Brentwood’s Beloved, Troublesome Ficus Trees to Get the Ax

Pleased to find a parking spot in the shade, Ira Jaffe climbed over the jagged curb and stepped smack into the middle of the Brentwood tree controversy.

He appreciates ficus trees and their year-round leafy lushness, Jaffe acknowledged. But he has learned the hard way about the power of ficus tree roots.

“See that dent? It was caused by a curb that was pushed out by a tree like this,” said the Pacific Palisades music producer, pointing first to a recent crease low on the passenger side of his blue BMW and then to the green foliage over his head.

“I like these trees. But it’s a shame they are ripping up sidewalks and curbs.”

Los Angeles officials agree. That’s why today they plan to start chopping down the 36 ficus trees that for decades have gently shaded the Brentwood Village shopping area near Sunset Boulevard and Barrington Avenue.

New sidewalks and curbs will replace cracked and uneven walkways. Young queen palm, Brisbane box and red flowering eucalyptus trees with less aggressive root systems will replace the 45-year-old ficuses.

Hardy and fast-growing, ficus trees were once planted by the hundreds of thousands to landscape Southern California streets and roadsides. It wasn’t until the trees began to mature that street maintenance workers started noticing that roots were lifting concrete sidewalks out of the ground. Now most cities have taken them off the approved list for new street trees.

The trees have remained popular with lots of people, however. Attempts to remove them have triggered protests in communities across the Los Angeles area. So city officials are braced for a loud outcry when the chain saws appear on Barrington Place to start the three-month project.

Tree supporters collected about 600 signatures on petitions that on Friday urged the City Council to cancel the Brentwood chopping and search on a “tree-by-tree basis” for ways to preserve them.

“These trees are the most defining feature of Brentwood Village,” said Hermine Kavanau, a medical illustrator who was born and raised in the area. “Some of the sidewalks are a hazard, but there are ways to trim roots, put in wells around the trees, or put in pavers or maybe gentle bridges over them.”

Cheryl Snell, a writer who has lived in Brentwood for 25 years, said loss of the trees will make the business district hotter, noisier and more susceptible to air pollution.

Snell complained that the city has downplayed the tree-removal plan by labeling it the “Brentwood Beautification Project,” a tactic that has “obscured the nature of the project and prevented most people from being aware of what was happening until it was too late.”

City officials deny that residents have been kept in the dark. They contend that local groups have debated what to do about the bumpy sidewalks for nearly 10 years. More recently, three public hearings were conducted before the Department of Public Works decided in April to proceed.

The city anticipates spending about $450,000 on the repairs and replanting. Design plans for the work were paid for by Brentwood Village merchants and property owners.

“I know there are people who are unhappy. . . . No one likes to see healthy trees removed,” said City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, who represents Brentwood. “But at community meeting after community meeting, it has been affirmed by key community groups, including the Brentwood Homeowners Assn., the Brentwood community council and leaders of Brentwood Beautiful, that this project is necessary and the outcome will be positive from an environmental standpoint.”

Those in favor of ficus removal say the city has been sued several times by pedestrians who have stumbled on the jagged sidewalk and fallen. City officials, who record lawsuits by litigant name, not location, were unable to provide the amount of any judgments or settlements.

“A lady tripped on Barrington Place two weeks ago and has been out of work. A UPS guy tripped and was out six weeks with an ankle injury. It’s a common occurrence,” said Tim Byk, an advertising company owner who heads the Brentwood Village Chamber of Commerce.

Byk, who has lived in Brentwood all his life and remembers climbing in the ficus trees as a child, said roots have pushed sidewalks and curbs so high that passenger-side car doors can’t be opened on some streets. He said the roots have invaded sewer lines used by the village’s 80 merchants so badly that some have started to come up through toilets.

He compared the tree replacement to a haircut: “It’s going to take a while to get used to, but when it starts growing in, it will look nice.”

Others aren’t so sure.

“These trees represent the character of this village,” said Charles Barrett, a television producer who has lived in the neighborhood for 25 years. “This place is not going to be a very handsome place to look at when they’re gone.”

Shopper Marina Segall of Bel-Air was relaxing with a cup of coffee beneath one of the doomed trees as she pondered why no one has figured out a way to smooth out the sidewalks without killing the trees. “It’s criminal,” she said.

Across the street, Barrington Court jewelry store owner Gary Murray said he will take the chain-sawing personally.

“For 30 years I’ve been looking out my window at that friend of mine,” Murray said, gazing at a tree a few steps from his doorway. “This is a shame.”