The fight to save the Whittier tree has grown new roots.
Conservation groups are suing a southeastern Los Angeles County city over plans to cut down more than 100 trees as part of a redesign of its commercial center, the latest flashpoint in a nearly year-long battle over the fate of the tree canopy.
A lawsuit filed by the Whittier Preservation Group in Los Angeles County Superior Court earlier this month says the city hasn’t conducted the necessary environmental review even as information about the $20 million Greenleaf Promenade has come to light. claims that he did not. shade.
Whittier City Council members voted 3-1 in June to move forward with the plan, which was proposed as a way to boost business and improve walkability in the Uptown area, adding several to the project originally approved last year. Made changes.
City officials argue that the construction required for the project will make it impossible to preserve the 83 fig trees and other trees that line the three blocks of Greenleaf Avenue slated for redevelopment. This has sparked a public backlash and is calling for reconsideration.
After the project was approved last December, several “study sessions” were held to discuss the tree plans, with some in the community hoping to come up with an alternative approach.
Whittier Conservancy President Mary Gorman-Sullens said the nonprofit group “only resorted to litigation when the city rebuffed our attempts to reach a reasonable and workable compromise.”
“You can also upgrade the business district while maintaining the canopy,” she added. “And we remain committed to that approach.”
Whittier Mayor Pro Tem Kathy Warner cited sidewalk accessibility for people with disabilities as one of the reasons the trees had to be removed. Fig tree roots can lift or tear concrete sidewalks, potentially impeding pedestrian movement.
“I wish there was another solution, a workable solution, to deal with this problem. [Americans with Disabilities Act] To solve problems and improve Uptown,” Warner said.
The lawsuit centers on allegations that the City of Whittier violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). CEQA is a state law that requires public agencies to assess the potential environmental impacts of proposed projects and identify ways to avoid or reduce those impacts.
Greenleaf Promenade was born out of a small pilot project that was canceled due to the pandemic, city officials said. The one-block uptown garden, which cost an estimated $3.8 million, was different in some ways that it was important. The group of trees was preserved.
The original plan was to cut down 22 trees. The latest version of the project calls for removing 108 rooted trees along Greenleaf Avenue between Wardman and Hadley streets and planting 118 smaller trees in the area.
At its June meeting, the City Council approved modifications to the project, including replacing trees scheduled for removal with larger trees than previously envisioned and adding shade structures to cover sidewalks. The changes appear to be in response to concerns about how cutting down trees reduces shade and reduces carbon capture and storage.
Based on the revised plan, carbon sequestration is expected to drop significantly in the first year after the current canopy is replaced, with levels expected to break even in 24 years, according to the April project report. are.
The complaint states that revelations about reduced carbon sequestration require an environmental review, and that modifications purported to attempt to reduce a phenomenon known as the urban heat island also require analysis under CEQA. .
Just before the June meeting, the city’s public works director told the conservation group that plans to replace aging water mains along Greenleaf would require cutting down trees. The lawsuit alleges the water main project was improperly separated from the boardwalk.
The lawsuit also found that the final approved project lacked detail and allowed for potential changes, also violations of CEQA, and required the city to remove trees and prevent historic preservation. It also alleges that local laws stipulating the situation were ignored.
“We feel there is a lack of complete transparency as to exactly what the district’s motives and actual plans are,” said Amy Mintier, an attorney representing the Whittier Conservancy. .
The lawsuit seeks to halt the project, saying the city is complying with its obligations under state and local law.
Javier Garcia of Whittier Parents posted a notice in June urging local homeowners to protect the fig tree on Greenleaf Avenue.
(Myung Jae-chun/Los Angeles Times)
Other cities are also fighting in court over the preservation of fig trees and other trees.
Beverly Hills cleared more than 50 fig trees as part of a sidewalk renovation project before a judge ordered the city to stop with a preliminary injunction. The city has settled the lawsuit and is preparing an environmental impact report for the project, said attorney Jamie T. Hall, who is representing tree advocates in the case.
Hall is also involved in an ongoing lawsuit against the city of Burbank over the removal of more than 70 pine trees.
“Cities across California are facing backlash from concerned residents who refuse to accept urban forest clear-cutting,” Hall said in a statement. “For many people, it is difficult to do much about climate change, but we intuitively know that cutting down mature trees causes great harm to the environment.”
Whittier Mayor Pro Tem Warner said he respects the group’s opinion, although he doesn’t agree with it.
“They want what they believe is the right answer, the right outcome, according to their point of view,” she says. “And I think it’s just a matter of us having different perspectives on how we interpret different information.”
City Manager Brian Saeki declined to comment on the lawsuit in a statement, but said the promenade supports local businesses and builds on decades of efforts to make the Uptown area more pedestrian-friendly. He said it was central. The redesign includes wider sidewalks, outdoor dining, gathering spaces, street furniture, and decorative lighting.
Christian Lomas, who opened La Botaneria on Greenleaf Street a few years ago, said he believes renovating the street will help with poor sales.
(Lila Seedman/Los Angeles Times)
Opponents and supporters of the latest version of the plan tend to agree that an area of the city center last updated in the 1980s could be reborn.
Whittier resident Connie McCormack said the group she started to oppose tree removal went “in full force” at a recent Christmas parade gathering signatures for a petition. Approximately 6,800 people signed the petition.
Mr McCormack said it was easy to get people on board and said: “They were so upset… they were sitting under a tree in their favorite street in Greenleaf.”
But Warner said many residents have expressed support for the boardwalk in one-on-one conversations and emails.
She said they ask, “When are you going to end this?” Why does it take so long? ”
