Eucalyptus trees grow over 10 stories high and are beautiful in their massive stature, but what if they’re looming in your backyard and pose a threat to falling onto and crushing your home? A San Luis Obispo couple wants to see some measures taken that could help avoid a serious, or even deadly, situation.
“I’ll bet you it could almost cover the entire house,” said Ken Lann as he showed KSBY the eucalyptus tree leaning toward his home.
At the end of Madonna Road to the south sits Ellen Morrison and Ken Lann’s home at the base of the Irish Hills Natural Reserve, but if you glance just above the roof, there's a breathtaking sight: several eucalyptus trees towering tall above on the hillside, one of them even leaning toward the backside of the home.
“I hope the owls come and nest in our redwoods. I’ll miss them, but I don’t want to die,” said Morrison.
The couple wants the eucalyptus trees, which are native to Australia, removed before something terrible happens.
Ellen and Ken told KSBY that while a few trees have been removed due disease or danger, at least one still poses an imminent threat. The two, who moved into the home nearly a decade ago, say they have had constructive conversations with the City of San Luis Obispo on several occasions about the tree the couple sees as a problem, but no action has been taken.
“Every time we meet in-person, there's an understanding that, yes, these will all come down because they are a danger. You will be taken out of harm's way,” said Morrison. “But nothing is in writing, and then as soon as I follow up, well, sorry, we have other priorities right now.”
On Valentine’s Day of 2023, the matter became more dire: a gigantic eucalyptus tree came crashing down across the Mariposa Trail in the Irish Hills Natural Reserve and came to rest just feet from the couple’s backyard, its branches butting up next to the fence. The base of the tree still sits there today, cut just enough to clear the trail.
“If we were if we were standing here when that came down, we would have seriously injured us. Well, that's how close it is,” said Lann.
“Or if anyone had been on the trail, they would have been killed,” said Morrison.
KSBY spoke with Bob Hill, a Sustainability & Natural Resources Official with the City of San Luis Obispo, on the phone about what steps need to be taken for trees to be removed within the city.
Hill told us since the tree is on city property, a city arborist was out there within the last two months to check on the tree in question. He went on to say protocol was followed by the city arborist when the determination to not remove the tree, at least at this point in time, was made.
