Planners to hash out contentious Redway tree removal permit Thursday
The Humboldt County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing Thursday on a request to remove a 10‑foot‑diameter, 252‑foot‑tall old‑growth redwood in Lower Redway, a tree estimated to be at least 350 years old and protected under the subdivision's Qualified Combining Zone, also known as the Q‑Zone.
Property owner Robert Scarlett has applied for a special permit to cut down the tree. Neighbors say the tree is healthy and does not meet the ordinance's narrow criteria for removal, which allow cutting only if a redwood is within the footprint of a permitted building or poses an imminent hazard. The Old‑Growth Neighborhood Association says four other redwoods on the lot were cut and sold earlier this year without the required permit.
County officials initially said they lacked jurisdiction to enforce the Q‑Zone but later reversed course after community pressure, legal warnings and questions about Cal Fire's role in issuing exemptions for the earlier logging. The oversight by the county planning officials has already allowed four old-growth redwood trees to be logged from the property.
Humboldt County Planning and Building Director John Ford stated previously that "the county's earlier interpretation was that Cal Fire's authority under the Forest Practice Act superseded local zoning, and that was incorrect."
Cal Fire has opened an administrative investigation involving both the landowner and the registered professional forester, both of whom are Cal Fire employees, to see if there was impropriety that led to the previous four old-growth redwoods being logged.
Redway residents who opposed the earlier removals say Thursday's hearing will determine whether the remaining old‑growth tree and the protections intended for the neighborhood will remain intact.
"Enough damage has already been caused to this neighborhood by this landowner. The Q-Zone ordinance is unequivocal. Falling limbs do not justify cutting entire, healthy old-growth trees. A tree must be in imminent danger of falling for a special permit to be issued," said Sue Moloney, a Redway resident. "If the Planning Commission follows the law, they will have no choice but to deny a permit, so no more huge old-growth trees are destroyed. Mr. Scarlett paid $160,000 for the entire lot. This tree that he still insists on cutting is worth many times that, to say nothing of the four whole trees he logged and sold without a special permit."
Public comment will be taken before the commission votes on the permit.
The Planning Commission released a proposal ahead of Thursday's hearing, containing wording recommending the approval of the Special Permit and asserting that the 252‑foot redwood poses an "immediate hazard" based on reports from the landowner's hired experts. The staff report frames the tree as structurally compromised, citing a cavity roughly 200 feet up. It concludes that the tree "should be removed" to protect nearby homes and the public roadway. That stance has alarmed residents who say the county is treating the Q‑Zone protections as a formality rather than a mandate.
"It seems outrageously disappointing that the county appears to be completely siding with the people who think this tree is an imminent danger of falling. Many of us believe this is not the case, that the landowners' interests are primarily mercantile," said Moloney. "The tree is healthy, and no one can ever really predict when a huge old-growth tree is going to fall; I think that left on its own, this tree will probably outlast any of us that are discussing this right now."
Despite the county's position that the tree constitutes an "immediate hazard," the staff report acknowledges that the tree is part of a larger old‑growth stand and is prominently visible from Briceland‑Thorne Road. It also notes that the tree is estimated to be 350–370 years old and contains a cavity roughly 200 feet up the trunk, a point Petrolia resident Michael Evenson disputes in a letter he sent to the planning commission.
"Nearly all old-growth redwoods exhibit structural damage at their tops. They often have grown multiple trunks in the canopy over their long lifespan. Biologists from Cal Poly to Save the Redwoods League have examined redwood canopies over their vast range. They write of multiple tops, damaged tops, dead tops with new growth springing up to replace them. There is a unique biome in the canopy, and cavities play an important role in supporting that diversity of life," said Evenson. "The Commission's decision will have future ramifications. If the Permit is granted, the Commission will be responsible for setting a precedent allowing a domino effect of the falling old growth Redwoods, erasing the specialness of Lower Redway and rendering the Supervisors' unanimous Q Zone protection meaningless. It will lead to degrading the value of the property, lowering the assessed value, and striking a blow to Redway as a tourist destination, all of which are economic hits to the county."
The meeting is set for 6 p.m. Thursday in the Board of Supervisors' chambers at the Humboldt County Courthouse in Eureka.
Maranda Vargas can be reached at 707-441-0504
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