Approximately 36 ficus trees are left on Robertson Boulevard after crews began cutting them in February as part of a sidewalk repair project. (photo by Joey Waldinger)

For more than a month, Beverly Hills residents and environmental activists have pleaded unsuccessfully with the Beverly Hills City Council to stop cutting down the ficus trees lining Robertson Boulevard.

The Robertson Boulevard Special Task Force, an organization dedicated to saving the boulevard’s trees, has now taken its fight to court, and a judge on March 30 issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the city from cutting more trees until a preliminary injunction hearing on April 10.

“The city refuses to meet with the [task force]. That’s why we’re in court,” said Wendy Klenk, who has spearheaded opposition against the tree cutting. “We have been relentless with calls, emails, everything, and they can’t speak to us. They won’t put it on the agenda … That’s why we were forced to take legal action.”

Klenk and other activists have given lengthy public comments on the trees before the City Council, but the item has not been put on an agenda for discussion since the task force was formed.

Beverly Hills City Attorney Laurence Wiener said that if a preliminary injunction is issued at the April 10 hearing, the judge would set a later date for further proceedings, and the city would not have to immediately revisit the issue in the City Council. If an injunction is not issued, the tree cutting would resume.

He added that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Richard L. Fruin only issued a restraining order halting the tree cutting; he did not issue a restraining order halting the sidewalk repairs.

Crews began cutting the trees in February as part of a $7.7-million sidewalk improvement project approved on Dec. 6, 2022. City officials and proponents of the project have said the trees damaged the sidewalks, making them dangerous for pedestrians and people with disabilities, which has resulted in “slip-and-fall claims against the city,” Deputy City Manager Keith Sterling said.

The task force is being represented by environmental attorney Jamie T. Hall, who won a January court case that saved 13,000 trees from being cut down by the city of Los Angeles. Klenk said the task force has not raised funds, and declined to comment as to how it is paying for Hall’s representation. In his application for the restraining order, Hall said the task force is “an unincorporated association.”

According to Hall, the city violated due process by inadequately notifying residents about the project, falsely claiming the project was exempt from reviews mandated by the California Environmental Quality Act, and did not produce records as required by the California Public Records Act.

He also claimed that members of the task force, primarily composed of business owners on Robertson Boulevard, would suffer “irreparable harm” if more trees were cut, due to the lack of shade and resultingly warmer temperatures. The crepe myrtle and Mexican fan palm trees the city plans to plant on Robertson Boulevard would provide far less benefits than the ficus trees, he added.

The city of Beverly Hills would not be at all affected if it paused until the injunction hearing, Hall said.

Attorneys for Beverly Hills argued the opposite was true, and that the city would face additional costs if the restraining order was granted.

“The balance of harms sharply favor the city,” attorneys Stephen D. Lee, Kyle H. Brochard and Jacob C. Metz wrote in a March 29 filing.

The attorneys also claimed that ample notice had been given to residents, affirmed that the project is exempt under CEQA and argued that by not seeking legal action earlier, the task force was creating a false sense of urgency to bolster their case.

The city has already spent more than $7.05 million on the sidewalk repairs, and halting work could incur additional costs for the city and its contractors, the attorneys added.

“The temporary restraining order is a preliminary order designed to keep the status quo in place until there is an opportunity for a full hearing,” Wiener stated in an email.

In a March 31 statement, Klenk said the city had cut down 100 ficus trees, and 36 were left.

“We’re trying to save the trees, that has always been the bottom line here,” Klenk said.

Hall did not respond to requests for comment.