Fighting an Early Fall

For nearly a week, the cutting didn’t stop and the trees kept falling.

So on Monday, about 50 residents--frustrated with a Dana Woods Homeowners Assn. decision to remove hundreds of eucalyptuses deemed too old and dangerous--went out on a limb of their own.

By the time the trimmers’ trucks arrived again at this Dana Point development early Monday, neighbors had lined their cars along both sides of the street, preventing the crews from parking their equipment and getting to their intended batch of trees.

The crowd of teachers, lawyers, housewives and others toted “Save Our Trees!” signs around the neighborhood park and tied yellow ribbons around dozens of trunks they hoped to protect. Hours later, they filed a complaint in Orange County Superior Court that seeks a temporary restraining order on the cutting until an emergency meeting between residents and board members can be held.

“We were left with no other option,” Norman Heidner said Monday. “We had to do something and we had to do it fast.”

Their strategic parking tactic worked. After scratching his head for 20 minutes near the community park, Robert Blood, a foreman for Modern Tree Service, said he had no choice but to leave. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Blood said. “These people mean business.”

The dispute began last week when residents learned that association board members had voted to cut down hundreds of Dana Woods’ towering eucalyptuses. About 200 were removed last week and over the weekend. Neighbors said they were never told of the plan, but officials said the action is essential because at least four properties have been damaged by falling limbs and trees in recent months.

Twice, trees dropped onto Street of the Golden Lantern, blocking traffic. The eucalyptus trees have become such a liability that the association’s insurance policy has been threatened, said board member Vince Zoratti.

“I look around here and some of these trees look pretty scary,” Zoratti told neighbors Monday. “Now, we maybe should have done a better job at presenting the plan to you, but I don’t think anyone here can say every single one of our trees is just fine. They have to go.”

But Zoratti, responding to a petition signed by nearly half of the neighborhood’s 250 homeowners supporting a moratorium on the tree-removal project, agreed to call off the work until Wednesday’s meeting. The group plans to invite a Newport Beach arborist who was hired by the association to develop a tree removal and replacement plan several years ago.

Although the gesture appeared to satisfy most of the neighbors, Laguna Beach attorney Tom Davis, whose brother lives in Dana Woods, said he moved ahead with the court request anyway. A judge likely will decide on the restraining order today.

“We just want to have an order in place,” Davis said. “No one at this point wants to leave anything to chance.”

Until then, some residents planned to keep parking their cars along the street in case the tree trimmers return.

“All of these trees don’t have to be chopped down,” said Maimu Belhumeur, who bought her home on Danafir when the development opened 12 years ago. “Why not take only the ones that have to go? Why turn this special place into a logging mill? I can’t stand to see that happen.”

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Trees From Down Under

Eucalyptus trees are large evergreens native to Australia. The pungent giants establish themselves quickly and need plenty of soil and room to mature. Other facts:

Fast growth: Some types grow as much as 10 to 15 feet a year in early stages; average tree grows about 1 foot a year

Size: Ranges from 15 to 200 feet depending on variety

Life span: Can live up to a century

Leaves and bark: Many have long, slender, silvery leaves; bark often peels or sheds in strips

Flowers: Most have small clusters of creamy white flowers filled with nectar

Uses: Planted as windbreaks along coastline, residential neighborhoods and citrus groves

Local history: Introduced near Orange in 1870, the eucalyptus was touted as a fast profit-maker, but local trees didn’t grow straight enough to cut for railroad ties. There’s an original stand along Sand Canyon Avenue near El Toro Marine Corps Air Station

Downside: Shedding of bark, leaves and flowers can be messy; some varieties also drop small nut-like fruit. Tree limbs can become brittle

Sources: World Book Encyclopedia, Sunset’s Western Garden Book and Lawson’s Gardens; Researched by APRIL JACKSON / Los Angeles Times