Residents now allowed to pay for trimming of city-owned trees – Chino Champion

A pilot program has begun that allows residents to pay for the trimming of city-owned trees near their homes to address the high volume of requests made to the City of Chino Hills for tree trimming.

To qualify for the program, the tree must be owned by the city and not trimmed in the last 12 months. Some seasonal restrictions apply.

Of the 47,000 city-owned trees, about 8,000 are trimmed each year as part of the citys regular tree maintenance program, management analyst Alexis DalPont told the city council when the program was introduced in August.

The purpose of the program is to allow residents to pay out of pocket to have the city trees trimmed prior to their next scheduled trim, Ms. DalPont said. Estimates are based on cost recovery and can vary significantly based on the location of the trees. The administrative fee that includes the inspection and initial review is $123.

She said trees will not be topped, which involves removal of all or a majority of the leaves and branches from the crown.

Residents interested in the program should call the Public Works Department at (909) 364-2800 to request an inspection. If the request qualifies, an estimate will be provided and payment must be received within 60 days.

City staff or a contractor would complete the job within 30 calendar days.

All estimates will be based on the master schedule of fees, fines and penalties that are based on cost recovery for the service provided.

Chino Hills resident Doug McCormick told the council that he thought the program was a great idea but appeared to be cost prohibitive, based on the fee schedule he reviewed.

I dont think it should cost that much, he said.

City Manager Benjamin Montgomery said the fees are designed to cover the cost of the contractor doing the work. Since it will be a direct benefit to the person requesting the tree trimming, were passing it back to that individual, he said. Mr. Montgomery said trees deemed to be unsafe are trimmed or removed regardless of the program. This is just for those circumstances where residents may want a discretionary trimming, he said.

Mr. McCormick said when he first moved into his home 29 years ago, the descending slope behind his house included low-lying groundcover with medium-sized eucalyptus trees and a few small pepper trees that offered great views of the Chino Valley.

Now the groundcover is 4 to 5-feet thick, some dead and some alive, the eucalyptus trees are 50 to 70 feet high next to his rear fence that sheds huge pieces of thick bark and leaves, and the pepper trees have grown to dangerous heights.

Maintenance of slopes has become non-existent over the last few years, he said. When the Santa Ana winds blow, our home is pelted with bark and branches and we are in a constant state of fear that one day, pieces of that tree will come through a window or the tree will completely come down into our yard, he said.

Over the years, he and several neighbors have asked the city to remove dead trees and vegetation for fire and wind protection, even offering to hire their own landscape contractor, which is not allowed by the city.

He said Councilman Ray Marquez responded to a letter he wrote in 2022, visited his property, and returned with city staff a month later to resolve the issue. A cursory cleanup and trim job was done the following spring but it was very minor so I called to complain a few more times but never heard anything, he said. When Mr. Marquez asked staff if dead brush in open space would be addressed by city staff, Public Works Director Daniel Bobadilla said, Yes, if there is any request for dead brush and dead material in open space, city staff will go out and maintain it. Councilman Art Bennett asked staff to clean up the slope behind Mr. McCormicks home as part of the regular brush cleaning to prevent fire danger. I request we make a special trip to that property and get it cleaned up, he said. Its the least we can do.

Mr. McCormick said Thursday that he never heard a word since the meeting.

Now that the program has been initiated, he and his neighbor will obtain quotes from a landscape contractor and approach the city to compare costs. For information on the Resi-Pay Program that includes a link to the master schedule of fees, visit chinohills.org/resipay or call the Public Works Department at (909) 364-2800.

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Residents now allowed to pay for trimming of city-owned trees - Chino Champion