Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Santa Clarita OKs Palms for Shops : Landscaping: City agrees to let builder of Creekside Place in Valencia plant 13 of the tall, spindly trees.

SANTA CLARITA —  A once-maligned immigrant won’t be barred from the city after all, thanks to ringing endorsements from professional associates and experts.

City Council members voted 5 to 0 Tuesday night to allow palm trees to be planted at a Valencia shopping center now under construction.

The decision allows developer RKR, Inc. to include 13 palms as part of its 47,000-square-foot Creekside Place at the southeast corner of Valencia Boulevard and Magic Mountain Parkway. Council members also adopted a policy permitting any trees that meet city development standards with “balance, beauty, grace, majesty and eloquence.”

RKR of Encino had first planned 23 palms for the project, clashing with Santa Clarita’s unwritten policy against allowing developers to plant such trees.

Some city leaders were hesitant to allow palms in a valley better known for oaks, especially since the tall, spindly trees provide little shade and aren’t native to the Santa Clarita Valley. It was a fitting issue for a city whose oldest ordinance safeguards trees against development and whose municipal seal depicts an oak.

The resistance triggered glowing testimonials to the palm Tuesday from those in tree-related industries.

Jim Larson, a landscape architect hired by RKR, alternately described the palms as “elegant,” “royal” and “absolutely right” for the Mediterranean-style Creekside Place.

“I think it’s a perfect tree,” said Larson. “It’s close enough to the building (that) it makes a formal entrance.”

Richard Green, owner of Green Landscape Nursery in Saugus, told the council that palms have been given a bad rap. They produce little waste, don’t attract bees and “should probably be the tree of choice” for a shopping district because they won’t obstruct a browser’s view, he said.

“I am concerned about the repression of palms in this valley,” Green said.

Even Santa Clarita’s city arborist, Ray Miramontez, told the council that palms can withstand strong winds and that he would support the shopping center’s use of them.

“The date palm is unsurpassed by any other tree and is known for its beautiful, majestic, elegant and graceful characteristics that make this tree an irreplaceable and essential part of the overall architectural theme of Creekside Place,” Richard Rasak, RKR vice-president, wrote in a January letter to the council.

The council approved the palms after receiving assurances that annual maintenance and the use of “male” palm trees--which bear no fruit--would avoid any problems of debris dropping on automobiles.

“The one question I have is one I’m afraid to ask,” deadpanned Councilman George Pederson. “How do you tell the difference between a male palm tree and a female palm tree?”

In addition to allowing palm trees at Creekside Place, the council replaced its unwritten policy against palms with a resolution permitting the use of any tree that meets city standards with “balance, beauty, grace, majesty and elegance.”

“I have no problem with palm trees,” said Councilman H. Clyde Smyth. “My problem is that (city) staff (employees are) trying to enforce a program that is so loose it’s nearly invisible. I don’t like that staff is in that position.”

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Despite the quick end to the debate, several council members Tuesday complained about the amount of attention the palm tree issue received. “I think people get the idea that this council spends a lot of time on frivolous matters,” Councilman Carl Boyer said.

Smyth, however, noted that Santa Clarita became a city specifically to allow residents to discuss local issues, big and small.

“I doubt you could go before the Board of Supervisors and yell about your palm trees,” Smyth said.