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4 | April 18, 2019 | Malibu surfside news news<br />

malibusurfsidenews.com<br />

Malibu planning commission<br />

Tree trimming proposal draws residents’ ire<br />

SoCal Edison wants<br />

to trim 5,000 trees<br />

for fire prevention<br />

Michele Willer-Allred<br />

Freelance Reporter<br />

Community members attended<br />

the Malibu Planning<br />

Commission meeting on<br />

Monday, April 15, to voice<br />

their concerns about Southern<br />

California Edison’s<br />

plan to trim about 5,000<br />

trees citywide in an effort<br />

to mitigate fire risk next to<br />

transmission lines.<br />

According to SoCal Edison<br />

officials a 12-foot radius<br />

clearance around the<br />

trees is recommended to<br />

protect Edison transmission<br />

wires from fire danger.<br />

During the public comment<br />

period of the meeting,<br />

Malibu resident and<br />

environmental advocate<br />

Pat Healy talked about a<br />

community-wide concern<br />

of Edison’s “indiscriminate<br />

tree destruction plan in the<br />

name of safety.”<br />

“More than 23,000 trees<br />

were lost locally in the Santa<br />

Monica Mountains due<br />

to the last fire,” Healy said.<br />

“Now Edison is wanting to<br />

continue the devastation by<br />

chopping or topping more<br />

trees.<br />

“In many instances this<br />

brutal approach will result<br />

in leaving only tree trunks.<br />

Limbs and leaves will be<br />

destroyed, and other trees<br />

will have a hard time surviving<br />

since the tree will<br />

not be getting enough nutrients<br />

for the energy it<br />

needs.”<br />

According to her there is<br />

no discernment in how Edison<br />

trims the trees around<br />

its wires.<br />

Healy also raised the issue<br />

that protected trees will<br />

be in danger, as well as<br />

nesting birds.<br />

She said she was told that<br />

Edison recently chopped<br />

down a eucalyptus grove<br />

along Mulholland Highway<br />

that was a major monarch<br />

overwintering roosting site.<br />

“Edison’s vegetation<br />

plan is not only a visual<br />

blight but also an environmental<br />

disaster,” she said.<br />

Judy Villablanca, a<br />

Malibu Park and Recreation<br />

commissioner, said<br />

that oak, sycamore, walnut<br />

and alder trees burnt in the<br />

fire require long recovery<br />

times, and that trimming<br />

them too early post-fire<br />

may kill them.<br />

“Edison’s plan to remove<br />

5,000 trees in Malibu will<br />

further damage our ecosystem<br />

and violate the protections<br />

in place for native<br />

trees which needs to be enforced,”<br />

Villablanca said.<br />

“The fear of fire, which<br />

justifies some rational tree<br />

trimming, should not be<br />

used to justify unnecessary<br />

environmental damage.”<br />

Both Healy and<br />

Villablanca said a Coastal<br />

Development Permit is or<br />

should be required for Edison’s<br />

removal of protected<br />

trees, and when there is no<br />

alternative to removal of<br />

native trees, there should be<br />

a mitigation plan in place<br />

with an arborist or biologist<br />

monitoring the project.<br />

“Fire danger is a big concern<br />

as well, and Edison is<br />

under a lot of pressure to<br />

minimize fire danger to the<br />

extent that they can within<br />

their control,” Planning<br />

Director Bonnie Blue said.<br />

“So, we’re trying to figure<br />

out the best path forward<br />

for this.”<br />

She added that Edison officials<br />

have communicated<br />

with the city that they are<br />

working hard to make sure<br />

all their crews are trained<br />

on protocols involving<br />

nesting birds and working<br />

alongside with biologists.<br />

Planning Commissioner<br />

Chris Marx said it is important<br />

that Edison start<br />

the tree trimming in the<br />

west side of town, which<br />

is more fire prone, instead<br />

of the east side, which was<br />

severely impacted in the<br />

Woolsey Fire.<br />

“It’s frustrating to listen<br />

to this, because of all the<br />

fire that I’ve personally<br />

been through, I can only<br />

think of two that began in<br />

Malibu and neither one of<br />

them was related to an electrical<br />

interference,” Planning<br />

Commission Jeffrey<br />

Jennings said.<br />

Planning Commission<br />

Chairman Steve Uhring<br />

asked city staff to let the<br />

City Council know “there<br />

is a growing concern about<br />

taking these trees down,<br />

and maybe they can come<br />

