Cutting at Westlake Plaza was halted temporarily today, but has since resumed

By Anna Bitong and Kyle Jorrey

The tree cutting at Westlake Plaza ceased this morning while the centers owners and city staff worked out a plan to remove more than 200 trees in phases.

In the process of removing the trees at the popular shopping center at the corner of Westlake Boulevard and Agoura Road, landscaping crews today were given the order to stop working during the discussions. Cutting has since resumed.

Were asking (the owners) to consider a more phased-in approach over time, rather than cutting them all at once, said Thousand Oaks Mayor Pro Tem Al Adam, who toured the site today along with fellow Councilmember Claudia Bill-de la Pea and John Prescott, community development director for the city.

Patrick Conway, vice president and regional officer for plaza owner Regency Centers, said that the city reached out to the company this morning to discuss the new approach.

Were going to mitigate the timing and phasing of the tree removal so that we dont create a stark environment while were getting through the project, Conway said.

As of this morning, roughly 20 to 25 trees had already been removed, including four protected oak trees, according to Adam.

Conway couldnt confirm how many trees have already been cut, as some of the trees were removed last year with a separate permit.

The work is part of a $25-million renovation project that intends to improve the look and appearance of the 40-year-old shopping center; it was approved administratively in October without a public hearing.

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Council members implore Regency Centers to alter tree removal schedule

Vancouver city council is considering tightening its tree removal bylaw to prevent property owners from removing even one healthy tree without first seeking permission.

Under the current Protection of Trees bylaw, property owners are allowed to cut down one healthy tree per year without offering justification.

City staff are recommending that council close the loophole.

If approved, the change would bring Vancouver in line with surrounding municipalities in terms of tree protection measures.

We are doing this because since 1996 over 23,000 healthy trees at least eight inches in diameter at chest height have been removed, which isnt helping our objective of stopping the decline in tree removal and of growing an urban forest in Vancouver, said Malcolm Bromley, the citys general manager of parks.

According to a report to council there has been a drastic decline in the citys forest canopy since 1996 with most of the decline occurring on private property.

While Vancouver possesses a magnificent urban forest and has seen thousands of new trees planted since the approval of the Greenest City Action Plan, Vancouvers city-wide canopy cover has been declining over the past few decades, said the report.

Bromley said the tree canopy covered 22.5 per cent of the city in 1996; today it has dropped to about 18 per cent.

Every modern city measures its canopy and we are down to 18 per cent and its reducing every year. This is the first step in trying to stem that tide while we start to plant more trees and allow the urban forest to regenerate, said Bromley.

He estimated it could take about 40 years before the city gets it tree canopy back to 1996 levels.

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Vancouver council urged to close tree-removal loophole

The removal of trees at Westlake Plaza shopping center will move at a slower, more systematic pace, following an outcry when trees were felled earlier this week as part of a $25 million renovation.

At the same time, planters in the sizable center at Westlake Boulevard and Agoura Road will be kept in place. The moves are meant to smooth the transition between the removal of more than 200 trees and the planting of replacements to update landscaping.

Regency Centers, which owns the 40-year-old center, was hit with dozens of phone calls and in person complaints from shoppers shocked to see some of the largest and oldest trees, including oaks and sycamores, cut down.

The company received permits from the city of Thousand Oaks to remove the trees and remodel the center in October after a two-year planning process.

Community members also peppered City Hall and City Council members with their concerns about the work, which includes the removal of some sick trees.

Tree removal stopped briefly Thursday morning at the request of city officials to give them time to meet with Regency Centers representatives. The work resumed by late morning.

We have come to an understanding on a way to phase the project so its less impactful to the community, said Patrick Conway, Regency Centers vice president and regional officer, who met with the city manager, community development director and two City Council members Thursday morning. But the work has continued and there are only a few more landmark trees, sycamores, out there. There shouldnt be any more impact.

Conway has ordered signs to place at trees that are being preserved that will note they are not being taken down. Other signs and rendering will have information and images of what the center will look like when the renovation is complete.

We are going to step up our efforts to better inform the community about the improvements that are going to be made, he said.

Conway stressed that trees that are encircled by orange plastic fencing are not among those that will be taken down. The fencing is meant to protect them.

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Owners of Thousand Oaks shopping center will slow tree removal

Trees line Market street between 17th and 23rd streets as traffic flows in Wilmington.

Market Street will be closed four days next week while crews remove old, dying trees from Wilmington's historic tree canopy.

The closure, between 17th and 23rd streets, will be from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, said N.C. Department of Transportation officials.

"The tree contractor is going to come in and prune out the trees," said Joe Chance, roadside environmental engineer with the DOT.

In December, the state Board of Transportation approved $50,000 in funding to prune and remove the unhealthiest trees on that stretch of Market Street.

Ten trees will be removed next week.

Chance said the trees that will be removed have been hit by cars or have diseases and are decaying from the inside out.

The condition of some of the trees has been made evident from branches randomly falling to the street below.

In July 2012, a large branch splintered from a tree near the National Cemetery entrance and landed on a car driving along the 2000 block of Market Street.

The car was totalled, but the driver was uninjured by the falling limb.

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Market St. tree removal to begin, results in road closure

Work is part of $25-million renovation of 1970s-era shopping center

THE SOUND OF CHAIN SAWS Crews remove an oak tree at Westlake Plaza Center on Monday. RICHARD GILLARD/Acorn Newspapers More than 200 trees36 of which are protected under the municipal codewill be removed at Westlake Plaza as part of a $25-million renovation of the center that includes Sprouts, Vons and Gelsons.

