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Arborist: take out trees
Stately cypresses beside courthouse may be imperiled An arborist's report recommends removing these Monterey cypress trees in front of the courthouse. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson An arborist’s report from a recent examination of the prominent Monterey cypress trees in front of the courthouse on H Street found the large conifers to be in poor health and in danger of falling. The arborist, who was hired by the state to do the inspection, is recommending their removal. City officials are opposed to this idea and intend to have another arborist, this time of their choosing, inspect the trees. The trees are some of the most stately and venerable in Crescent City’s urban area, adding a touch of botanical class to an otherwise unremarkable downtown tree scene. They are also classified as landmark trees under city ordinances, meaning they’re considered to possess attributes — such as height, girth, form, beauty and historical importance — that make them significant and unique to the community. “They certainly are a great example of attractive, mature trees that have been in the community a long time,” Crescent City Manager Rod Butler said. “They are kind of a landmark of the central downtown area.” The California Administrative Office of the Courts is behind the arborist report. In 2002, the Trial Court Facilities Act was passed to shift the governance of California’s courthouses from the counties to the state. The Office of Court Construction and Management was then formed to oversee the facility maintenance, construction and upkeep at courthouses throughout California.
According to a spokesperson for the Administrative Office of the
Courts, Philip Carrizosa, the state began reviewing all of its recently
acquired properties to determine whether they needed to be replaced,
renovated or kept as is.
When it came to Del Norte Superior Court, he said surveying the health of the cypress trees was similar to looking for leaks in a porous ceiling or analyzing the integrity of the building’s foundation. “It’s a safety issue,” Carrizosa said about the cypress trees. “The arborist’s conclusions are that the trees have reached the end of their lives.” The report, which was completed by an arborist out of Humboldt County last month, states that many of the trees in front of the courthouse are decayed and hollow. It also finds that the canopy shows many stress cracks and splits that could eventually lead to falling branches. Another detriment to the trees’ overall health is their location. The report states that a majority of the root system is affected by paving along the street and the parking lot between the trees and the courthouse. This leaves little room for water and oxygen to enter the ground, and there is evidence that previous work done with a stump grinder while replacing the sidewalks did “untold amounts of damage” to the trees. “These trees are not meant to be maintained in this environment. These trees should never have been planted in this location,” the report states. “Monterey Cypress are better suited for a park or wind row in a pasture. Open areas with room for root and canopy growth.” There’s also a “tremendous liability issue,” according to the report, given the amount of pedestrian traffic and parking that occurs within the shade of the trees.
 A metal tag denotes the number an arborist gave each tree to track its health. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson “Due to the size of the trees and the location I cannot reasonably argue for preservation,” the report states. “I believe that there will be many more failures in the years to come, and great injury or death to pedestrians or persons occupying vehicles beneath the trees is possible.” The California Administrative Office of the Courts will pay for Crescent City to get another arborist’s opinion about the Monterey cypress trees. Butler said he doesn’t expect that report to be completed until September or October, adding that the City Council and Planning Commission will likely have additional input during the process to allow for community involvement. “We have to weigh the attractiveness of the trees and history of the trees against public safety and liability,” Butler said. “My goal is to try to provide enough time for this process to make sure we’re really thinking it through and not taking out trees in a kind of rash or not well thought-out manner.” |
