ficus trees second street between colorado avenue and ... · 11/22/2007 · the indian laurel fig...

Ficus Trees Second Street between Colorado Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard Santa Monica, California City Landmark Assessment Report Evaluation Report Photographs

Prepared for: City of Santa Monica Planning Division Prepared by: PCR Services Corporation Santa Monica, California November 2007

Ficus Trees

Second Street between Colorado Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard City Landmark Assessment Report

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Ficus Trees Second Street Santa Monica, California City Landmark Assessment Report BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Environmental Setting

The subject mature Ficus street trees are located in the public right-of-way on the east and west sides of Second Street between Colorado Avenue to the south and Wilshire Boulevard to the north. The section of Second Street between Wilshire Boulevard and Broadway contains Ficus trees spaced at regular intervals on both sides of the street; the section of Second Street between Broadway and Colorado Avenue contains Ficus trees on the west side of the street only. These mature trees are planted in grade-level openings in the sidewalk at the edge of the curb and have high rounded canopies that shade the sidewalks. The subject Ficus trees are located within the City’s historic Central Business District and were, according to the City of Santa Monica’s planting records, planted in 1967.

Regulatory Setting

The Central Business Historic District was originally identified as a potential historic district in 1983 during Phase I of the City’s Historic Resources Inventory survey. At that time, the boundaries of the potential Central Business District were identified as including buildings in the 100-700 blocks of Broadway, Colorado, Santa Monica, Wilshire, and the 1200-1500 blocks of Second, Fourth, and a small section of Fifth Street. In addition, contributors to the potential historic district were also identified. During Phase 3 of the Citywide Historic Resources Inventory conducted between 1990 and 1993, additional properties were identified as contributing to the potential Central Business District. The potential historic district was surveyed again in 1994 following the Northridge earthquake, and again in 1998 as part of the Central Business District/Third Street Promenade Inventory update.1

The subject Ficus trees have not been identified in any of the above mentioned surveys of the potential Central Business Historic District as either individually eligible for designation or as a contributor to the district. In addition, the subject Ficus trees have not been previously identified as a potentially significant example of street trees or as a contributor to an historical landscape or streetscape. However, the City of Santa Monica has not conducted a specific survey of historic landscapes, cultural landscapes, or historic open spaces, except for Palisades Park which is a designated City Landmark. In the City of Santa Monica’s Community Forest Management Plan (2000), trees in the City of Santa Monica have been documented through a comprehensive inventory that specifies the date

1 City of Santa Monica, City of Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory (Last updated July 2007).

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each tree was planted, its type, health, and population. The inventory does not analyze the historical significance of trees and does not make recommendations about adding trees to the Historic Resources Inventory. The document does, however, recommend the establishment of a “Heritage Tree” program that would allow the Santa Monica City Council to designate trees that have special significance due to at least one or more of the following factors.2

• The tree’s age and association with a historic building or district gives the tree historical significance.

• The tree represents a specimen that is particularly rare in the Los Angeles basin and is of considerable size and age.

• The tree possesses unique characteristics or special horticultural significance. The tree is of a significant size and/or makes a significant and outstanding aesthetic impact to its setting and is an exceptional specimen in good condition and health.

The City of Santa Monica has not adopted the Heritage Tree program, and thus, potentially historic trees are currently reviewed by the Landmarks Commission for historic significance. To date, there have been five individual trees designated as City Landmarks.

Site Description

The Indian Laurel Fig is an evergreen tree which is a native of Asia, common in the central province of Ceylon, up to an elevation of 5,000 feet. It grows indigenously in the peninsula of India and in China, but has been widely planted in the tropics and was introduced into the United States for ornament in the early 1900s. The Laurel Fig has been popular as a street tree in warm weather states such as California and Florida for decades. The Indian laurel fig is taxonomically confusing in the horticulture industry because its scientific name has been changed so many times in the last 30 years. The Indian Laurel Fig, which has obtained the scientific name, Ficus microcarpa ‘nitida’ is also commercially referred to as ‘Green Gem.’