Approximately 182 trees will be planted in their place, including 102 oak and landmark trees.

The plan, aimed at improving the look and appearance of the 40-year-old shopping center at Agoura Road and Westlake Boulevard, was approved administratively in October without a public hearing.

Private landscaping crews hired by the owner of the plaza, Regency Centers, began work removing trees on Monday, felling several of the centers oldest and largest trees, including two oaks at Agoura Road and Village Glen.

The sight of crews cutting down trees and grinding the stumps triggered a dramatic response.

CUTS DEEPWhats left of an oak tree that was chopped down Wednesday in front of East Coast Bagel Co. at Westlake Plaza. RICHARD GILLARD/Acorn Newspapers This is just mass destruction, said Joyce Militello, who lives a block away from the center. In a few days, what theyve removed, its just terrifying. Ive never seen anything like it in Thousand Oaks.

Militello said she saw the work being done Monday and immediately called City Hall. She was told the centers owner had received due process and had sent out notices to residents living nearby.

I never received anything, she said, adding, I guess if youre spending $25 million to renovate, the city will give you the green light to do anything you want.

According to the city, Regency sent out fliers last week describing the trees and the need for removal to their tenants, who were asked to pass them out to customers.

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Residents furious over tree removal at Westlake Plaza

Home demolitions might be a hot button issue, but it's the removal of a tree that has Mt. Tabor neighbors up in arms about infill this time.

The tree is the largest deciduous tree arborist Kevin Hillery has seen in Portland. It isn't the tallest or widest, he said, but it's the bulkiest.

The tree is a paradox walnut, he said, which is a hybrid designed by the same man responsible for russet potatoes. He suspects the tree was planted as early as 1870. It's one of only two paradox walnuts he's seen in the Northwest.

"Apparently, even here in the great Northwest, we don't have protection for a significant tree like this," said Stephanie Stewart, land-use co-chair for the neighborhood association.

The city approved the removal of the tree and demolition of a 1924 house at 5024 S.E. Mill St. at the end of March.

Neighbor Michael Van Kleeck has been working to pull the community together in the tree's defense. He's not opposed to development (a builder has plans for row houses on the site) but he'd like to see new construction work around the tree.

"We know that infill is happening," he said, "but this is an opportunity to make a sustainable development centered around the tree. That would be unique."

Van Kleeck, who lives about a block from the tree, said neighbors in his area have a lot of water in their basements. The tree soaks up a significant amount of water that could otherwise seep into their homes.

We'll update this story when more information about the development is available.

-- Melissa Binder

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SE neighbors rally to save rare, old deciduous tree from removal for infill

Dangerous Hollow Tree Removal
Hollow tree removed with Ranges Tree Works.

By: Dave Coleman

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Dangerous Hollow Tree Removal - Video

Posted April 06, 2014

Fred Vuich / SI

Count 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott amongst the people celebrating the recent removal of the famed Eisenhower Tree from the 17th fairway at Augusta National Golf Club.

Scott spoke Sunday about the change, saying the hold looks good sans the (in)famous loblolly pine. However, he admitted thatthe absence of the tree, though aesthetically pleasing, doesnt mean the hole is now a cakewalk:

Its still a narrow fairway, especially where the driver finishes, said Scott, who arrived at Augusta Friday and played a practice round with his father. Its still a very demanding hole at the end of the round. We wont know how it will play until we get the statistics, but it does look better off the tee, there is a little more room, but its still a very, very demanding hole.

As we shared with you before, the tree, damaged during an ice storm this past February, was the nemesis of Dwight D. Eisenhower, who loathed itso much he actually campaigned to have it chopped down in 1956.

Our guess is golfers wont exactly be pining for the tree to be replaced.

[For the Win]

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Adam Scott Is Not Mourning the Loss of Augusta Nationals Eisenhower Tree

It wasnt what the early arrivals for the 78th Masters Tournament saw on an overcast Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club that was so jarring to them.

It was what was missing the Eisenhower Tree and the limbs from some other pine trees, not to mention Tiger Woods.

This will be the first Masters without the Eisenhower Tree, and the first one Woods hasnt been a part of since 1994.

Woods, a four-time Masters champion, had played practice rounds on the Sunday before the tournament for years, but he is recuperating from back surgery and withdrew Tuesday.

Hes already listed among the non-competing invitees on the big scoreboard next to the first fairway.

The absences didnt detract from the inaugural Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals. The competition aimed at helping golf attract young people featured 88 boys and girls who competed on the same grounds as Masters participants.

The 65-foot Eisenhower Tree, which was more than 100 years old and 210 yards from the tee on the 17th hole, was lost to a mid-February ice storm. It has not been replaced, and Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne said at the time of its removal that we have begun deliberations of the best way to address the future of the 17th hole and to pay tribute to this iconic symbol of our history rest assured, we will do both appropriately.

Payne will elaborate on the future plans for the 17th in his annual news conference Wednesday, but players have been speculating about the hole for in the weeks leading into the Masters.

Most thought there would be a replacement tree in time for the Masters.

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Masters 2014: Tiger Woods, Ike's Tree notable in their absence

RICH #39;S TREE SERVICE LARGE TREE REMOVAL WITH CRANE

By: 4servants

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RICH'S TREE SERVICE LARGE TREE REMOVAL WITH CRANE - Video