Fate of Holiday Road Eucalyptus Trees Up to City Council

A city panel's recent vote to save 18 blue gum eucalyptus trees from the ax could get reversed by the Newport Beach City Council tonight.

Earlier this month, city staffers told the Parks, Beaches and Recreation Commission that a team of inspectors had classified the trees in the 2200 block of Holiday Road as a threat to public safety. According to the staff report, 14 of the trees posed a high risk, while four were deemed a moderate risk.

"There is a high potential for failure of those trees and the arborists recommend removing them immediately," Mark Harmon, the city's director of municipal operations, told the panel.

But the commission - which has jurisdiction over trees that are officially recognized as helping to define a neighborhood - voted 4-3 against removal. Preservationists suggested placing large support stakes next to the trees, trimming the canopies and/or X-raying the trees instead of cutting down them.

But Harmon said arborists "determined that these actions would not decrease the threat of failure due to the extreme size of the blue gum eucalyptus trees on Holiday Road."

Newport Beach's tree-chopping binge began after was killed when a eucalyptus fell onto her car in September as she drove along a Costa Mesa street. The city quickly removed more than 100 eucalyptus trees from the Irvine Avenue median between Westcliff/17th Street and Dover Drive. Since then, arborists inspected another 250 trees citywide. Last month in Corona del Mar, along Fourth Avenue.

Should the trees on Holiday Road stay or go?