Recall Threatened Over Felling of 200 Trees : Dispute: Angry residents of Laguna Niguel neighborhood opposed to the move want to oust the Potomac Landing homeowners board that gave the go-ahead in a closed-door meeting.
LAGUNA NIGUEL — Calling it “the Massacre on Potomac Landing,†residents of the neighborhood where 200 trees were chopped down without notice threatened on Thursday to oust the directors of their homeowners association.
Tempers blazing, members of the Potomac Landing Homeowners Assn. filled the auditorium of George L. White Elementary School, where they told the board of directors to prepare for a recall drive.
“We feel you people have been reckless, incompetent and negligent,†said Gary Frugard, who represents about 35 of the 150 property owners in the association. “We have decided as a group to make every effort to recall you.â€
The meeting was the latest episode of an inter-neighborhood feud that flared up on Tuesday and Wednesday after the board voted 4 to 0 to have the stands of eucalyptus cut down. One member abstained.
Orange County sheriff’s deputies had to be called on both days to quell confrontations in the three-block section of expensive homes near Niguel Road and Camino del Avion. Thursday night, the Sheriff’s Department stationed a deputy at the meeting in case of any further disturbances.
About 20 people in the audience supported the massive tree removal, saying the eucalyptus stands were a fire hazard and blocked the ocean vistas of hilltop homes. “The trees were blocking my view. I didn’t want them there,†said one resident, Phil Ershler.
Owners of hilltop homes say they had paid up to $100,000 more for their views, which were eventually blocked as the trees grew. But as the trees got taller, they provided a parklike setting for the neighbors below.
A board majority elected in February sided with the hilltop residents, who wanted the trees removed. They met Sunday without notifying other residents and made their decision.
Soon after, residents castigated the board for meeting privately, saying the unnoticed, closed-door session violated homeowner association codes and state laws. However, experts on community association law said the homeowners group is not legally obligated to post notice of any meeting.
“Until two years ago, these boards didn’t even have to allow its own members into its meetings,†said James Lingle, a Camarillo attorney who has authored books and articles on homeowner association law. “There is absolutely no agency in California that regulates the operations of community associations.â€
On Tuesday, residents of the 151-home community were awakened by the sound of whirring chain saws. A tree maintenance company made short work of the trees, cutting most of them down before most residents could decide what to do.
Some of those who did react exploded angrily at the work crew. Jim Robinson, 68, said he grabbed an unloaded shotgun after being threatened with a chain saw by one crew member.
A foreman for B&J; Tree Service in Tustin denied that Robinson was provoked. Robinson brought the shotgun out after being frustrated in his attempts to save his trees, said the foreman, who declined to be identified.
Emotional confrontations between neighbors have been frequent since Tuesday. Distraught after arriving home to find several trees missing from his yard, Terry Johnson got into a heated argument with a female board member on Tuesday. Later that evening, the woman’s husband confronted Johnson in his front yard.
“We started yelling at each other right there in the street,†Johnson said. “It was pretty hairy.â€
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