Council Hears Neighbors Urge Saving Landmark Eucalyptus During Balboa Library/Fire Station Appeal
Loading...
Summary
At a public hearing on minor landscape changes to the Balboa Branch Library and Fire Station No. 1 coastal development permit, residents urged the council to preserve a blue gum eucalyptus and adjacent parklet; staff said the tree removal decision is part of a prior CDP pending with the California Coastal Commission and that the council’s review was limited to the revised landscape species selection.
The City Council opened a public hearing on an appeal of staff approval for minor landscape changes associated with Coastal Development Permit PA2024‑0140 for Fire Station No. 1 and the Balboa Branch Library at East Balboa Boulevard and Island Avenue. Senior Planner Laura Rodriguez summarized the project history and the staff approval of a revised landscape plan requested by the California Coastal Commission that swaps proposed species for western sycamores and other trees to better support nesting birds.
Rodriguez told the council that the original CDP authorizing demolition and reconstruction of the fire station and library was approved on 09/24/2024 and that the appeal to the Coastal Commission centers largely on the removal of a blue gum eucalyptus tree and potential impacts to nesting great blue herons. Staff referenced a Dudek memorandum that concluded the site does not meet the criteria for an Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area (ESHA) and that the great blue heron is not a federally listed species. Staff also said the blue gum eucalyptus is non‑native and not considered an ESHA species under the applicable criteria.
Multiple residents urged the council to adopt a redesign that preserves the tree and the small neighborhood green space. “Leave our precious tiny green space with our tree for our neighborhood, for nature, and for our children,” said April Strong in public comment. Several speakers also raised the possibility of an underground spring and questioned the tree’s health assessments.
Staff clarified to the council that the tree removal was part of the earlier CDP that is now pending with the California Coastal Commission and is not the subject of the staff’s minor‑change approval under appeal; the council’s role that evening was to consider the limited landscape modification staff had approved. After brief council discussion, a motion to uphold the staff approval received a second and the motion carried unanimously.
Because the broader CDP and any demolition timeline remain under Coastal Commission review, the council’s action confirmed only the limited landscape species change recommended by staff. Staff said a notice of final action would be transmitted to the California Coastal Commission and the revised landscape plan would be supplemental to the commission’s ongoing review of the CDP appeal.
