Officials Ponder Replacements for Irvine Avenue Eucalyptus Trees

Officials from Newport Beach and Costa Mesa will hold a special meeting tonight to choose replacement plants for the 104 blue gum eucalyptus trees removed from Irvine Avenue after one fell and .

The joint parks commission meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in Costa Mesa's Council Chambers, 77 Fair Drive. According to a staff report, commissioners will decide what type of landscaping and reforestation should be done on the Irvine Avenue median between Westcliff/17th Street and Dover Drive/19th Street.

According to the report, staff recommends "a mix of date palms and African Tulip trees, as well as a number of grasses, aloes, and shrubs," all of which have been used in other parts of Newport Beach and Corona del Mar, including East Coast Highway, Superior Avenue, Westcliff Drive and Avocado Avenue.

The new plants were suggested because of their heartiness, color and ease of maintenance. "This landscape is also drought tolerant, and will result in reduced water consumption over the median area," the report states.

Newport Beach is responsible for the irrigation and maintenance of Irvine Avenue's median landscape, but Costa Mesa reimburses 50 percent of the cost, according to the report.

Replacement plants in other areas

Crews started cutting down eucalyptus trees in Newport Beach after was killed when a eucalyptus fell onto her car in September as she drove along a Costa Mesa street. The city quickly removed more than 100 eucalyptus trees from the Irvine Avenue median. Since then, arborists inspected another 250 trees citywide. In Corona del Mar, along Fourth Avenue in October. Another 18  in the 2200 block of Holiday Road are scheduled to be removed this week.

Mark Harmon, the city's municipal operations director, said the city will work with homeowners to decide on replacement trees.