back and revisit it.”<br />

News Briefs<br />

Malibu Farmers Market to<br />

continue during construction<br />

of Santa Monica College<br />

campus<br />

The Malibu City Council<br />

voted during the Council<br />

meeting on Monday,<br />

April 8 to allow the Malibu<br />

Farmers Market to use city<br />

land for customer parking<br />

during construction of<br />

the Santa Monica College<br />

satellite campus, offering<br />

a solution to help the<br />

popular farmers market to<br />

continue serving Malibu<br />

residents.<br />

Mayor Jefferson Wagner<br />

said the market has<br />

been offering residents a<br />

great sense of community<br />

every Sunday for years<br />

and the city needs more of<br />

that.<br />

Cornucopia Farmers<br />

Market, which operates<br />

the Malibu Farmers<br />

Market, had requested<br />

to use the city’s recently<br />

acquired parcel at 23575<br />

Civic Center Way, the<br />

site of the annual Chili<br />

Cookoff.<br />

Part of the parking lot<br />

of the Malibu Library<br />

and county-owned former<br />

courthouse building that<br />

was used by Farmers Market<br />

customers has been<br />

impacted by construction<br />

of the new Santa Monica<br />

College project. Space remained<br />

available for the<br />

vendor tents, but not for<br />

public customer parking.<br />

Construction on the satellite<br />

campus started in<br />

September 2018 and is<br />

expected to be finished<br />

in December of 2021<br />

with classes starting in<br />

2022.<br />

Nearly 50 percent of<br />

properties participating<br />

in state debris removal<br />

cleared of Woolsey, Hill<br />

Fire debris<br />

State contractors have removed<br />

debris generated by<br />

the Woolsey and Hill fires<br />

from 441 properties in Los<br />

Angeles and Ventura counties<br />

whose owners are participating<br />

in the state’s Consolidated<br />

Debris Removal<br />

Program, officials with the<br />

Debris Removal Operations<br />

Center, said April 8.<br />

According to DROC officials,<br />

contractors have removed<br />

nearly 181,000 tons<br />

of burned metal, concrete,<br />

ash and soil since operations<br />

began on February 6.<br />

So far, DROC officials have<br />

submitted final inspections<br />

reports for 96 properties in<br />

Los Angeles County and 11<br />

parcels in Ventura County<br />

to local officials, paving<br />

the way for owners to start<br />

the reconstruction of their<br />

homes.<br />

Submission of the final<br />

inspection report for each<br />

property followed the completion<br />

of site assessments;<br />

asbestos surveys; asbestos<br />

abatements, where needed;<br />

debris removal; analysis<br />

and testing of soil samples<br />

by a state-certified laboratory;<br />

the implementation<br />

of erosion control measures<br />

by state contractors;<br />

and a final walkthrough by<br />

state debris removal officials<br />

and operations staff.<br />

Electric company warns<br />

Malibu of impending tree<br />

cutting<br />

Southern California<br />

Edison said tree trimmers<br />

will arrive in Malibu over<br />

the next few weeks to cut<br />

more trees than the city has<br />

even seen.<br />

The electric company’s<br />

manager of vegetation<br />

management, Matt Sadler<br />

told the city council on<br />

April 8 that the state now<br />

recommends tree limbs be<br />

cut back much farther from<br />

power lines.<br />

Even though these rules<br />

are not completely binding,<br />

Edison will be enforcing<br />

them.<br />

The new state rules also<br />

require the electric company<br />

to avoid severe trimming<br />

of what they call protected<br />

trees.<br />

Oaks are protected trees<br />

in Malibu and the Edison<br />

Company official says<br />

they regard sycamore trees<br />

as protected in Malibu as<br />

well. However, pine or<br />

palm trees are likely to get<br />

axed.<br />

Residents are outraged<br />

and plan on challenging<br />

the company’s actions if<br />

required.<br />

Fun Easter events at the<br />

Malibu Country Mart<br />

A host of celebrations<br />

will take place at the Malibu<br />

Country Mart. Between<br />

a complimentary familyfriendly<br />

event complete<br />

with real Easter bunnies the<br />

Saturday before Easter Day<br />

and traditional Greek celebrations<br />

on Easter Sunday<br />

and Greek Easter, there is<br />

no shortage of ways to celebrate<br />

at the upscale seaside<br />

shopping destination.<br />

Please see news briefs, 7

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