Community Fed Up With Felled Trees

The recent removal of a decades-old tree from the Alphabet Streets neighborhood has residents embroiled in a dispute pitting public safety and property development against preservation.

Much to the chagrin of several residents in the neighborhood, a Camphor tree on Galloway Street was cut down March 3 to make way for driveway construction, according to a Feb. 28 urban forestry permit.

Though two Southern Magnolia trees will be planted in place of the Camphor, that’s not good enough for Galloway residents like Dean Paul, who feel replacing a grown, 60-year-old tree with two young ones isn’t an equitable replacement.

“You can look at the new Camphor tree that another developer planted at 955 Galloway when they also recently removed another large Camphor tree there for a new home,” said Paul. “It’s a 9-foot twig and will take at least 25 years to get close to the tree that was formerly there.”

Developer Ray Nosrati of Huntington Estate Homes was hired by Sean Banafsheh to transform his single-story, 1,034-square-foot house into a two-story luxury home. The construction project comes complete with a two-car garage and driveway, according to a building permit issued Friday.

The Palisadian-Post reached out to Banafsheh, who said he was just an investor and didn’t know any details about the project.

According to public documents obtained by the Post, Banafsheh bought the property on Feb. 3 for $1.675 million.

“To be honest, the owner didn’t want the tree gone, he liked it there, but there was no way to build the driveway and to fix the sidewalk and the curb if the tree wasn’t removed,” Nosrati said. “The arborist came down and looked at it and said that this curb and sidewalk cannot be fixed unless this tree is removed.”

The root system of the tree has been growing above ground for quite some time, causing the sidewalk to crack and jut upward.

According to arborist William McKinley’s report, the tree posed multiple safety issues, including the destruction of a portion of the sidewalk, which caused a trip hazard and the potential for the tree to fall because of a weak trunk. McKinley could not be reached for comment by publication deadline.

The root system has been pruned several times because of its interference with the water meter and water service line located almost five feet from the trunk of the tree, according to the report. The water system has required repair as a result.

Three trees were removed in Pacific Palisades in January and 10 in 2013 for public safety or infrastructure needs, according to the Los Angeles Department of Public Works Urban Forestry Division.

“Urban Forestry policy is to preserve trees when possible,” said George Gonzalez, chief forester. “Sometimes trees do need to be removed. That’s part of the urban forestry cycle. Trees are removed and replaced all the time. The department is dynamic and ever changing. It’s living, breathing and continuously evolving.

Donna Hicks lives nearby on Embury Street. She was one of 12 area residents who signed a petition to support the removal of the tree. Her street is lined with Eucalyptus, which residents aren’t allowed to touch, she said.

“They don’t cut them for 18 years, and they’re dangerous,” Hicks said. “A tree came down on our roof some time ago and the city told us we’re on our own. So if they’ve got a dangerous situation over there on Galloway, of course I’m going to sign a petition to have the tree removed.”

Several residents who live on Galloway, however, have expressed their concerns over the removal of trees in their neighborhood. (See Letters to the Editor on page 2.)

At a Pacific Palisades Civic League meeting last month, Carl Mellinger, board member and certified arborist was presented with pictures of the Galloway tree and “agreed that it could be saved if the roots were trimmed and a slight curve was made in the sidewalk,” Paul said. “This same process was followed by the city when they replaced all of the sidewalks on the 800 block of Galloway just a couple of years ago, thereby proving that it was possible and feasible.”

Casey P. Smith contributed to this report.