Four Ficus Trees Get Reprieve From City

Under pressure from a neighborhood group, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski said Tuesday that the city will save the four remaining ficus trees along a street in Brentwood Village from removal.

As part of an improvement project, the city in recent weeks removed 32 trees, which had cracked sidewalks and curbs along Barrington Avenue. Residents, however, argued that any problems the trees created were outweighed by their beauty. Forming a group called the Brentwood Village Tree Foundation, the neighbors vowed to keep the four trees properly maintained if the city agreed to save them from the ax.

Last month, protesters began staging candlelight vigils and dances around one of the remaining trees. Protest leader Cheryl Snell, a writer who has lived 25 years in Brentwood, vowed that activists would keep it up for 40 days in hopes of convincing the city that there are ways to control the trees’ unruly roots.