The Growth rate of the tree is fast, eventually up to 20-30 feet tall, developing a round, oval canopy, with dense foliage on upright branches. Leaves are alternate, simple, two to four inches long, shiny light green, ovate-lanceolate, leathery, with smooth edges, cuspidate ends, and pale undersides. Insignificant flowers are rarely seen. Fruit is reddish orange, 1/3 inch long, with blunt basal bracts. Bark is smooth and whitish with a rough, warty texture. A widely used street tree in coastal areas with a clean, shiny appearance, the tree tolerates arid, windy, and coastal conditions and can be sheared to a desired form. The longevity in cultivation is estimated to be 100 years.3 The excellent shade-producing and perpetual green complexion of the canopy were desirable characteristics of the plant that led to its heavy use in the United States. The combination

2 City of Santa Monica, Community Forest Management Plan, 2000, 13. 3 Hatch, Charles R., Trees of the California Landscape. University of California Press. 2007.

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of these inherent canopy properties and the subsequent hybridized resilient characteristics made F. m. nitida the primary choice in Southern California for postwar urban redevelopment streetscapes.

An initial pedestrian survey of the subject trees was conducted by PCR Service Corporation, including all Indian Laurel Fig/Ficus trees along Second Street between Wilshire Boulevard and Colorado Avenue.. The survey was carried out on a block-by-block basis focusing on both east and west sides of the street. The survey results are listed for each block included along Second Street. The results of the pedestrian survey of Ficus street trees constituting the existent linear canopy along Second Street, within the current project area are as follows:

Beginning from Wilshire Boulevard heading in a southerly direction along Second Street, there are 13 Ficus trees on the west side of the street, with one gap in the linear canopy associated with a vacant lot just to the south of the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica. Along the east side of Second Street there exist 10 Ficus trees with a gap in the linear canopy at 1235 Second Street Public Parking Structure 2 vehicle entrance. There are a total of 23 Ficus trees along the Second Street city block between Wilshire and Broadway.

Continuing in a southerly direction, between Arizona and Santa Monica, along Second Street, on the west side of the street there exist ten Ficus trees with a large paved gap in the linear canopy at 1332 Second Street, in front of Laemmle’s Monica 4 Theater. On the east side of the street, eight Ficus trees are present with a gap in the linear canopy at 1333 Second Street, in front of an infill terrazzo granite clad building where the Ficus have been replaced with three large palm trees. There are a total of 18 Ficus trees combined along the Second Street city block between Arizona and Santa Monica.

The block along Second Street between Santa Monica and Broadway has eleven Ficus trees on the west side of the street with no major gaps in the linear canopy. On the eastside of the street there exist 13 Ficus trees with one gap in the canopy at 1423 Second Street which has been replaced with two palm trees. The total number of Ficus trees for this segment of the survey area is 23 trees.

The final block of Second Street just to the north of highway 10, between Broadway and Colorado maintains a reduced number of Ficus trees, with multiple gaps existing between each individual specimen. The linear canopy in this block vicinity has been interspersed and largely truncated by subsequent commercial redevelopment since the 1970s. There are a total of eight Ficus trees in this block.

Altogether, there are a total of 73 individual Indian Laurel Fig/Ficus planted along the four city blocks of Second Street between Wilshire Boulevard and Colorado Avenue.

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Historical Background

The significance of the subject Ficus trees on Second Street was evaluated against two applicable associated historic contexts: Ficus trees in Santa Monica; and the potential Central Business Historic District.

