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Message from the Mayor and City Manager Regarding the Promenade Trees

Dear Laguna Beach Neighbor –

 

About 4 weeks ago, between Saturday evening and Sunday morning of March 21-22, a mature Eucalyptus tree failed and fell into the Promenade project’s work area.  No one was hurt, as it happened overnight. 

 

As you may be aware, we have a project arborist (Katrina with Dudek) who is present often at the Promenade site.  Her role, among other things, includes overseeing designated Tree Protection Zones that prohibit mechanized work around the trees.  The failure of one of the trees left sixteen (16) trees in or related to the project area – mostly eucalyptus, but a few ficus, too. 

 

Katrina rapidly began a review and analysis of the fallen tree.  The reasons for the tree’s failure appear to be:

• While the construction of the Project itself had protected all tree roots around the tree via a Tree Protection Zone (w/a snow fence), the removal of the curb and asphalt exposed a root structure that was substandard – including showing evidence of previous damage by other sidewalk projects years ago.
• The root structure was impaired by that previous damage, fungal decay (some of the roots were spongy and soft), and a buildup of the soil over time that buried the root flare of the tree (where the root system meets the trunk).

 

The tree’s failure led us to ask Katrina to do a new, closer review of the health of eleven (11) trees similarly situated to the fallen tree (i.e.. adjacent to a removed curb/sidewalk, with some roots exposed), and each of which we had hoped to keep.  This additional review included “air-spading” of many of the trees’ roots, which enables an arborist to see the root structure without damaging the roots. 

 

Following the air spading and an analysis of each tree, Katrina’s recommendation to the City was that nine (9) of the eleven (11) similarly-situated trees should be removed – for these reasons, among others:

• Several of the trees were girdled with root guards that are about 20-24” deep and immediately against the trunks – this installation would not be recommended today for tree health.
• Several of the trees had impaired root systems squeezed between the two levels of sidewalks (old and new).
• Numerous trees had roots pruned for sidewalk repair work in past years – the roots here showed signs of decay.
• There is a noticeable absence of structurally significant roots (over 2” – 3” in diameter) among the trees.
• Another tree – one of the largest ones adjacent to Tuvalu Home Store – had much of its root structure sitting on a huge base of concrete, leaving few to no roots on the side opposite its lean – where one would expect to see roots to pull against the lean to support the tree. 

 

Not fully convinced, we took yet another step less than a week ago, with another arborist (Evin from Monarch) to peer-review Dudek’s work and to include Evin’s own site inspections of the trees.  Monarch concurred with Dudek – that 9 of the 11 should be removed, and that a total of 7 (of the 16) should be retained subject to further monitoring.  We received this second report verbally on Monday morning and in writing by Monday afternoon.

 

When we received that, we knew we needed to act, and act quickly.  The City cannot be in a position of having safety information concerning a tree and not acting on it, especially after the one fell in March.

 

This is obviously heartbreaking to us.  No one at the City wanted to remove these trees.  However, we were now on notice that 9 of the trees had specific problems with substandard root systems, and that they should be removed.  When an arborist tells us that, and especially when two do, we need to remove them as soon as possible for worker and project safety – and to protect the people who will use the Promenade when it’s done in June. 

 

While safety in general demands it, another concern is liability and our insurance carrier. If we left these in, and if one of these trees fell and injured someone, it’s in doubt as to whether that would be a covered claim, given the information we have in hand.  We could also risk being directed by our Joint Powers Agency (JPA) to either get out of the JPA (seeking our own insurance on the open market – which may not be possible) or to change our historic and respected tree removal approach (as the same JPA directed in another agency recently).     

 

In accordance with the City’s Tree Removal and Planting Policy for Public Trees, the Director of Public Works & Utilities is generally charged with overseeing the process for removal of public trees.  He was advised of all the project information, reviewed the arborist reports, photos, the second opinion, and discussed the circumstances at length with the City Manager and City Attorney’s office.  He concurred that the 9 trees along the Promenade meet the criteria in the aforementioned policy under “Exemptions from the Tree Removal Process” to qualify for immediate removal. 

 

As such, we removed them Monday night.

 

We will replace each of the nine trees.  Seven older trees will remain in place.  There will be over 30 trees in the Promenade when complete.  The new trees will be largely 24” boxes to 48” boxes and planted the right way, not over an old sidewalk, not with a buried root flare, with the right soil, with automatic watering, and with wide spaces (and Silva Cells) for roots to stabilize.  We mostly will be replacing with eucalyptus of a similar species.  One factor is that our soils test – attached - shows high levels of salinity. We are searching now for the best replacement specimens and will bring those in in a few short weeks (along with one or more 120” box Southern Live Oaks, which do well in that soil environment).

 

I know that this is saddening and frustrating – we didn’t want to find what we did.  But when the tree fell, we needed to know more in order to protect the public, workers, and the City.

 

Thank you for understanding – even if you don’t agree, please know that this was a heartbreaking choice.

The Next Regular Meeting of the City Council is Tuesday, April 28 at 5:00 P.M.

Mayor’s Podcast Episode 5: Update on Promenade Construction

April Library Events & Classes!

The Goats are Back in Town!

Starting this week, our four-legged firefighting team will begin their essential work near City Hall in Fuel Modification Zone 2. We are also welcoming a new herder to the program this season, so be sure to keep an eye out for the new faces leading the team through our hillsides.

A Laguna Beach tradition since the early 1990s, this program remains a vital part of our wildfire mitigation strategy. By reducing flammable vegetation by 50–90% in these zones, the herds help maintain the critical fuel breaks that protect our community. Grazing continues to be a highly cost-effective method for managing our perimeter acreage, allowing the Fire Department to efficiently reduce fuel loads and better protect the city from the threat of wildfire.

Fire Chief Niko King emphasized the importance of the program, noting "Our goats may be a familiar sight, but they’re doing serious work. By clearing brush and reducing fire fuels, they’re helping us stay ahead of wildfire risk and protect the community we all care about.”