The OB Rag has heard a report via a reader that a large, “champion” Torrey Pine is being cut down today – Monday, May 1st – in the area of the 3600 block of Amaryllis and Lotus near Plumosa Park.
We have not been able to confirm this.
A concerned citizen made a posting on Network alerting the local community in Point Loma. Here is an excerpt:
… they are cutting down this Champion style native Torrey Pine tree on the 3600 block of Amaryllis and Lotus near Plumosa Park. I am unaware of any outreach to the community that this tree was going to be felled. I do not know the whole story of why it is being felled.
These trees add so much value and quality of life to our city and community. People need to know that this is happening so that we can create a better dialogue and understanding of the issues we face as a community here in San Diego.
We need Friends of Peninsula Trees and other neighbors help us confirm this.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
If the tree is on private property, there is no way to protect it. The City’s property is generally 10 feet from face of curb but I’ve seen variations from as little as 5 feet to considerably more. I learned many years ago that a Torrey Pine on a previously developed lot can be cut down, only trees in the public right-of-way are protected.
True enough.
I just read the Ch8 coverage of this tree removal-once again, heartbreaking. A private property owner is responsible for killing a rare and endangered species under ‘threat of personal safety”, or threat of “insurance costs” or threat of “coconut sized pine cones”.
This is a cc of the felling on Saratoga Ave last fall, with one large exception. Because this tree sits on private property it is not protected by environmental law, and the surrounding community has little say in its disposition. The Saratoga tree lived on public property, it was OUR tree, not privately owned, yet a single entity persisted with claims of “imminent danger” and “public hazard”, resulting in a debacle that left the community heartbroken, the City with egg on its face, and a still unresolved, large mitigation issue.
While who owns the space makes a big difference, some of the questions are the same. I hope the Peninsula Planning Board will take a leaf from OB’s book and start paying close attention to their public trees. From my view, it would seem all large trees are under threat at this point, simply because they’re large. It has become easy to say “Its dangerous”, “Its sick”, “Its leaning”, “It scares me”…. an incredibly “first world” view that must be reframed. The monetary value of that tree with respect to the functions and services it provided to the surrounding community by way of air and water remediation, shade and temperature regulation, oxygen production, and psychological well being, has a much higher $ figure than the cost of the maintenance required to sustain and conserve the life of the tree. Chicken little, the sky is NOT falling.
Very well said, Retired Botanist, very well said.