April 24, 2015 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 3A
Haystack Heights to lose nine high-risk trees
Arborist report finds health concerns
The city’s arborist, Will
Caplinger, examined the
grove twice and recom-
mended that nine of the trees
along East Chinook Avenue
be eliminated. The lingering
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Of the nine trees, six are
Sitka spruce between 25 and
125 feet tall, and three are
western hemlock between
20 and 60 feet tall, according
to Caplinger’s report. The
troubling trees show signs
of deteriorating health and
stability, including, in some
instances, basal decay. Some
are either dead or dying.
“We believe these trees to
be a danger to our family, our
home and to others that live
nearby,” the Friddells wrote
in a letter to the city. They
declined to speak with the
Gazette.
The trees, left over from
when the area was initially
cleared, also appear to have
been damaged years ago, pos-
sibly when the neighborhood
roads were built, Grassick
said. “They are now starting
to show that damage as the
trees have gotten bigger.”
By Erick Bengel
Cannon Beach Gazette
Two trees recently toppled
onto the same house in Hay-
stack Heights in fairly quick
succession, so the public
works department now plans
to remove from the neighbor-
hood nine potentially hazard-
ous trees, which are standing
in the city right of way in the
next couple of months.
In terms of risk manage-
ment, the city may face some
serious consequences “if we
don’t proceed with the re-
moval,” Public Works Direc-
tor Dan Grassick told the City
Council at its Tuesday work
session.
Last fall, a tree in the city
right of way fell onto the
property at 379 Elk Run Av-
enue during a storm, striking
the house with a glancing
blow. The property owners,
Sue and Doug Friddell —
second-home owners who
live in Issaquah, Wash. —
repaired the damage and had
the tree removed.
Then, during the storm
of Jan. 4 and 5, the trunk of
a second tree, also in the city
right of way, snapped several
feet from the base, rotated and
clipped the side of the house
on the way down, damaging
the eaves, gutter and front
porch, Grassick said. (The
tree is still in the Friddells’
yard, chopped up and waiting
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the splintered stump.)
Consequently, the Frid-
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concerned,” asked the city
to evaluate the other 13 trees
clustered around their house
in the right of way, which
starts about 10 feet east of the
couple’s property, Grassick
said.
Publisher
Steve Forrester
Interim Editor
Dave Fisher
Reporter
Erick Bengel
Advertising Manager
Betty Smith
Replanting
Though Grassick’s presen-
tation was for the council’s in-
formation only, he brought the
matter before them because
the project is “much bigger
than our normal tree-removal
request,” he said.
In addition, he said the
project would “make a differ-
ence on that corner on terms
of look and appearance.”
After notifying nearby
property owners, the city re-
ceived one letter of opposi-
tion from residents who wrote
that the tree loss will “change
the character of the neigh-
borhood!” The city advised
Production Manager
John D. Bruijn
Circulation Manager
Samantha McLaren
Advertising Sales
Laura Kaim
Wendy Richardson
ERICK BENGEL PHOTO
The tree-beleaguered home of Sue and Doug Friddell, who live at 379 Elk Run Avenue, has been hit twice with falling trees
within the last several months. (The logs in the foreground are the remains of the second one.) The public works depart-
ment plans to thin the grove on city right of way within the next couple of months.
them of the appeal process
but didn’t receive a response,
Grassick said.
The city sometimes re-
plants after removing trees
from its rights-of-way, though
“it’s not a hard-and-fast re-
quirement,” Grassick noted.
He cautioned against
planting similar trees, ones
that — like Sitka spruce and
western hemlock — grow tall
and develop sprawling limbs,
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self with similar problems as
the ungainly specimens start
to compete with the “built”
environment.
“I think it’s important that
we actually put a species back
that makes sense in our right
of way, to actually main-
tain some sort of street tree
cover,” City Manager Brant
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ODOT removed the trees
from its right of way because
they leaned over the highway,
potentially endangering driv-
ers; the health of the trees, he
said, was not a primary con-
cern. “It was strictly a high-
way maintenance issue,” he
said.
Memories of ODOT
Though the Gazette previ-
Caplinger’s report, Steidel ously reported that the trees
said, includes the kind of de- ODOT took from the high-
tailed analysis of the trees’ way were dead or dying, the
health that he felt was missing department actually cut down
from the Oregon Department healthy trees as well because
of Transportation’s tree-re- they, too, could have slid
moval project on U.S. High- down the embankment and/
way 101, which provoked a or fallen over, Grassick said.
By contrast, all of the tar-
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Cannon Beach residents last geted trees on East Chinook
Avenue seem to suffer from
month.
However, Grassick noted the same maladies that caused
that the Haystack Heights sit- the two trees to collapse onto
uation is distinctly different: the Friddells’ home.
Kucera said.
Grassick said that public
works will wait a year after
the tree removal to determine
if replanting should happen
or if the four mature trees
remaining — three Sitka
spruces between 120 and 130
feet tall, and one 60-foot-tall
western hemlock — will have
to do.
Much will depend on
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species that can coexist with
the neighborhood’s high-den-
sity development. “We want
to make sure we know what it
looks like when we’re done,”
he said.
Mayor Sam Steidel said it
would be good for the city to
have a policy that stipulates,
if the city is going to maintain
its rights-of-way, “we should
do it in an aesthetic way.”
He added that the parks
and community services
committee could explore dif-
ferent vegetation options —
such as salal or something
hedge-like — to see “what
could plant here nicely.”
of county.
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