ESCONDIDO: Aggressive resident campaign saves 70 trees

Petitions, yellow ribbons, phone calls change city's mind

By DAVID GARRICK - Staff Writer | Friday, June 6, 2008 9:27 PM PDT ∞

ESCONDIDO ---- A group of enthusiastic and resourceful Escondido residents have managed to save more than 70 mature camphor trees that city officials were planning to chop down.

The residents, who live in the 363-home Sonata subdivision just east of Westfield North County mall, tied yellow ribbons around the trees, circulated a petition, flooded City Hall with phone calls, called the Sierra Club for advice and created a computer-altered image of their neighborhood without the trees.

"These trees are so beautiful that we couldn't let them be taken out," said resident Ruth Lopez-Yanez, who spearheaded the campaign. The trees line both sides of the long and meandering Beethoven Street entryway into Sonata, a sprawling upscale subdivision that was built from 1982 to 1984.

The campaign, which began earlier this week, quickly got the attention of city officials, who said Friday their new plan is to chop down no more than five of the 77 trees.

Jerry Van Leeuwen, director of community services, blamed the city's previous decision to chop all the trees on confusion about what the residents wanted. Van Leeuwen said a Sonata homeowner sent the city a misleading letter this spring requesting removal of the trees.

"The residents had not been speaking with a unified voice to us," said Van Leeuwen, who declined to identify the resident who requested that all the trees be chopped.

But a letter the city sent to some residents in May does not mention any requests to have the trees chopped down. The letter says it is "mandatory" that the trees be removed, because the city is facing lawsuits based on damage the roots have done to nearby sidewalks.

Many Sonata residents have speculated that someone on the board of the Sonata Maintenance Association requested the trees be chopped down. The association is a resident task force that collects dues and takes care of the trees and other common-area landscaping in the subdivision.

David Feaster, an association board member from 2004 to 2006, said Friday that the board had discussed removing the trees many times in the past because the cost of maintaining them had spiraled out of control.

But Phil Stone, president of the maintenance association, said Friday that he had no idea who asked the city to chop all the trees. Stone said the idea of chopping down the trees was first presented to the association in that May 3 letter from the city.

In the letter, which was obtained by the North County Times, city officials said they had decided to remove all the trees because a Sonata resident had filed a lawsuit after tripping over a sidewalk that had been buckled by tree roots.

"We are aware of other similar situations that could lead to further litigation," the letter said. "We feel it is mandatory for us to stop the deterioration of the sidewalk."

At an association board meeting a few days later, city officials presented the residents with an ultimatum, Stone said Friday.

"We were told we had to take out all the trees or assume liability for all current and future litigation," said Stone. "We were never told there were other alternatives."

The residents' campaign began on May 13, when Stone sent a letter to all Sonata homeowners informing them that the trees would be cut down starting July 1.

On Thursday, Van Leeuwen said the city has decided to spare all but 12 trees that were too sick or too close to sidewalks. And on Friday, Van Leeuwen said additional examination by city maintenance workers indicated that only five trees would have to be chopped.

"We'd like to save those five as well, but one of our guys says they will die," said Van Leeuwen.

During a resident brainstorming session Friday morning at her house, Lopez-Yanez said the residents hope to also save those five trees. She has suggested the city look into a special metal brace that can prevent tree roots from damaging sidewalks.

Resident Ann Smith said the campaign has brought the residents together like never before. Smith, president of one of Sonata's homeowners associations, said the residents hope to begin pruning the trees less aggressively so they can grow tall enough to create a large canopy over the entry road.

Sonata is at a crossroads, she said, explaining that the subdivision lost 10 houses in last October's wildfires. Mirroring a national trend, average home prices in Sonata have dropped about $100,000 in recent months, to the high $600,000s and low $700,000s.

"Every neighborhood is either getting better or getting worse," said Smith. "We need to make sure ours is getting better."

Contact staff writer David Garrick at (760) 740-5468 or dgarrick@nctimes.com.

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