Ficus Trees in Santa Monica

The City of Santa Monica has a long and rich history of both public and private involvement in tree planting. One of the earliest tree plantings in the City of Santa Monica was the Moreton Bay Fig tree, planted on the grounds of the Miramar Hotel by Santa Monica founder, Senator John P. Jones. Planted in the 1880s, the fig tree is one of the largest examples of its type in the state, and is a City of Santa Monica designated Landmark. In 1892, Senator John P. Jones and developer, Colonel Robert S. Baker donated the strip bordering the palisades from Colorado Avenue (previously Railroad Avenue) to Montana Avenue, to the City of Santa Monica on condition that the said strip be forever used as a public park. J. W. Scott, builder of the Arcadia Hotel, contributed the funds for the planting of rows of eucalyptus and cypress trees bordering Ocean Avenue along the Park. In the early 1900s, the palisades were transformed into parkland. Improvements included wide walkways, new plantings, picturesque sunshades, and a rustic fence made of branches. Many of the early trees were provided by the new Park Commissioner, Edward H. Sweetzer, who donated much of his salary toward the beautification of the landscape.4 In 1915 the name of the Park was changed from Linda Vista Park (Spanish for “lovely view”) to Palisades Park. A designated City Landmark, Palisades Park is a good example of the City Beautiful movement that incorporated some of the formal tenets of French Beaux-Arts landscape style in the unity and harmony of its design, the axial layout, and the incorporation of key viewpoints.

Lincoln Park (currently called Reed Park), like Palisades Park, was a gift of Senator Jones to the City. Located between Seventh and Eighth (now Lincoln) on Wilshire, the park is the site of the Miles Playhouse, a Santa Monica landmark designed by John Byers. Like Palisades Park, Reed Park was planted with eucalyptus trees in the early twentieth century. In addition, parks throughout the city were planted during the first half of the twentieth century. Many of these tree plantings are still extant today.

Street tree planting appears to have been part of City of Santa Monica planning beginning with the first subdivisions. As mentioned above, J. W. Scott financed the planting of eucalyptus trees along Ocean Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard. Early photographs also show palms planted along Wilshire Boulevard in the 1920s. Other early tree plantings include the rows of windbreaks, usually eucalyptus, originally used to shield crops from wind. However, many of the existing street trees were part of the postwar urban redevelopment of Santa Monica. The 1956 City of Santa Monica Master Plan included a five-year tree planting program that sought to infill trees on those streets that were not planted. The program was continued with the 1962 Public Works Master 4 Basten, Palisades Park Panorama, pp. 12-13.

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Plan that mapped existing rows of street trees and made recommendations for a planting schedule to add trees to the few remaining treeless streets.

It was during the 1950s and 1960s that most of the City’s Ficus trees were planted. In maps provided by the City of Santa Monica Community Forester, it appears that nearly all Ficus street trees were planted during the 1950s and 1960s (see maps attached). The Ficus street trees were not planted in one specific type of area or adjacent to certain building types; rather, the Ficus were planted in both residential and commercial areas, and were planted on numerous streets throughout the City of Santa Monica. According to the City of Santa Monica Community Forest Management Plan, there were 3,184 Ficus trees in Santa Monica in 2000, the second most prevalent tree in the City.5 City Records show that the Ficus trees along Second Street between Wilshire Boulevard and Colorado Boulevard were planted in 1967 as part of the redevelopment of the downtown area. The Ficus trees on Second Street are typical examples of the numerous Ficus street trees planted at the height of their popularity in the City’s tree planting program.

The collective Ficus trees on Second Street are not excellent representations examples of their tree type. In a document provided by Walt Warriner, Community Forester for the City of Santa Monica and concurred with by the staff arborist at PCR, the subject trees have received yearly pruning, required because of their placement on a busy commercial street, which has limited their ability to grow. Although there are examples of good, moderate, and poor trees on Second Street, none of the subject trees are an excellent example of their type. However, there are some excellent examples of Ficus trees in the City of Santa Monica including at least one tree on Pearl Street between Sixteenth Street and Seventeenth Street (see attachment).

