Jury out on historic trees

A city study due in late January will inform the City Council on the health of the trees, and Mayor Joe Galligan said if the trees are diseased he would back a plan to remove a few at a time and replace them.

Burlingame is the City of Trees, and has a eucalyptus in its crest. The non-native trees were planted more than a century ago and residents have fought Caltrans' recent attempts to buzz trees on El Camino Real.

Galligan supports the Easton Drive study and said the trees may have 20 to 30 years left of life. If some are dead, the massive trunks could fall on a house or a passerby, he said.

Galligan, who lives on Easton Drive, said if the study finds the trees troubled he would support a "proper reforestation," replacing a handful of trees at a time. "It's better to replant a few at a time over a long period of time than in 20 years they all have to be cut," he said.

Russ Cohen, president of the Burlingame Historical Society, said he wanted proof before any chain saws are started.

"You have to 100 percent know that those trees are a hazard" before cutting them down, Cohen said.

If the trees are diseased or dead Cohen said they ought to be replaced, possibly with young, disease-resistant elm trees.

However, Cohen said the trees' fate could be discussed. "If you go back to the early 1900s, the city was trying to save the trees," he said.

As the chair of the Traffic, Safety and Parking Commission, Cohen added that large trees on Burlingame roads bulb out and naturally slow traffic. If they were removed, speeds would increase, he said.

Councilwoman Terry Nagel Thursday said she wanted to see "positive proof" that the trees have a problem and awaited the study. If the trees are diseased, "the better method is to replace a few at a time," she said. She added that she did not want the city to be liable for tree-related damages.

"We want to do the prudent thing," she said. "No one wants to drive on Easton and fear that a tree will fall on them."

Stephen Baxter can be reached by e-mail at stephen@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 109. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.