By Mike Hazlip—
Citrus Heights resident Edixon Martinez says his plight began when he received a notice of abatement from the city to clean dead palm fronds from a palm tree in his front yard.
Martinez told The Sentinel in an interview Saturday he had considered removing the tree about two years ago, but did not consider it an urgent matter. Then came the notice, and Martinez said he found a company willing to remove the tree for about $700, the same price as trimming the dead fronds.
Knowing that clearing dead fronds would be an ongoing expense, Martinez said he reluctantly decided to have the tree removed.
“I found a guy online, on Craigslist, that can do half of the job,” Martinez said, recalling the conversation he had with the business. “He said ‘I’m going to tell you something not many people tell you which is I can cut the tree and the city can come and pick it up.’ I was naive.”
Martinez says he is unemployed and lives with his wife and daughter along with his 80-year-old mother. He says the cost of cutting down the tree depleted the family’s emergency funds, and the company left a pile of palm fronds and stumps on the street in front of his home.
Martinez then contacted Republic Services to remove the debris left behind and was told he would need to rent a disposal bin for an additional $500 to $600, a cost he says he cannot afford.
Running out of options, Martinez sent a written public comment statement to the City Council that was read during Thursday’s council meeting.
“I received a notice to abate: ‘palm tree with dead palm fronds needs to be trimmed and properly maintained’ the first week of May,” Martinez wrote. “I called Officer O’Connor; I got scared as the letter stated that if I was still in violation of the notice during a re-inspection after May 4th, I could be fined up to $420.”
Mayor Steve Miller during the meeting asked City Manager Chris Boyd to look into the matter. Boyd responded by saying: “It’s already being handled; the chief and his staff are on top of it.”
Martinez quickly disputed that claim, addressing the council directly via Zoom during the public comment portion of the meeting, saying: “No, the people in the city are not taking care of it. I just received a phone call letting me know that Republic Services can do this for almost $400. My point is that I cannot afford to do this.”
“I don’t understand how the city… can ask for residents like me in the midst of this pandemic to clean this palm tree,” he said, also noting the cut tree rounds are too heavy for him to carry and the palm fronds are difficult to dispose of. (Green waste facilities often don’t allow palm fronds, as they are known to jam up shredding equipment and can take decades to decompose.)
Public discussion about the issue ended with the mayor saying he would follow up with Martinez personally. Councilman Bret Daniels also asked for a report back from staff on what authority was being used to cite the tree, noting he had heard of another similar incident involving a palm tree.
Lieut. Chad Morris told The Sentinel in a phone call Friday that the matter comes under the health and safety municipal code, as palm trees are known to harbor rodents and falling fronds can cause damage or harm.
The lieutenant said Martinez doesn’t qualify for an assistance program administered through the city for home improvements, but confirmed that no fines or penalties have been levied against Martinez. He said Code Enforcement inspectors, who are part of the Police Department, look for progress and only take punitive action as a last resort.
Contacted on Friday afternoon, the mayor told The Sentinel he was able to arrange for a disposal box to be anonymously donated for the cleanup. Martinez is planning a cleanup later this month.
Martinez moved to Citrus Heights about three years ago, and while he’s grateful a solution is in progress, he still wonders about others who might be in a similar situation and unable to afford the cost of tree maintenance.
“They are going to send this container that I can put all this stuff inside, but again, what is still concerning for me is how other people are managing this issue,” he said. “They might not want to insist as much as I did and make the amount of phone calls like the way I did it. They don’t have the resources to do this kind of things.”
Share your thoughts on this story: Submit a letter to the editor or opinion column for publication by clicking here.
