Council hears report on trees

By Eliza Ridgeway, Town Crier Staff Writer

Judy Baker of Los Altos Hills enjoys the sight of eucalyptus trees lining Page Mill Road and opposes the proposed ban on the trees.

Eucalyptus trees may soon vanish from public

rights-of-way in Los Altos Hills and eventually from the entire town to answer safety concerns.

A town ordinance which would ban the planting of new eucalyptus trees and mandate the removal of exiting ones as a condition of new site development is under consideration. Meanwhile, some property owners and the town have begun to trim and remove eucalyptus trees where they are hazards.

Orange cones and sawdust litter the roadside along Page Mill Road just beyond the intersection with Altamont Road. Six eucalyptus trees have been cut along the right-of-way by the homeowners, Waidy Lee and Earl Killian, who live beneath them.

“I am a tree lover, not a tree killer,” Lee said. “(But) the only way to guarantee safety with certainty is to remove these trees.”

The town became alert to the problem of eucalyptus trees dropping limbs when a falling branch killed cyclist Dan Plummer during the New Year storms this January. Lee has been concerned about the trees along her property line for longer than that - she said that falling limbs from the trees have struck her power lines twice and burst into flame on her

property. She and Killian plan to replant the area with native shrubbery.

Barrie Coate, consulting arborist for Los Altos Hills, prepared a March 7 report that concluded, “Tasmanian Blue Gum … are not suitable candidates for retention in the average property.”

This eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus) occurs naturally in areas of Tasmania and southeast Australia. More than 700 eucalyptus species proliferate in Australia and surrounding islands, but the tasmanian blue gum is one of the most common variants in the United States.

Hills resident Judy Baker mourned the disappearance of the tall trees along Page Mill Road.

“I’ve lived up here for 21 years, driving by, enjoying these trees and their beauty,” she said. “What if the branch that had killed the cyclist was (from) an oak tree? Would we ban all oak trees?”

Eucalyptus aren’t the only trees to drop limbs and block roadways in town. According to Coate’s report, oak trees generate more incidents than any other species in the region. Redwood trees and American sweet gum trees also drop limbs.

Results of a townwide tree survey is expected to be presented at the April 27 city council meeting. An ordinance limiting eucalyptus may reach the council in June, city engineer Henry Louie estimated.