Don't allow this to happen to all our Special Trees?

You might notice the hearts, bows and signs placed on several Marine Ave eucalyptus trees around Valentine’s Day, which the City was notified about and authorized. 

BIPA along with many Balboa Island residents LOVE our iconic trees, which have contributed to the quality of life and character of Marine Ave since the 1930's. You will notice on the signs is The Lorax, who protects all trees (Dr. Suess). The Lorax’s universal message is to embrace the type of development that is achieved without destroying the trees in our environment.  

Like the Lorax, BIPA's mission is to protect and preserve our beautiful Marine Ave eucalyptus trees and has requested that no more trees be removed without scientific proof to back up any recommendation of removal. Our bows and hearts are a message that these trees are important!  

Unfortunately, there are some individuals that have been working AGAINST the preservation of our trees and would like to see our iconic eucalyptus trees removed so they can promote a new look for Marine Ave. In fact, our newly planted "baby" trees have been vandalized by lower limbs being snapped off and the ribbons and bows that were placed around our mature and vulnerable Landmark trees during the holidays have been anonymously removed and discarded more than four times! A few residents have reported this vandalism to the police and to the City. 

UPDATE!

Yesterday, on Friday morning (Valentine's Day -- Feb. 14),  John Noyes (the head of BIMI) and Diane Hussey on the board of BIMI (a local merchant who rents a store on Marine Ave offering architect services for projects), was seen and heard walking up and down Marine Avenue complaining about the so-called " unauthorized decorations and signage" on the trees. They apparently questioned a number of merchants as to who hung the hearts on the trees and expressed extreme displeasure about the holiday decor.  Some folks have even reported that John and Diane said the decor would be ripped down.

Well, the bandits in fact stuck again around 7:30 p.m. and pulled down all the ribbons, bows and Red Valentine's Day Hearts from all the trees.  Very sad indeed!  

Never before in the history of Balboa Island have our City-designated “Special Trees” on Marine Ave been under such SCRUTINY!  Ever since the Redesign / Redevelopment Initiative was proposed, as reintroduced by Councilmember Jeff Herdman, our Marine Ave trees have been TARGETED for removal. The BIPA has questioned the validity of the subjective views presented by City arborists claiming many of the trees are suspected to be  "diseased and dangerous."  In addition the BIPA has pointed out the trees were completely missing from the City’s redevelopment design plans and images, replaced by palms and African Tulip trees.  Since then the BIPA and many others in our community have voiced their strong objection to the City's recommendation to remove almost all of the mature trees along Marine Ave.  Despite the public outcry against removal, in September, the City directed the removal of four trees without conducting any scientific testing whatsoever.  When those trees were removed, residents and members of BIPA asked the City Staff to point to any evidence following removal that the four trees actually had “root rot” or “heartwood trunk decay”.  Sadly, the City Staff was unable or unwilling to produce any evidence that the four trees had root rot or heartwood decay, instead choosing to rely solely on their earlier subjective opinions of declining health.  Over the last several months, the BIPA and many in the community participated in City Council meetings, study sessions and Parks Beaches and Recreation Commission meetings to voice their concerns over the proposed removal of trees without conducting any scientific tests or producing any hard evidence to justify removal of the trees. 

Now is the time to hold the City Staff accountable for their actions in directing the removal of the first four (4) trees without any testing, and insist that the City Staff abide by the directive of the Parks Beaches & Recreation Commission, including the explicit instructions from Mayor Diane Dixon, that all future trees slated for removal be subject to advanced testing with specialized equipment and shown to present a high risk of instability before any of the next six (6) trees (MARKED for removal) are chopped down.