LAGUNA BEACH : Council to Consider Tree-Trimming Issue

With some residents insisting that overgrown trees pose a fire hazard, the City Council will consider today whether the Planning Commission should tackle the issue and possibly create a proposal to force residents to trim their trees.

Tampering with trees is a touchy issue in Laguna Beach and often has created tension between environmentalists and property rights advocates.

Councilman Steve Dicterow said Monday it is time for the city to address a matter that has increasingly troubled residents since the October, 1993, firestorm, which damaged or destroyed more than 400 homes in and around Laguna Beach.

“This is just for safety,” he said, “just like a weed abatement issue.”

In a memo to his colleagues, Dicterow said he hopes the Planning Commission can “balance the safety issues with the environmental and private property rights issues . . . without creating the specter of a ‘tree police patrol.’ ”

Dicterow is recommending that the council ask the commission to consider whether the city needs such a law and, if so, to draft an ordinance addressing the issue.

Proponents of this change said Monday they also will present a proposal for a view ordinance to the council tonight. The measure would force residents to clip trees that are blocking views and possibly reducing property values.

Resident Madeleine Visca said a group of citizens has done research regarding such laws and has collected almost 1,000 signatures from those who favor a law protecting views.

“It will restore views that have been just neglected by people either deliberately not trimming their trees and bushes or people who have not done it because it costs too much,” Visca said. “We say, ‘If you can’t afford a Maserati, you don’t buy one.’ ”