Judge
Bars City from Chopping Down
Trees, For Now |
By Jorge Casuso
October 5 -- The Downtown
ficus trees slated for the axe were
given a reprieve Friday when a Superior
Court judge issued a restraining order
barring the City from removing any
trees along 2nd and 4th that don’t
pose a danger to the public.
City officials said they would abide
by the order until a hearing on the
issue is held October 26. Although
work will begin Monday on the $8.2
million streetscape project, no trees
will be removed, they said.
Activists, who have stepped up efforts
to block the City’s plans to
compost or relocate 75 mature ficus
and palm trees, declared a temporary
victory in what could be a prolonged
battle.
“This really officially should
be stopping the process on the trees,”
said Jerry Rubin, the lead organizer
for Treesavers, a new group formed
to oppose the tree removals. “We
had to go the legal route, and the
people have spoken.”
Rubin and Treesavers, who filed the
case, also submitted an application
Friday to declare the trees a City
landmark.
The City stamped the application
as “lodged,” rather than
“filed,” pending an evaluation
of whether a single or multiple applications
need to be filed, said City Attorney
Marsha Moutrie.
“Some interpretation should
be required,” Moutrie said.
“To my knowledge, there’s
never been an application like this.”
The lawsuit heard Friday questioned
the process that resulted in a contract
for the streetscape project authorized
by the City Council in August. The
plaintiffs argued that the City should
have conducted an Environmental Impact
Report (EIR) before it issued the
contract for the work.
The City countered that a full-blown
EIR was not needed, because California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
reviews had already been conducted
in 1996 and 1997, when the Bayside
District Specific Plan, which included
the streetscape project, was approved.
“If you are going to bring
a CEQA lawsuit, it is very late,”
said Assistant City Attorney Joe Lawrence,
who argued the case. “The judge
took a very cautious approach.”
"The judge did not consider
the legal merits of the case,"
said Moutrie. “I think the likely
result in the case is that the City
will prevail.”
City officials contend that the ficus,
which are more than 40 years old and
expected to only last another 10 to
20 years, have been weakened by root-pruning,
which can cause the trees to drop
limbs or even fall over.
Critics have called the plan to remove
54 ficus trees and 21 palms, and install
139 new Ginkgo trees along the streets
flanking the popular Third Street
Promenade unnecessary and anti-environmental.
Friday's actions come one day after
the Planning Commission sent an urgent
letter to the council asking it to
engage in more discussion before killing
23 mature ficus trees and relocating
another 21 from the heart of Downtown.
But Mayor Richard Bloom said it was
unlikely the council would change
its plan.
Approved by the council in October
2005, the project design also calls
for adding decorative up-lighting
to the remaining ficus trees, repairing
sidewalks or curbs damaged by the
trees, enlarging tree wells and installing
new pedestrian lighting. It also calls
for enhancing the six mid-block crosswalks
on 2nd and 4th streets.
Funding for this project comes from
various sources, including an initial
grant of $2.169 million from the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority and $1.836
million in Federal Transportation
Enhancement Activities funds.
Downtown officials hope the more
inviting streetscape will lure strollers
from the bustling Promenade to the
restaurants and businesses along 2nd
and 4th.
The plan is part of an ambitious
redesign to make over the Downtown
that has included the launching of
the Promenade in 1989, the elimination
of one-way streets, and the creation
of the Transit Mall, which included
widening the sidewalks on Santa Monica
Boulevard. and on Broadway and installing
new benches and bus stops.
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