PORT ANGELES — A majestic sequoia that graces Lions Park in Port Angeles will be removed next month, much to the dismay of those who signed a petition to protect it.
The roots of the 105-foot, non-native tree on the west edge of the park at 601 E. Whidby Ave., are causing damage to neighboring property and city infrastructure, said Corey Delikat, Port Angeles Parks and Recreation director.
An arborist determined in a January assessment that the tree’s co-dominate stems form a weak union about halfway up the tree and pose a safety hazard in high winds.
The sequoia, which has been the subject of voluminous public testimony in City Council meetings, will be felled by a city contractor before the end of December, Delikat said.
“As beautiful as it is, it’s just the wrong tree in the wrong place,” Delikat said in a Wednesday interview.
Devon Graywolf of Port Angeles gave the City Council a petition to save the sequoia.
Graywolf, an original member of the city’s Tree Advisory Council, said she and others had gathered 100 signatures prior to Tuesday’s meeting.
“Our sequoia tree in Lions Park is entitled to the inalienable right to life,” Graywolf told the council during a public comment period.
“She is in a public park, and she belongs to the people.”
Graywolf proposed to establish the sequoia as a “heritage tree” with a nearby plaque honoring President Abraham Lincoln.
Another speaker suggested that the public decorate the sequoia with Christmas ornaments or trinkets with memories of loved ones.
“It is hard to care about something when you know it may be taken from you, that your hopes might be dashed,” said Jasmine Hunt of Port Angeles.
“When I go out to our cherry tree and look east, I see the sequoia tree in Lions Park between us and the new housing development. I don’t want to face the depression that may occur if the city cuts it down.”
The City Council did not discuss the fate of the sequoia in its meeting last Tuesday.
The meeting packet did contain a memo from Delikat outlining the reasons for tree removal and a copy of the city’s tree-removal policy.
“It is important to the city that the citizens know that we are not in the ‘tree removal’ business, and that tree removal will occur only when warranted,” Delikat said in the memo.
In a Wednesday interview, Delikat said the sequoia’s roots are causing significant damage to the foundation of a nearby home, the driveway of another property and a city water main.
Last winter, Delikat, Mayor Sissi Bruch and the affected neighbors met with John Bornsworth, Peninsula Urban Forestry president, and parks commission member Iris Winslow to look for alternatives to tree removal.
The group reached a consensus to hire an outside arborist to evaluate the sequoia.
Kevin McFarland of Sound Urban Forestry determined in a Jan. 17 assessment that the tree posed a high risk of danger and should be removed.
In the months that followed, the parks department developed a tree removal policy to ensure the preservation of other urban trees and to provide guidelines for when tree removal is warranted.
Delikat emphasized that the decision to cut the sequoia was made as a last resort.
“That’s why I felt it was important to go ahead and wait,” Delikat said in a telephone interview.
“I felt it was important for people to understand that we are not in the tree removal business.”
Wood from the sequoia will be offered to the contractor in exchange for a discount or will be donated to a local service club, Delikat said.
Margi Normandin of Sequim, who owns property near Lions Park, said the shallow roots of the sequoia have made her driveway impassable.
“A fire truck wouldn’t be able to get down there to my tenants,” Normandin told the council.
“I can’t drive down there. My easement’s been blocked.”
Normandin added that a broken water pipe has left a permanent pool of water on her property.
“It’s just an unreasonable situation for the tree to remain,” Normandin said.
“I’ve planted over 100 trees on my acreage myself. So I do love trees.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
