Redondo Beach residents will now have the ability to appeal when the city plans to cut down a tree.
The city council passed an ordinance Jan. 17 to allow the oversight for public-owned trees. Trees on private property are exempt.
The issue originally came up last year in an effort to become a National Arbor Foundation “Tree City USA.” This requires spending $2 per capita on urban forestry, celebration of Arbor Day, creating a tree board (within the Public Works Department) and to pass a tree ordinance.
After much debate about whether the ordinance should apply to private trees, the city council ultimately decided it should not. The ordinance, once in effect, requires the city to put up notices that a tree will be taken down.
“(Aside from that) it does not modify anything for us,” said Ted Semaan, Redondo Beach Public Works director. “From a day-to-day work perspective, it’s really business as usual for us.”
Public trees include those on parkways (the space between a curb and a sidewalk), parks, medians and other right-of-way.
The primary reason Public Works would take out a tree is for public safety.
“Our charge is to preserve, to the biggest extent possible,” Semaan said.
The city spends more than $1 million per year on tree maintenance.
Appeals will be heard by the city’s Public Works Commission. ER
