Altadena residents fight to save historic 100-year-old trees

ALTADENA, Calif. (KABC) -- Altadena residents on Thursday were fighting efforts to chop the tops off historic trees in their community.

John and Tammy Fredrickson never thought they would be in battle to save massive 100-year old deodar trees lining their property off Allen Avenue.

"These trees behind me are 80 to 120 feet tall, and they want to cut them down to 25-30 feet," John explained.

The plans are associated with the upgrading of power lines in the neighborhood.

The Fredricksons said they had no warning beyond a knock on their door Wednesday afternoon. The utility crew, hired by Southern California Edison, told them the trees would be topped.

Chris Perry is a planning deputy with Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger's office. He said after phone calls and emails poured, he served SoCal Edison with a cease and desist order to stall any trimming of the historic trees.

"Next we're going to huddle with SoCal Edison, public works, our office and the community and make sure there is an operations and communications plan on how this work gets done moving forward," Perry said.

The Fredricksons said that's all they were asking for: chance to consider all other options.

"We don't want to see these trees go," John said. "It's not just our backyards, it's the neighborhood. It's coming up into Altadena and seeing one half of the street with trees, and that's our fear."

The Fredricksons said it's their understanding that SoCal Edison went to the county to get permits for the project, but that process did not involve communication with the residents of Altadena.