Santa Monica Central Business District

The Central Business District area is roughly bounded by Wilshire Boulevard to the north, Second Street to the west, Colorado Avenue/Santa Monica Freeway to the south, and Fourth Street (south of Santa Monica Boulevard) and Seventh Street (north of Santa Monica Boulevard) to the east. The Central Business District was part of the original Santa Monica tract subdivision. Most of the early commercial activities in the Central Business District served the burgeoning tourism business in the City, and the small population of residences built on the periphery of the district. Second Street, the oldest commercial street in Santa Monica, was supplanted by Third Street as the City’s principal commercial street in the early twentieth century. A three-block stretch of Third Street was closed to vehicular traffic and became a pedestrian shopping mall in 1965. Fourth Street, between Wilshire Boulevard and Colorado Avenue, evolved from a primarily residential neighborhood at the turn-of-the-century to a predominantly commercial area by the early 1920s.

Buildings from 1875 through the present day make up the architectural fabric of

5 City of Santa Monica, Community Forest Management Plan, 2000, 1.

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the district. The most prevalent architectural styles are those associated with the 1920s and 1930s, including: Spanish Colonial, Art Deco, Streamline Moderne, and Classically influenced vernacular structures. Additionally, the Sears Building (1947) is an important example of postwar architecture. Buildings located within the Central Business District range from one to twelve stories in height and are clad in a variety of materials, including stucco, brick, and concrete.

According to the initial survey of the Central Business Historic District conducted in 1983 and revised in 1986, the period of significance for the district is from 1875, the construction date of the oldest building in the district, Rapp’s Saloon, to 1944, the construction date of the youngest contributor to the district. The 1996 Historic Resource Inventory Update listed 77 contributing buildings to the Central Business Historic District.6 Based on historic photographs of the Central Business District, it appears that contiguous rows of street trees were not part of the streetscapes of Second or Third Streets during its identified period of significance. In fact, the streetscape of Second Street featured regularly spaced lampposts during the historic period of significance associated with the Central Business District.

The subject trees, situated within the potential Central Business District, have not been previously identified in the City’s Historic Resources Inventory or in subsequent survey updates and evaluations as being a contributor to the potential Central Business District within the City. As a Community Design Feature, the street trees are associated with the postwar redevelopment of the Central Business District, and are representative of the continued tradition of tree planting in the city. The subject trees were not planted within the period of significance for the potential Central Business District, and therefore are not contributors to the district. However, the subject Ficus trees are a compatible addition to the visual experience of the district and do not detract from the significance of the district.

CONCLUSION

In summary, based on current research and the above assessment, the subject Ficus trees located on the east and west sides of Second Street between Wilshire Boulevard and Colorado Boulevard, do not appear to meet any of the City of Santa Monica Landmark criteria. The property was evaluated according to statutory criteria as follows:

Landmark Criteria:

9.36.100(a)(1) It exemplifies, symbolizes, or manifests elements of the cultural, social, economic, political or architectural history of the City.

6 City of Santa Monica, Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory, Phases 1 and 2 and City of Santa

Monica Historic Resources Inventory (Last Updated July 2007), and, Parkinson Field Associates, Historic Resources Inventory Update, 1995.

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The subject Ficus trees are a typical example of the numerous Ficus street trees planted in Santa Monica during the postwar years. The trees are not historically significant for their relationship to the cultural, social, economic, political or architectural history of the Central Business District. The period of significance for the district is from 1875, the date of construction for the oldest building in the district, Rapp’s Saloon, to 1944, the construction date of the youngest contributor to the district. The Ficus trees were planted in 1967, and therefore are not within the period of significance associated with the district.

Ficus trees are part of the history of street trees in Santa Monica. Yet, based on existing available research and a site survey, it appears that the Ficus trees are not individually eligible under this criterion as they are a highly common street tree type and the row of trees on Second Street between Wilshire Boulevard and Colorado Boulevard are not unique or rare, individually or as a group, nor do they have any specific historical importance in association with an important person or event. Furthermore, based on the opinion of the both the City of Santa Monica Forester and the Arborist at PCR Services, collectively, the subject trees are not good representative examples of their type.

9.36.100(a)(2) It has aesthetic or artistic interest or value, or other noteworthy interest or value.

