HILO — Park-goers in Kapaau were taken aback by the removal this week of what one said was a dozen trees in Kamehameha Park, but the county says it was a matter of safety.
Lisa Andrews, a frequent testifier at the North Kohala videoconference site at the park, called the removal of the trees without notice “a rape of the North Kohala community.”
She said some of the trees provided needed shade for kupuna, and three plumeria trees that were cut were a favorite of keiki, who picked the fragrant blossoms.
In addition to the plumeria near the park’s community building, three 50-foot trees were cut along the parking lot and another seven along the gulch that forms a park boundary, she said.
“I want to know why all the trees were cut. It’s leveled. There really is no reason,” Andrews said Friday. “The community needs to weigh in on any future removal of trees.”
County Parks and Recreation Department officials said some of the older trees needed to come out because their roots were lifting up parts of the walkways and cracking the pavement, creating safety hazards.
Hamakua Councilwoman Valerie Poindexter agreed they were a problem, adding that her father tripped on the pavement in the park recently.
Some of the other trees needed to be removed because they were dropping leaves and branches on the roof of the buildings that are currently in the process of being re-roofed, officials said.
Parks and Recreation Department spokesman Jason Armstrong emphasized that, contrary to some concerns, there was no poison used in cutting the trees or in applications to the stumps. He couldn’t verify the number of trees that were taken out.
“We don’t take cutting down of the public trees lightly,” Armstrong said Friday. “We recognize the benefit trees provide to park patrons.”
It’s not known at this point whether there will be a replanting program to replace some of the trees with smaller ones. Armstrong said it’s typical of the county to do that.