Fair Game
By TOM JOHNSON
Trees removed inside Environmental Nature Center’s fence line brings surprise and anger to officials
It was December 23, two days before Christmas…things were still busy around the Environmental Nature Center with their Winter Camp. Seventy kids were on the property enjoying what the ENC does best – getting the kids out into nature, amongst the trees and, perhaps, on occasion allowing them to get a little dirty. That was the fun of it.
But, according to ENC Executive Director Bo Glover, alarm suddenly set in as the sound of chainsaws echoed through the trees. “Obviously, with the sound so near, our immediate concern was for the safety of the kids,” said Glover. Fortunately, no one was ever in peril and all of the kids were gathered together safely.
But here’s the deal. Unbeknownst to Glover, the owner of the old Newport Bay Hospital property next door that abuts the ENC on 16th Street began cutting trees down.
Glover and his staff were alarmed, none of them getting any advance warning of such. It also appeared that some of the cut down trees were on ENC’s side of the fence.
The initial response from the ENC was to immediately issue a Cease and Desist to the next-door property’s owner, Paul Gallant. Gallant owns the said property next door as part of the Gallant Family LLC.
The concern was that those three trees had been “removed from ENC property” and a 50-year-old Coast Live Oak appeared to be next in line.
However, Gallant’s legal team responded to the Cease and Desist pointing out that they conducted a recent property line survey which indicated that the fence, which, again, separated the properties for 50 some years, was not originally erected in the correct position. When properly installed, it would show some 10 or so feet at one end of the property that should have been on the Gallant side and three or so feet on the other end that should have been on the ENC side.
Click on photo for a larger image
Courtesy of ENC
Before and after pictures of pine trees removed below the fence in question
In essence, Gallant had apparently done nothing that would have been prevented or actionable.
Here’s where it gets interesting. The Newport-Mesa Unified School District (NMUSD) leases a section of their land (50-year lease) to the ENC, and you guessed it, it’s that piece of land. Gallant reportedly had gone to NMUSD officials to discuss the error in the original fence placement line and his plans to correct it.
Unfortunately, it appears that the discussion never rose through the ranks to the top NMUSD officials and, hence, no notice was ever given to Glover and the ENC that could have even allowed them to come up with an alternate plan.
Now, when you’re someone like Bo Glover who spends so many hours in this one-of-a-kind paradise of Newport Beach that is the ENC, where nature, trees, wildlife, etc. becomes your way of life, one can only imagine the impact of removing one of “his” trees or altering the landscape of the property.
Unfortunately, there’s no going back. Three trees have already been removed; the question becomes could the end result have been different?
I attempted to contact Paul Gallant, but unfortunately received no response. I was hoping to get an idea of his side of the story and the plans for the property.
Glover obviously wishes he wouldn’t have been surprised suddenly as the trees came down, with no discussion about possible alternatives beforehand.
And the school district, it appears, was properly contacted by Gallant, but never communicated the message and decision up into the organization or to Glover and his team.
So, where are we? There’s the large oak tree that appears to be on the “chopping block.” Gallant appears to have every right to do so, but can any communication take place to see if there is any alternative?
Click on photo for a larger image
Courtesy of ENC
The coastal oak tree sits to the right, with what appears to be a limited number of days ahead
The tree, incidentally, was planted some 50 years ago by Newport Harbor High School students who, in many cases, helped in the process of creating the ENC. Some still live in the community and fondly remember those days.
The old saying, made famous by a commercial, was, “Bo knows!” Unfortunately, in this case he didn’t!
