With the recent rainstorm, we had the sad reminder of the inadequate care and protection the Italian stone pine trees along the 300-800 blocks of East Anapamu Street have received since the City Council bestowed landmark status on them in 1997. Two trees have fallen and are now removed.
All designated landmarks in Santa Barbara are important to the historic fabric of our city and are protected from deterioration and destruction by the Municipal Code with substantial penalties for violations. Through the years, city councils have expected special care and preservation for things they have designated to receive our highest level of protection. The tale of the landmarked “Doremus Pine Trees” is in sharp contrast to that expectation.
In 1997 when these trees were landmarked, there were 79 of them. During late 2013, the character-defining canopy was in jeopardy with four trees dead and another dozen identified by the city’s arborist to be in poor health. More have been lost and replaced since then; still their number was just 57 before these latest two fell. In September 2013, the Department of Parks and Recreation made an embarrassing and defensive presentation to the Historic Landmark Commission (HLC), trying to explain why these historic landmarks continued to suffer.