Rancho Palos Verdes tries to Triump over Trumps Ficus Trees

 Why did Donald Trump step on Toes and get a bad review with his Ficus Trees.  Well, the Palos Verdes Peninsula is a special breed of its own.  Ever since the first settlers came to this area and sold land to the developers it ran under one agreement that the natural beauty and preservation of the peninsula comes first.

That is a well know rule on the Peninsula and very well respected by most of the residents.  If you drive the Peninsula at night, you will notice the lack of street lights, a requirement that was agreed to by our forefathers and the promise is still honored today.  WE all give up some amenities to live here and respect the Peninsula. 

I must say that I really have been impressed with the Lowe Enterprises Group developing Terranea Resort.  After a tour of the resort under construction, I was very happy and impressed with the care the developers have taken to keep the design and landscape of Terranea part of the original peninsula.  The developers have even saved the original trees on the land and placed them in a tree farm to be replanted once the construction is completed.  I believe that Terranea will be a wonderful addition in luxury to the Palos Verdes Peninsula and very well welcomed by the community of Palos Verdes.

This info is courtesy of the Los Angele Times  in case you missed all the excitement on Trumps Ficus Trees this week.

 Ficus feud: Trump's plants create a row in Rancho Palos Verdes

Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times In question: A row of ficus trees at the West end of the driving range at the Trump National golf course in Palos Verdes. Neighbors of the real estate mogul's golf course say new landscaping blocks their ocean views. By Jason Song, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 2, 2007 Donald Trump thought that some homes overlooking his Rancho Palos Verdes golf course were so unsightly that he ordered them hidden from view with a row of ficus plants.

Trump may know real estate, but he doesn't know Rancho Palos Verdes law, according to city leaders.

Trees, plants or bushes? click to enlarge Trump: They're bushes! click to enlargeThey say that the vegetation, some of which is 12 feet tall, violates a city code that protects residents' ocean views. The City Council is scheduled to consider a measure at tonight's meeting that would force Trump to trim or remove the ficus.

It is the second time that Trump has run afoul of City Hall over ocean vistas in the last two years.

"Why is a man of his resources wasting time bickering with the city?" asked Mayor Tom Long, who said he had received more than 300 angry e-mails about the trees, the biggest outcry since the course erected a 70-foot flagpole in 2006 that some residents said blocked their views.

The debate has become so pointed that the city and Trump can't even agree on what to call the plants. The city maintains that the plants are hedges.

"They're bushes!" Trump insisted in his best "You're fired!" tone.

Although median home prices in Rancho Palos Verdes are nearly $900,000, Trump said homes that overlook the course were an eyesore that distracted golfers. "They could use a coat of paint," he said. "They use the homes as storage sites and it's inappropriate. People come from all over the world to play the course and they don't need to see that."

Long said that a few of the homes could use minor repairs because they are in a landslide-prone area. But he said that Trump's comments were offensive. "There's no need for that," Long said.

Views are a big deal in Rancho Palos Verdes, an incorporated town of nearly 41,000 between Palos Verdes Estates and San Pedro.

Residents, unhappy with the slow pace of local politics, gathered enough signatures in 1989 to put a measure on the ballot that required the Planning Commission and City Council to consider whether future projects would interfere with existing views. Even now, the city has a view-restoration mediator.

"It's one of the biggest planning issues we have here," Long said.

Some Rancho Palos Verdes council members said they were tired of Trump's habit of planting first and asking later.

"He does what he wants and then says 'Please let me' later," Councilman Douglas Stern said.

"It's penny-wise and pound-foolish," Long said. "He could have a great image in this city, but he has a mixed one because he keeps on getting in these kinds of fights."

The council probably will take up the matter in December. Council members expect the complaints to keep coming.