In a split vote, the Santa Barbara City Council denied an appeal of a Mesa homeowner who wanted to remove a Mexican fan palm tree from the public parkway in front of his house.
Kevin Cunningham argued Tuesday that the tree was leaning and posed a safety threat to his house, but the city's tree experts and arborist concluded the tree was young and in no danger of falling. "This is a healthy tree," city arborist David Gress said. "The tree is well rooted."
Council members Helene Schneider, Dan Secord and Das Williams voted to save the tree, while Mayor Marty Blum and Councilwoman Iya Falcone voted to cut it down, both saying it looked unsafe.