LAGUNA BEACH : Tree’s Fate Rests on Council Decision

Highlighting an ongoing conflict between environmentalists and property rights advocates, the City Council is to decide tonight the fate of a towering eucalyptus tree that has been the focus of a four-year neighborhood feud.

At issue is the city’s Heritage Tree Ordinance, a tree-preservation law approved by a previous council and one that current leaders have said they plan to change. Trees are listed only if they meet certain criteria of size, age, historic value or unusual appearance. Once registered, a tree cannot be altered without a city permit.

The 60-year-old tree beside Pala Way was placed on the Heritage Tree list in 1991. The property owners say the tree was listed in an attempt to prevent building on a vacant lot.

“It was strictly to thwart development,” said Kate Eastman, who with her husband, Jeff, is planning a three-bedroom home on the property.

Eastman said a building permit was approved by the city. Arborists and a geologist have advised them not to begin construction until the tree is removed, however, because it leans downhill over a neighbor’s property and poses a danger.

“It’s falling over,” Eastman said of the tree. “It’s an accident waiting to happen,” she said, adding that she does not want to be liable if it topples and someone is hurt or property is damaged.

Neighbors, however, have begged city leaders to preserve the 70-foot tree, which one described in a letter to the city’s Design Review Board as a “cherished” tree “that has graced the hillside for decades.”

The eucalyptus and other Heritage Trees have posed previous dilemmas for city leaders. In 1991, the Council placed the tree on the Heritage List over the objections of Helen Correll, who then owned the property.

Last month, the city’s Design Review Board rejected in a 3-2 vote the Eastmans’ bid to cut down the tree, prompting tonight’s appeal to the council.