The resource does not appear to meet this criterion. Although the trees contribute to the scenic and aesthetic quality of Second Street, street trees of this type are too common in the City to meet this criterion. Furthermore, there are other better examples of Ficus trees in Santa Monica. Nonetheless, as a community design feature, the trees do not distract from the significance of the district.

9.36.100(a)(3) It is identified with historic personages or with important events in local, state or national history.

Current research did not reveal any information on historic personages or events related to the subject Ficus trees. Therefore, the subject trees do not appear to satisfy this criterion.

9.36.100(a)(4) It embodies distinguishing architectural characteristics valuable to a study of a period, style, method of construction, or the use of indigenous materials or craftsmanship, or is a unique or rare example of an architectural design, detail or historical type valuable to such a study.

The Ficus trees were planted after the period of significance for the potential Central Business Historic District and therefore, the subject trees do not appear to satisfy this criterion.

The subject Ficus trees are symbolic of the urban redevelopment projects of the 1950s and 1960s. Specifically, the Ficus trees were one of the predominant street tree types used in Santa Monica and throughout Southern California during this

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period. Individually, the rows of trees on Second Street between Wilshire Boulevard and Colorado Boulevard do not possess any distinguishing or outstanding characteristics valuable to the study of local history, landscape history, planning history, or horticultural history, and therefore do not appear to satisfy this criteria.

9.36.100(a)(5) It is a significant or a representative example of the work or product of a notable builder, designer or architect.

Current research did not reveal any information on the designer, landscape architect, or arborist related to the subject Ficus trees. The Ficus trees along Second Street were planted as past if a larger City-wide tree planting program. Therefore, the subject trees do not appear to satisfy this criterion.

9.36.100(a)(6) It has a unique location, a singular physical characteristic, or is an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood, community or the City.

The subject Ficus trees are an established familiar visual feature of the Central Business District and are non-contributing resources in the district. However, the trees do not add substantially to the character of the street and to the historic fabric of the district. As mentioned above, the subject street trees are not excellent distinctive or outstanding, but are typical examples of Ficus trees planted in Santa Monica during the 1950s and 1960s. They are not planted in a unique location or configuration, nor do they possess singular physical characteristics of their type. Therefore, the subject trees do not appear to satisfy this criterion.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Basten, Fred E. Palisades Park Panorama. Santa Monica, California: Fred E. Basten, 1988.

City of Santa Monica, Community Forest Management Plan, 2000.

City of Santa Monica, Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory, Phases 1 and 2 and City of Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory (Merged Inventories as of December 2003), and, Parkinson Field Associates, Historic Resources Inventory Update, 1995.

City of Santa Monica, Open Space Element, Roma Design Group, 1997.

City of Santa Monica, Public Works Master Plan, 1962.

Hatch, Charles R. Trees of the California Landscape. University of California Press. 2007.

The Daily Outlook.

California Historical Resource Status Codes.

Santa Monica Historical Resources Inventory 1985-86 Final Report.

Santa Monica Historical Resources Inventory Phase 3 Final Report.

Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory Update, September 1995.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, City of Santa Monica.

Klein, Jake. Santa Monica Then and Now, Layton: Gibbs Smith Publisher, 2003.

ATTACHMENTS

Current Photographs Historic Images

1962 Street Tree Planning Map Ficus Trees in Santa Monica

Top 10 Species in Santa Monica’s Community Forest Trees Planted in Santa Monica by Decade

Memo to Landmark Commission from City Forrester Mature Trees

CURRENT PHOTOGRAPHS

Perspective view west side of Second Street between Arizona Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard, view northwest.

Second Street Ficus trees, view north.

Perspective view east side of Second Street between Arizona Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard, view northwest.

Ficus tree in front of First Presbyterian Church, view west.

HISTORIC IMAGES Fourth Street without street trees, 1920s.

Early Street Tree Planting, Wilshire Boulevard, 1920s.

