, which are more than 40 years old.

Mayor Linda Brewster voted against the removal because she said she thinks that the trees look beautiful. Councilman Mike McMahan voted against the proposal because he did not want to replace the trees.

But Hungate said the two council members do not understand the magnitude of the problem.

“If you want to come up and have spit fly in your face while you are gardening, why then come up, you’re welcome,” she told the mayor. “These trees are monsters. They are a real terrible thing to have to live with.”

She said the tendrils of the trees cover her beloved vegetables. Roots snake around the water pipes, making them nearly impossible to repair. The flying, spraying sap triggers her family’s allergies and sticks to car paint like lacquer.

“People who say they enjoy the shade don’t have trees in their front yard,” Hungate said.

About half a dozen of Hungate’s neighbors wrote city officials to complain about the elms.

“The lawn doesn’t get enough sun to grow nice,” wrote Jane Johnson, who lives down the block from Hungate. “We like a nice yard, but (the trees) make it impossible.”

Besides, Johnson added in a letter listing six reasons why she despises the elms: “I’m 73 years old and would much rather be fishing than standing on a ladder at least once a week cleaning (leaves out of the) gutters.”