Debate in Ojai Branches Out After Limb Falls on 3 in Park

OJAI —  In this bucolic mountain town of artists and environmentalists, oak trees keep falling on people while officials struggle to find eco-friendly ways of stopping it.

The latest incident occurred Wednesday when an oak dropped a 24-foot-long branch on three people attending a concert in Libbey Park.

No one was seriously injured but the incident sparked new debate between those looking to protect the trees and others trying to keep them from flattening residents.

“If you don’t want to take the risk of an oak tree limb falling on you, don’t sit under an oak tree,” said Mayor Suza Francina, a vocal tree lover occasionally referred to as “Mayor Moonbeam.”

“The Chumash and others more connected to the earth knew not to sit beneath an oak tree,” she said.

The mayor said she might consider putting up signs warning about the risk of sitting under oak trees. An information booth is being set up in Libbey Park next month to explain the history and potential hazards of Ojai’s abundant oaks.

Town officials called the incident an example of “summer limb drop syndrome,” when an oak tree, overcome by heat, sheds a limb or two.

“Keep in mind that no matter what we do, there will always be some potential danger associated with these types of trees,” Ojai City Manager Andy Belknap said. “They are huge and even an apparently healthy tree can suffer a sudden failure.”

Tree inspectors have combed the area looking for sick and dead trees, while permits for people wanting oaks removed from their property have doubled from 15 last year to 30 this year.

In June a giant oak fell on a truck and a garage in Meiners Oaks near Ojai. Two weeks earlier, 10 people were injured when a massive oak split in half and fell on the grounds of World University of America, a small private college in Ojai.

But regardless of the hazard, Ojai is attached to its oaks.

Anyone wishing to prune or remove an oak must get a tree specialist to say it’s necessary and then apply for a permit.

In March, when the town wanted to cut down a 150-year-old dying oak in Libbey Park, Ojai activist John Christianson climbed the tree and refused to get down. Fifteen hours later the 51-year-old environmentalist relented.

He was arrested and charged with trespassing, but the charges were later dropped.

Christianson, who belongs to the Ojai Oak Alliance, said the problem is that Ojai sits in the middle of an ancient oak forest. He contends that centuries ago squirrels could travel by treetop from Ojai to the Pacific Ocean.

Over the years encroaching development and over-watering have weakened the trees. Public venues such as the concert bowl at Libbey Park are particularly troublesome because they attract foot traffic, which damages the oaks’ root system, tree advocates say.

“The Libbey Bowl is there because of the trees, and the oak trees have suffered because of the bowl being there,” Christianson said. “Intense human contact is dangerous to the trees.”

Stan Greene has felt the wrath of the oak tree.

“I was standing beneath an oak tree and the next thing you know I was flat on my back,” said 71-year-old Greene, who heads the Committee to Protect the Ojai. “It hit my shoulder and knocked the lens out of my glasses. But they are probably the most important symbol of our area.”

The Libbey Park trees were inspected in June, Public Works Director Stan Hakes said. Hakes said he wasn’t sure why the tree dropped the limb.

“I can’t speculate why it came down,” he said.

Paul Rogers, an Ojai arborist, recommended earlier this year that three Libbey Park oaks come down--two did and one stayed.

“Size, condition, location equals hazard,” Rogers said during a recent walk through the park.

Oak trees can live 1,000 years and like every other living thing, need to be patched up as they age, he said.

Nancy Graves was one of those hit by the branch Wednesday.

“It all happened so fast I didn’t hear anything” said the 57-year-old Ojai grandmother, who was listening to the Ojai Band play a medley of ragtime favorites when the tree hit her.

“My chair collapsed and I was thrown forward. I was in such pain. I didn’t know branches fall off oak trees. Maybe [officials] need to educate people.”

Graves said she won’t look at trees the same way anymore.

“I have caught myself looking at limbs today,” she said. “I don’t want to be fearful of trees but next time I’ll sit farther back.”

Graves, Donna Cowles of Ventura and Merel Glaubiger of San Francisco were taken to Ojai Valley Hospital, where they were treated for cuts and scrapes and released, authorities said.

David Traver, who was playing clarinet with the band when the tree fell, said chaos erupted afterward. The concert was halted as emergency workers attended to the injured women.

“It sounded like a firecracker,” he said.

The tree was roped off like a crime scene Thursday. Children played under nearby oaks, adults wandered the park and Spike Tenpenny balanced his checkbook on a picnic table.

If he had to choose between a tree and person’s life, the 69-year-old Ojai man said he would choose the human.

“I take my grandchildren here all the time, now I’ll have second thoughts,” he said.

But Mayor Francina said some risks are worth taking, especially to preserve the town’s character.

“My philosophy is that if you want a situation where people and nature interact you can’t be risk free.”