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City Council pauses Mayberry Ranch tree takeover after residents and council raise liability, removal concerns
Summary
Council continued a proposed agreement under which the city would assume maintenance and eventual liability for perimeter and entry trees in the Mayberry Ranch subdivision, asking staff to renegotiate with the HOA after residents and councilmembers flagged unclear title, large tree-removal costs, and precedent risks.
The Orange City Council voted unanimously May 13 to continue consideration of a memorandum of agreement that would transfer maintenance and, after two years, liability for trees along the perimeter and entry streets of Mayberry Ranch from its homeowners association to the city.
Staff said an arborist assessment identified roughly 227 trees in the public right-of-way around the development and recommended removal of about 61 Canary Island pine trees and additional trimming for other specimens. Staff estimated removal costs at approximately $80,000 and trimming at roughly $19,000; the HOA offered to reimburse up to $16,000 of trimming and up to $5,000 per year for the first two years for replacement trees. Public Works described the proposed agreement as intended to clarify maintenance responsibility for trees that the city has not historically maintained.
HOA president Nathan Swanica told the council the association has worked for six or seven years to resolve the issue and believes a majority of the trees sit on City of Orange property. “We have been working on this issue probably for 6 or 7 years,” Swanica said, arguing for partnership and clarity between the HOA and city staff. Several neighbors objected to wholesale removal of mature trees and questioned elements of the arborist report; Leslie Maderscheid noted apparent errors in the report’s street naming and said she did not see the structural wall damage the arborist had documented.
Council debate focused on liability and precedent. Mayor Pro Tem Bilodeau and other council members questioned why the city would assume liability for trees the city did not plant and which the record suggests the HOA or developer originally agreed to maintain. Council Member Barrios asked directly, “Why on earth would we accept this liability?” and suggested any transfer should happen only after the HOA first addressed removal of the highest-liability specimens. Council Member Gutierrez proposed staff re-open negotiations with the HOA so the HOA could accept responsibility for removing the most hazardous trees before the city assumed broader maintenance obligations.
Rather than decide the agreement tonight, the council directed staff to return with renegotiated terms and additional options, giving staff latitude to seek stronger indemnity or scope changes from the HOA. The motion to continue was moved by Council Member Gutierrez and seconded by a colleague; the vote to continue was unanimous.
Next steps: staff will negotiate with the Mayberry Ranch HOA (per council direction) and return the item to a future city council meeting. The council asked staff to explore whether the HOA could remove the highest-risk trees first, whether creating or using a landscape assessment district is feasible, and whether any legal title or maintenance documents can be located and clarified before the city assumes liability.
