Court Ruling Temporarily Halts Removal of 34 Dana Woods Trees

DANA POINT —  Thirty-four eucalyptus trees were spared temporarily Thursday when a judge issued an order halting the felling of trees in the Dana Woods neighborhood.

Orange County Superior Court Commissioner F. Latimer Gould granted the temporary restraining order at the request of homeowners Paul and Susan Davis, who sued their homeowners association.

Residents of the neighborhood recently launched a protest using their cars as barricades to prevent the 34 trees, which line a community park, from being chopped down. They are among 200 trees scheduled for removal because the association’s board contends they could fall on homes and injure residents. About 100 trees have already been felled.

Gould ordered both parties to return May 15, following an association meeting with residents to solve the issue.

“We love our community, and the trees are what make it distinctive,” said Paul Davis, 44. “Then all of a sudden, it looks like a tornado cleared through here. All the trees were gone. It’s very upsetting.”

The couple had argued that if the association is allowed to remove any more trees, the area would no longer be the wooded haven they bought into 12 years ago. They disagree that the trees pose a risk to the neighborhood, and argue that the association is out of bounds in “wholesale” cutting without adequately notifying residents.

“What they are saying is basically that because a tree exists, it’s dangerous,” said Tom Davis, Paul Davis’ brother and his attorney. “Once these trees are gone, they’re gone forever. . . . We had the merits, and the judge did the appropriate thing.”

Brad Walker, an attorney for the association, said its board “is trying to strike a balance between the homeowners who want to keep the trees and homeowners who feel threatened by them. They want to represent all homeowners, not just some homeowners.”

There are more than 2,000 trees in the area, about 900 of which are eucalyptus trees, Walker said. He said the association had planned to replace the truncated trees with other varieties that do not pose as high a risk.

“The problem is that the developer never should have never put the trees so close to homes,” Walker said. “Many are planted within striking distance of homes, cars and people . . . and we don’t know which trees are going to fall and which ones won’t.”