Palm Springs’ iconic palm trees may soon be getting a makeover despite some pushback from residents who like them just the way they are.
While many palm trees across the Coachella Valley are trimmed each year, thousands of California fan palms throughout Palm Springs are kept in a natural state, including large “skirts” of dead fronds.
But that could soon change.
The Palm Springs City Council will consider a new policy to remove the dead skirts at its meeting Wednesday, July 8. This is the second time in two years the city will consider such a policy.
In July 2024, the city council delayed implementing a similar trimming proposal after receiving pushback from environmentalists and preservationists. But after two years of review and community outreach, city officials have once again put forward the trimming policy, arguing the dead fronds are dangerous when they fall during severe weather. A single tree’s skirt can sometimes contain hundreds of fronds.
“In addition to the physical danger of falling skirts — which can weigh anywhere from 1,000 to over 4,000 pounds — palm tree skirts harbor pests and rodents that pose significant public health risks,” Palm Springs Director of Public Works David McAbee said in a memorandum to the council included in the agenda. “Roof rats are common nesters in palm tree skirts throughout Southern California and are carriers of serious diseases including Hantavirus, Leptospirosis, and Salmonellosis.”
Each individual frond can weigh over 20 pounds and some have been known to hit pedestrians in downtown Palm Springs.
In March 2024, a frond struck Santa Monica resident Meghan Brtnik and her two-month-old son while she was walking down Palm Canyon Drive, according to a story in The Palm Springs Post. While neither Brtnik or her baby suffered serious injuries, the incident highlighted the risks of the city’s policy to local leaders.
Currently, the city trims the fronds up to 12 feet from the ground. The new proposal would remove all the dry fronds from palm trees in public rights of way, like streets and sidewalks. The city would conduct such trimming outside of nesting season to avoid disrupting the habits of the birds and bats that use them.
If the council approves the plan, the Public Works Department estimated, it will take four years to trim all the impacted trees. The city would begin with those trees in the busiest parts of Palm Springs.
Still, the news that the city was once again planning to trim the trees caused alarm in some areas.
Environmentalist Jane Garrison, the executive director of the Oswit Land Trust, took to social media to organize against the proposal.
“While we support protecting public safety, this proposal is OVERKILL,” she wrote on Facebook. “A blanket one-size-fits-all approach is unnecessary when a balanced, tree-by-tree risk-based solution is available.”
She urged the council to instead organize a working group that would come up with a preservation plan for local palm trees.
The council will meet at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, in the council chambers at city hall, located at 3200 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way.
The meeting is available to be streamed live on the city’s YouTube page or through Zoom.
Details on watching the meeting can be found here.
Sam Morgen covers local government for The Desert Sun. Reach him at smorgen@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Springs’ iconic palm trees may get a makeover. Some aren’t happy
Reporting by Sam Morgen, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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By Sam Morgen, Palm Springs Desert Sun | USA TODAY Network
