New Trees OK'd for Irvine Avenue

Plans to rejuvenate Irvine Avenue's forlorn median, left barren by , won approval this week from park commissioners in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa.

The calls for a mix of date palms and African Tulip trees, as well as grasses, aloes and shrubs along the Irvine Avenue median between Westcliff/17th Street and Dover Drive/19th Street.

At a joint meeting held Wednesday, Newport's Parks, Beaches and Recreation Commission voted 4-2 in favor of the proposal, and Costa Mesa's Parks and Recreation Commission voted 5-0.

Harry Kobzeff of TCLA Inc., the landscape architecture firm in charge of the plan, said the reforestation project is designed to create a safe but attractive entryway to the city with of a variety of trees, plants and flowers that offer year-round appeal. 

"We decided that a palm tree row would be a good way to keep things clean," Kobzeff said. "It gives a good window into the commercial area."

During the meeting, commissioners were split on whether to hastily approve the new plans. Commissioner Tom Anderson, who has lived off Irvine Avenue since 1986, said he wanted TCLA to propose at least three different options for the cities to choose from, not just one. 

"Irvine Avenue is a large thoroughfare. I want to see majestic. Those thoughts do not come to me when I see this," Anderson said. "I want to see something a little more bold, bigger."

Anderson suggested large palms like those from Fashion Island, but Mark Harmon, the city's director of municipal operations, said that isn't possible. 

"We have extremely restricted road space there, [with] some medians only 4 or 5 feet wide, which limits the types of trees we can put there," Harmon said.

Crews chopped down the 104 eucalyptus trees on Irvine Avenue following the death of . She was killed in September when a eucalyptus fell onto her car.