A homeowner on Santa Barbara’s Riviera cut down four trees without a city permit on Saturday, sparking a backlash in the neighborhood and furor among city officials.
“This is a beautiful, old grove neighborhood, where each one of those trees contributes to the urban forest,” said City Councilwoman Kristen Sneddon. “I believe that they are integral to the feel of the whole block and the area. You are not going to replace them with a fast-growing shrub. It is going to take a long time to bring them back.”
Sneddon was informed of the incident by neighbors who witnessed the cutting of the trees on Saturday morning.
The homeowner, James Carr, did not speak to Noozhawk Monday afternoon. When a reporter approached Carr’s ocean-view home at 1708 Paterna Drive, Carr declined to speak and said, “Have a nice day.”
Nathan Slack, the city’s urban forest superintendent, said the city is investigating what went wrong.
“The homeowner and the contractor did not obtain a permit for removing these trees,” Slack said. “At the present time, I cannot speak to the age of the trees, but can assure you that there is great value that the citizens of Santa Barbara place on trees, and the benefits they provide to the community, so this is a huge loss.
Slack said crews cut down four eugenia trees on the 1700 block of Paterna Road. Three of the trees were parkway street trees, and a forth was located within the front yard setback of the property.
Homeowners must obtain a permit before pruning or removing any street tree. Permits are also required to remove trees located within the front setbacks of properties, when the tree is larger than 4″ in diameter, which is the case here.
Slack said failure to obtain a permit prior to removing the trees can result in possible required mitigation strategies and/or fines.
In this case, a request to remove healthy trees must be reviewed by the city’s Street Tree Advisory Committee and the Parks and Recreation Commission.
Santa Barbara prides itself on its street trees about as much as it does its red tile roofs, historic structures such as The Mission, and the Santa Barbara County Courthouse. The city cares for about 23,000 street trees.
City officials claim that street trees provide about $2 million in annual benefits, including stormwater and carbon dioxide reduction and reduced energy costs. Santa Barbara has been recognized since 1980 with the Tree City USA title.
Nearby resident Bob Johnson has lived on the Riviera for 20 years. He said the crew that cut the trees was from Los Angeles.
He spoke to them on Saturday morning. He took pictures of the event and said the crews told him that they were simply doing a job they were hired to do. The trucks had no name or company listed on them.
The trees were among the 12 on the uphill side of Paterna Drive, Johnson said, and they have made the street one of the most beautiful in the city.
“It’s not legal, and it is certainly not right,” Johnson said. “The street is a beautiful, winding street just one block above Alameda Padre Serra. These trees have been here for maybe as much as 100 years.”
Johnson said the city should create stiffer penalties for people who cut down trees without a permit.
“The city legal structure does not protect the urban forest well enough,” Johnson said. “The fines are puny compared to the scale of the damage done. I think politically, legislatively, that should be addressed.”
Sneddon said she was told that park rangers approached the crews while they were cutting down the trees, to tell them to stop, but they cut down the trees anyway.
The owners weren’t present at the time.
“Are we really going to tolerate weekend work to chop down trees and deal with it later?” Sneddon said. “This is really bad. We don’t want to start a new era of chop now and pay a fine later.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