1962 STREET TREE PLANNING MAP

FICUS TREES IN SANTA MONICA

Community Maintenance DepartmentPublic Landscape Division

2600 Ocean Park Blvd.Santa Monica, CA 90405

(310) 458 – 8974 ph(310) 399 – 6984 fx

TO: Roxanne Tanemori, Associate Planner; Planning & Community Dev. Dept.

FROM: Walt Warriner, Community Forester; Public Landscapes Division

DATE: November 3, 2007

SUBJECT: 2nd & 4th Street Ficus trees

The dominant tree that lines 1200 through the 1500 blocks of 2nd and 4th Streets is the

Ficus microcarpa “Nitida’, a commonly grown tree throughout California due to its

hardiness, and adaptability to urban conditions. They were planted on 4th street in

January, 1965 and on 2nd Street in February of 1967.

The Ficus microcarpa is a fast growing, broad-headed, evergreen tree that can reach a

mature height of 60 feet or more with an equal spread of its canopy. With age they can

develop a massive spreading dense canopy that will cast deep shade. They grow in full

sun or partial shade can thrive in various well-drained soils and are moderately salt-

tolerant. Their canopies have glossy, dark green, leathery leaves on large, somewhat

weeping branches. They produce new growth all year long that is a light rose to

chartreuse color, giving it an attractive two-toned effect. Their trunks are smooth and

light grey in color and can grow to three feet in diameter at the trunk flare supported by

an extensive surface root system that does best in a 20 foot wide parkway. This actually

makes them a better park tree than a street tree because of their broad canopy, massive

trunk flare and wide spreading root system.

Currently there are a total of 153 ficus trees on 2nd and 4th Streets. They are pruned

annually each fall to increase sunlight as well as to control fruit production which can

stain cars and create messy sidewalks in front of businesses. Although the subject trees

do have attractive looking canopies, many of them have problems with their trunks and

main scaffold branches. Those problems include broken and damaged branches at the

main stem and trunk damage from oversized vehicles and/or past construction work that

took place in the past. Corrective actions for the trees with damage to their primary limbs

can only be accomplished through extensive pruning. Drastic pruning treatments like

that could create off-balanced trees which in essence would increase risk exposure to

the public as well as maintenance requirements.

The trees on 2nd and 4th Streets have also experienced a significant amount of root

pruning over the last 25 years as part of the City’s sidewalk maintenance program.

When the roots of a ficus tree are cut back they respond with massive amounts of root

shoots that eventually forms a large woody mass that will once again displace any

adjacent hardscape within a few years. This response has created a continual

maintenance requirement that could be avoided if the ficus were planted in the right spot

as opposed to the confined growspace that they are currently in.

Although they have the capacity to tolerate the immediate physiological effects of root

pruning, structural failure of these trees should never be ruled out. In addition to the high

maintenance requirements for sidewalks, the severed root branches begin to decay as

the tree cannot compartmentalize the wounds created by the necessary root pruning.

That decay has spread into connecting roots and up into the trunk. Once this occurs it is

too late to remedy the situation and management of the tree then consists of damage

control or tree removal.

The root pruning is also a contributing factor that causes them to lean towards the street.

Over time as these trees have leaned into the parking lane they have had their trunks

damaged from busses and large limbs torn off by oversized vehicles. In one instance an

entire tree was knocked to the ground by a moving van which hit one of the lower limbs.

An inspection of the root flare showed that there were a minimal amount of roots

supporting the tree.

Although the subject trees may appear outwardly to be healthy, ficus that experience

extensive and repeated root pruning over a period of several years have been known to

fail, particularly after rainy weather, or during extreme overnight cold temperatures

regardless of wind conditions. A study of Ficus trees that had failed under these

conditions showed extensive decay at the base and center of their trunks with no exterior

evidence of decay.

Although many of the subject Ficus trees on 2nd & 4th Streets are in good condition, some

of them are in moderate to poor condition. Those that are in marginal condition also

have the potential to fail if they are to remain in place.

MATURE TREES

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