District removes Mesa High trees

Costa Mesa High School students and staff returned from spring break this week to a much sunnier parking lot.

More than 20 sizable eucalyptus trees with branches that once provided the school’s front parking lot with ample shade were removed last week in preparation for work to repair the damage they have caused, according to district spokeswoman Laura Boss.

“The existing trees are brittle, have damaged the concrete curbs, walkways, the asphalt parking lot, and the roots have clogged and broken drain lines,” she wrote in an email.

To remedy the problem, the Newport-Mesa Unified School District removed the trees and will replace the current asphalt parking lot, drain lines, curbs and gutters over the summer. Workers will also add new parking lot lights and new landscaping.

The landscape plan has not been finalized, Boss wrote.

The parking lot improvements are among several projects being paid for by Measure F, a $282-million bond initiative approved by voters in 2005.

— Hannah Fry

@HannahFryTCN