Friday, May 24, 2013

Leaning Tree Vanishes

Getting up close to the pinkish foliage
Sadly, Ninth Avenue has lost one of its wonders.  Some random road crew chopped down our gorgeous leaning conifer, with its distinctive pink-tinged needles, and has already ground its stump down to the roots!  Its ghost still appears on Googlemaps (check out the screen grabs pictured below).  Rumour has it that the County Works Department ordered the tree removed, although apparently no permit was issued.  Who is the real culprit behind this hatchet job??  Saddened neighbors placed a ring of yellow daisies on top of the spot it once occupied.

It's possible that this old tree was declared "badly out of balance", and then the buzz saws set to work.
Here's the regulation http://www.dpw.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/mtce.htm#Tree%20Removal%20Policy
However, it also appears that this beloved tree, which measured more than five feet around in circumferance, should have been protected as "significant" -  with a status similar to a "heritage tree" in the City of Santa Cruz. (http://www.codepublishing.com/ca/santacruzcounty/html/santacruzcounty16/SantaCruzCounty1634.html#16.34.030.  What's more, it was a "locally unique" species in a scenic area adjacent to a state park.  See the regulation. http://www.codepublishing.com/ca/santacruzcounty/html/SantaCruzCounty16/SantaCruzCounty1632.html#16.32/



Heading beachward, even the garbage trucks could fit underneath this fine old tree!

view from the other side; now all we see is a hideous tangle of wires
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3 comments:

  1. Izzy BeeMay 24, 2013 at 12:56 PM

    According to a local resident, the tree has loomed over the end of the street for more than four decades. It was like an arborial "Leaning Tower of Pisa" back in the 1970s!

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  2. Izzy BeeMay 24, 2013 at 12:59 PM

    Several people noted that the nearby houses now have unimpeded ocean views, so must be worth a bit more after the chop.

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  3. Izzy BeeMay 25, 2013 at 12:04 PM

    Ron Arruda, active at the UCSC Arboretum, advises: Seems like Cryptomeria japonica var. elegans, the species form that keeps it juvenile foliage permanently. They often wind up looking like the specimen in questions, and just as often fall over from their own weight. Sic transit!

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