The folks working to save the Torrey Pine on the 4600 block of Saratoga have requested a “Community Forum” on the tree with city representatives to discuss the new arborist’s report and other information – before the city makes any move on the historic Torrey.
John Ambert, in his communication with city officials in which he attached Mastor Arborist Bradley Brown’s risk assessment, make the following:
We are requesting a community forum with City representatives to review the information presented and discuss the path forward, prior to any future work activities.
There was no time or place included in the request. But such a forum has been on many OBceans’ minds, especially those mobilized around this tree, called “Hope” or “Esperanza”.
Ambert sent the communication via email in the afternoon on Wednesday, August 17. To our knowledge, there has been no response from the city at this point. Stay tuned.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m curious as to what the homeowners’ insurance companies have to say over all of this… We still don’t really know if the tree is a threat or not because we have two different reports from two different arborists that have been paid by each side of the argument. But the reality is, whether the tree stays or goes, the homeowners end up paying the price. If the tree stays and there’s still a doubt over the health of the tree, their insurance premiums could sky rocket or they could even be dropped. It would be beneficial to all if there was a true, unbiased arborist report (one not paid by the city and one not paid by the OB community) so we can put this to bed once and for all. I fear for the homeowners on that street in more ways than one.
The center of gravity is towards the street not the houses on the North side of the street. If homeowners insurance had a problem with trees like this, there would be thousands of uninsured homes.
Bottomline to all of this:
No one accepts responsibility for the deaths, injuries or destruction from this tree except the city. If the city finds the tree dangerous, the city is unwilling to accept responsibility or accountability. If the arborist and the individuals requesting the tree stay are willing to put a few million dollars into escrow and agree in a written contract to pay for all damages and future care of the tree, that is when they can make the decision to stay or go. Actually, the decision is more like who lives or dies.
What conspiracy theory is there that I’m missing? If they just wanted the tree down, so they don’t have to take care of it, they would be cutting down every tree in the city. The city would be taking out the other four on the street too.