PPCC to Make Street Tree Policy

By CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA | Reporter

The Pacific Palisades Community Council took on the topic of tree management at its biweekly meeting in the Palisades Branch Library on Thursday, April 25.

Michael Terry, chairman of Palisades Beautiful, gave a slideshow presentation on what species of trees are currently allowed and prohibited in the area by the Urban Forestry Department.

Terry informed the council that Urban Forestry has asked Palisades Beautiful to obtain PPCC approval of any street tree policy developed for Pacific Palisades and reviewed three draft policies for the board to consider.

“In order to enable our Committee to serve our community, we are asking the PPCC to evaluate our current draft policies, provide feedback so we can make any appropriate policy revisions, and (eventually) approve our ‘final’ set of policies so that they will be recognized by the UFD,” said Terry’s presentation.

Speaking on behalf of the Urban Forestry Department, Stephen Duprey, a supervisor at UFD, said the department felt “constrained” by the Brentwood-Palisades Community Plan and was requesting both Palisades Beautiful and PPCC work together to figure an efficient way to form a policy.

But members on the PPCC board disagreed on the best course of action, as Richard Cohen, PPCC treasurer, supported a committee be formed to oversee the collaboration. Others felt that hiring professional consultants was the best route, given that the PPCC “knew nothing about trees.”

“I feel that this is important enough that we should take a step back and let professionals [handle this],” said Kelly Comras, the second alternate representative for Area 1.

Regardless of which route is taken, “the goal is to get trees in the Pacific Palisades,” Duprey said.

Lisa Cahill, field representative for Councilmember Mike Bonin, was also in attendance and pointed out that decisions on future tree policy were entirely up to the council.

PPCC Chair George Wolfberg is expected to announce a decision on this in the future and will be responsible for forming the committee, should the council choose to do so.

The community council will meet again on May 9.