Disputed Cedar to Stand, but It May Get a Trim

A Sherman Oaks homeowner has been denied permission by Los Angeles officials to chop down a 70-foot-tall cedar tree, which he complained cast a troublesome shadow over his lawn but which his neighbors sought to preserve.

Ronald Schwary said Tuesday he was “very happy,” nonetheless, because the city Board of Public Works gave him the go-ahead to trim the 50-year-old tree in the city-owned parkway in front of his house at Valley Vista Boulevard and Stansbury Avenue.

“Everything is working out just like I wanted,” he said. “I can eliminate the danger and therefore keep the beauty of the neighborhood.”

Complaint About Shadows

Schwary, a movie producer whose films include “The Electric Horseman,” “Ordinary People” and “Absence of Malice,” complained that the tree cast a shadow on his lawn, preventing grass from growing. He also expressed concern that falling branches would damage a new roof he is putting on his house, as well as endanger people driving or walking down the street. He had proposed replacing the cedar tree and some other trees on his property with “prettier ones.”

But his neighbors protested, saying the cedar tree adds to the beauty of the quiet residential area south of Ventura Boulevard.

On Monday, the Board of Public Works sided with the neighbors.

Noting that the tree is “alive and healthy,” board President Edward J. Avila said, “Policy of the Department of Public Works is directed toward the preservation of all the parkway trees and does not provide for removal unless the trees are dead or cannot be trimmed to be made safe.”

Avila said the trimming will open up the lawn to sunlight and reduce the amount of foliage deposited on the lawn.