CITY MAKES GOOD ON TREE VOW : HABITAT FOR HUMANITY TO TEND 5 NEW OAKS AS PART OF DEAL FOR LOT.

Byline: R.A. Hutchinson Daily News Staff Writer

A decade-old debt was paid off Friday when five sapling oak trees were planted in an open lot on Beall Street.

The oaks, promised to the residents of Beall Street by city officials in the mid-1980s, were transplanted from large tubs into the ground by volunteers with Habitat for Humanity. The nonprofit organization agreed to maintain the end lot on the street as open space in exchange for the city's donation of the adjacent tract to build a home for a low-income family from the area.

``These trees will just change the whole area,'' said Gary Mevis, site coordinator for the Habitat project. ``Now we're the city of a thousand and five oak trees.''

The trees will be part of a park which Habitat will maintain on the cul-de-sac. Mevis said Habitat volunteers also plan to plant drought-resistant plants around the trees and build a walkway through the small lot.

Arriving in two 36-inch tubs, two 24-inch tubs and one 15-inch tub, the small trees will show substantial growth within 15 to 20 years, providing a view shed for residents on either side of a flood-control channel through the neighborhood.

Councilwoman Judy Lazar said the city cleared the two Beall Street lots in the mid- to late 1980s for use as a temporary site for five homes relocated during the widening of Hillcrest Drive. Before the project, there was a gap near Hodencamp Road where Hillcrest did not go through; the city extended the street so it continues from Moorpark Road to Duesenberg Drive.

The homes were never actually located on Beall Street because residents protested, but the city still needed to make good on its promise to replace the trees.

``That cul-de-sac has really gotten a bonus over there with their own little park,'' Lazar said.

Meanwhile, Habitat officials estimate the Schrader family will be able to move into their new home by mid-July.

Habitat for Humanity Ventura County is run primarily by volunteers and supported mainly by donations. Its mission is to help provide affordable housing by building, repairing or renovating homes in a partnership with families of limited income.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: (color) Pastor Tapia, left, and Ramon Gillegos plant an oak sapling on Beall Street on Friday.

Jeremy Greene/Special to the Daily News