Orange : Neighbors Protest Removal of Trees

Grading work on sections of a large development has been temporarily halted in a last-minute effort to save some of the 260 eucalyptus trees at the site.

Neighbors of the 18-acre site, which previously was the Santiago Golf Course, called City Hall last week when they saw the trees being felled. They also protested at a City Council meeting earlier this week because a condition of approving the 160-home development at Tustin and Rosewood avenues directed the developer, Van Daele Development Corp., to try to save existing trees.

Although the loss of the trees is distressing to many, the developer was not violating building permits, said Public Works Director Harry W. Thomas. Officials halted construction last weekend only because the company did not have copies of its permits on the site, which is a technical violation, he said.

But Councilman Mike Spurgeon summed up the frustration of neighbors and council members when he said the tree loss violated “the spirit” of the conditional approval that the council gave the project in February. At that time, council members had asked for an inventory of the trees and told the developer to make every effort to save them.

An arborist completed an inventory, but reported that the massive grading of dirt meant trees were unlikely to survive construction, Thomas said.

Mayor Joanne Coontz and Thomas both conceded that the city erred in issuing a grading permit before officials could do an in-depth study of the trees.

Van Daele was cleared to resume work Thursday, but agreed to stop tree clearing on the north and south perimeters of the site while it investigates ways to preserve some trees.