Although opponents were unable to stop the city of Beverly Hills from removing the ficus trees on Robertson Boulevard, a grassroots campaign led by Wendy Klenk prompted an impassioned response from residents and activists. (photo by Joey Waldinger)

Beverly Hills resident Wendy Klenk attended a City Council study session on Feb. 7 and begged the city to stop cutting down ficus trees lining Robertson Boulevard. She was horrified when she saw one of the trees being felled days before, and sprung into action petitioning residents and calling on council members to stop the tree removal.

The City Council on Feb. 21 decided not to take action on the issue, allowing the tree removal to continue. Approximately 60 trees have been removed so far, and the rest will be removed over the next few weeks, deputy city manager Keith Sterling said.

“The gorgeous, healthy, hundred-year-old trees that frame the street provide an arch-canopy welcoming visitors,” Klenk said. “These trees provide a calming effect and beautify our surroundings, thus providing a significant health benefit that the city simply did not consider.”

While Klenk’s effort to save the trees failed, her cause took root with environmentalists and residents across the city, who spent more than two hours during the Feb. 21 council meeting admonishing the city for greenlighting the trees’ removal without adequately consulting the public, they said.

“I lived down the street from this section of Robertson for 13 years,” sustainability advocate Lauren Belkin said. “To my colleagues speaking in chambers [and] on the phone, it does hurt. It hurts even more when this level of destruction is based on a lie. Perhaps we should also take a moment to mourn the loss of the 60-plus trees butchered and removed under the guise of emergency sidewalk repair.”

Assistant Director of Public Works Daren Grilley said business owners on Robertson Boulevard have been asking the city to replace the ficus trees for more than a decade, and a task force formed to revitalize the area recommended the tree removal in an August 2012 report. The city has revisited the recommendations several times over the years, including at a 2018 public meeting where staff outlined how they would assess whether trees needed to be removed for sidewalk repairs.

A contract for the project was awarded in December 2022, when Environmental Construction, Inc. won a $7.05 million contract to implement the repairs. City officials began public outreach last last July, hand-delivering construction notices to all businesses along Robertson Boulevard. More recently, the city mailed notices that detailed the tree removal to all businesses and residents within a 500-yard radius of the project, Sterling said.

But many business owners and residents in the area said they were unaware of the city’s plans.

Resident Johanna Vanderspool, who has lived between Charleville Boulevard and Gregory Way for 15 years, said she did not receive a notice in July about the tree removal, and that the process lacked transparency.

She said that tree removal north of Wilshire Boulevard has made the street “scorching hot,” and she worried that Robertson Boulevard would similarly become less pleasant as a result of the tree cutting.

“It looks like someone [used] a hacksaw. It will take about 50 to 60 more years to put in trees that will grow like that. If you’re putting in the trees that you’re suggesting, they are going to be horrible,” Vanderspool added, referring to the crepe myrtle and Mexican fan palm trees the city is planning to plant.

Klenk said the tree removal points to a larger problem in the city.

“The real issue here is … that Robertson Boulevard business owners have been and continue to be marginalized by the city. These business owners are not treated with the same respect and due process as other streets in Beverly Hills. This would never happen on Rodeo Drive,” she said.

A few residents said the tree removals were necessary to repair the sidewalk, which could endanger elderly people and people with disabilities.

Councilman John Mirisch thanked residents for speaking on the issue, and said the city may not have considered all relevant factors before approving the project. While there are legitimate reasons to remove the trees, including reducing hazards, the city could have taken a more staggered approach, he said.

“We could have replaced some of the biggest offenders initially and then replaced the other ones,” he said.

The public comments were made following the report from Grilley, and the council was not able to take action on the item unless it was added to a future agenda, City Attorney Laurence Wiener explained.

Mirisch requested that the item be added to a future agenda, but he did not receive consensus from other council members, and the council moved on to the next item.