In Rossmoor, trees amid the urban forest rule the roost, so they say, and when you have five members of the Board of Directors all vote in favor of taking out one of the communities largest trees, it’s a sad night.
Such was the case this past week at its August board of Directors meeting when it became painfully obvious that there was no option but to grant the request to cut down a huge California Sycamore tree at 12622 Martha Ann Drive.
Though not intended, per se, much of the meeting ended up featuring Rossmoor’s growing urban forest, which estimates say contains approximately 5,200 trees.
Mary Kingman, the community’s full-time arborist was on hand to give the quarterly report on the community’s urban forest, but she ended up dominating much of the meeting, explaining to the board and residents how quickly the climate is changing what is planted in Rossmoor.
She said not as much pruning is done in the 2nd quarter, since it is peak nesting time for birds, so unless there is a problem or a situation that can’t be ignored, they are generally let alone.
Kingman said only 15 residents had requested service during the period. She said 23 trees had been removed during the period for oldgage, disease, etc.
Director Nathan Searles asked Kingman about how the excessive heat and climate was changing Rossmoor’s Urban Forest, and Kingman said, in fact, quite a lot.
The tree list for proper planting is constantly changing because “a lot of the trees we originally planted in the district, especially going back to when the neighborhood was first built, and even going back 20 years, sometimes even 10 years, we realized those species are no longer suitable,” said Kingman.
“The climate that is changing with or extreme periods of drought and then followed by extreme periods of rainfall so looking forward, we need to find trees that are going to be able to withstand all these different conditions,” the arborist told the Board.
“Besides that, a lot of trees are just under stress because of these conditions and also. a lot of foreign pests are coming in that they’re (trees) not used to combating them,” said Kingman.
She said there is a new list of about 18 species of trees now recommended for planting in Rossmoor. “There’s also bacterial diseases that affect the trees so all these conditions are just challenging to urban forest,” she said.
During the discussion, Kingman said Charles and Nancy, the homeowners at 12622 Martha Ann would have to pick a tree from this new list (and pay for it), if the board gave them permission to but their tree down.
Kingman told Board Member Tony Demarco that she examined that tree, a California Sycamore, in 2019, and it was disease-free.
The problem, according to the homeowners, is the roots, given new regulations, coul not be guaranteed not to cause structural problems for the 10-year period required by law. The man’s contractor appeared before the Board to verify the homeowner’s story.
Currently, the homeowners said they are undergoing renovations to accommodate a growing family and the tree’s roots are highly invasive.
Dr. Jeffrey Barke, who sits on a Trees and Parkway Committee with Director Jo Shade, said he had no problem with removing the tree.
Shade said she highly recommends it.
“I think that I’m definitely recommending that we go forward,” said Shade, saying three is “intrusive to the sidewalk.”
She said earlier damage had already caused the homeowner to pay thousands of dollars in damage, a comment the homeowner verified.
Even so, President Maynard and Demarco grilled Kingman just to be sure there wasn’t any other alternative to cutting the big, healthy tree down.
“This is hard because that’s what I call a Marquee tree within Rossmoor,” said Maynard. That’s one of our big skyscrapers,” said Maynard, who said he often walks under the tree with his family to get some shade during the excessive heat.
Barke made the motion, seconded by Shade and the board voted 5-0 for the tall tree to go. Kingman will now ask Orange County Public Works to cut the tree, which will be at no cost to the district, but if they refuse, the homeowners will have to pay the bill, she said.
In addition, Kingman said she will work with them to select a new tree to replant.
Finally, the board modified its memorial tree policy as well. No longer will memorial plaques be placed on trees that are planted as memorials. Because of a number of factors, General Manager Joe Mendoza and Kingman advised the board to discontinue the practice.
Instead, certificates will be issued, and for people who opt for memorial benches near their memorial trees, plaques will be installed.
The board briefly discussed the cost of both the memorial tree planning and the park benches, with Mendoza and Kingman saying the costs will include various options, but overall, the service is considered to be “revenue neutral,” meaning the district will never charge more than the cost of providing the service.