Big Bear

Has anybody heard of the new tree ordinance in big bear. Well, its honestly ridiculous. Residents must now CUT down all trees dead or ALIVE which are less than 8 inches in diameter and less than 15 ft from another tree. Not only is this going to be costly for residents but pretty soon our beautiful mountain community is no longer going to be very mountainy because there are hardly going to be any trees left. Thanks to the fire chief of big bear our community is going to change drastically for the worst. Also if residents are required to cut down trees that are less than 8 inches in diamter then how are baby trees supposed to grow, there wont be any baby trees alive because they will all be cut down.

You echoed my thoughts with the question about the young trees, redhawk. Where will the future mature trees come from if we cut down the young ones?

I'm also concerned about the financial impact to homeowners, tree removal is expensive, there will be many who cannot afford to have the service performed, and most should not attempt it themselves.

I also find it ironic that this is coming from a City government that in the past would fine or cite property owners for cutting down trees without permission, and would make people revamp building plans to preserve as many trees as possible.

Mr.Morley needs a reality check, IMO.

BTW, in a crown fire (the worst-case scenario), it won't matter if trees are two feet apart or 15 feet apart, the fire will still travel from one to the other. So what is the real objective here from a fire safety standpoint?

I couldn't agree with you anymore JordanL. And yes it is funny how the city would try to preserve as many trees as possible when building new homes or businesses, and now if this proposition passes all those trees that were preserved will probably be cut down! I sure hope that this proposition doesn't pass!

There's an article in the grizzly on line about it. Leave it to Kun to push this one. Wonder if that's going to apply to his precious ski slopes. Oh, wait, HE DOESN'T OWN THEM. Better yet, lets see him do that to his own properties. I can think of at least one he's got where it's gonna ruin the "scenic view" vacation renters pay big bucks for.

What a load of crap. Lets just throw the baby out with the bathwater shall we? And what do you do is a tree on your property is "too close" to a tree on your neighbors property? Draw straws?

Good luck enforcing it guys. Really, you're gonna need it.

Cedar, I find it funny how Dick Kun is an advocate for this proposed ordinance, considering the fact that he is the president of Big Bear Mountain Resorts. And if this ordinance does pass he is going to be spending some huge money cutting down most of the trees on his ski slopes and his properties. I wonder if he has thought about that.

It's going to depend on how the ordinancy winds up being worded. Kun doesn't own the rosort land, the forest service does. It's a long term lease. And then there's the question of how much of that land is included in the lease I would guess. But Kun has the bucks and the manpower to do all that work if he has to.

I know of some lots where taking down trees under 8inches within 15 feet of another tree is going to be expensive as hell. And what about the Spruce trees? They grow very slow. Many of the Spruce over 8 inches get cut down illegally and sold to carvers because spruce wood is so valued. There aren't many Spruce left in some places. Is it okay to wipe out all the Spruce trees in Big Bear for this?

I've got a healthy spruce in the front yard that's probably just under 8 inches. It's one of only two trees on my lot, both spruce. But it's within 15 feet of several larger pines and cedars on a neighbors lot. Am I going to be required to cut down my tree? I can't cut that sucker down by myself. That's going to cost me to take that think down. Eight inches does not quarantee a tiny little tree you can take down with a hand saw. I'm gonna have to take out a loan for Goddesss sake just to cut down my tree!

Cutting down trees is an expensive task, its definitly not cheap, and thats why I can't believe that the city is proposing this ordinance. I know of tons of people that can't afford tree removal, so what are they supposed to do if this ordinance passes. I guess it just depends on how much they enforce the law. But Cedar, the sadest thing that I see with this whole situation is that live and healthy trees are going to get cut down if the city passes this law, and like you said some trees such as the spruce are rare and less abundent, and if they have to be removed there are going to become less and less of them. Is anybody going to the city council meeting this Monday August 13?

Uhohhhh, hate to say it, but it's not my problem. I could go to the meeting but I reside outside the City of Big Bear Lake. I doubt they want to hear from me. That's the only area that's affected by it. I should have known.

But if you read the ordinancy there are things even scarier in it. Basically they're telling you how you can landscape your property. No native plants like manzanita within 10 feet of your property. No wood pile within 15 feet of a home. That one would kill me. It would mean I couldn't have firewood on my property. If you read the proposed ordinancy there's a waiver for parcels over 5 acres, which would certainly by the slopes, if they keep a forty foot wide strip of cleared land around the property. Bet the people who live up against the slopes will be thrilled with that.

Here's the ordinancy as it's been proposed. http://citybigbearlake.com/documents/ProposedVegetationRe...

That is devastating to read. Im gonna go and fight this on Monday, who knows if i can make a difference. Thanks for everyones input.

THe only part of the ski slopes within the jurisdiction of the city of BBL are the ticket booths/offices and parking lots. King Richard's slopes are in the forest and are under federal jurisdiction.

We all have to attend Monday and bitch like hell! We do not want to become Upper Lucerne Valley!

Yeah Matt92315 thats the idea. Its funny not to many locals in big bear know about this bad ordinance that is trying to get passed. I was talking to a couple of big bear realtors yesterday about it, and they had never even heard of the proposition until I informed them about it, and they still found it hard to believe. We dont want the beauty of our mountains to be ruined, so everybody show up tommorow and protest.