There was a letter to the editor (“Agree that palm trees should go,” Sun City Independent, Aug. 5, 2020) saying something to the effect to cut down the palm trees because they serve no purpose.
I will never forget turning off Bell Road onto R.H. Johnson Boulevard more than seven years ago for the first time. After the Sun City West entrance sign and the beautiful flower beds, there was the most unusual sight of tall stately palm trees down the middle and on both sides of the boulevard. In between the palm trees on the sides were the colorful “lollipop orange trees.” The PRIDES kept them perfectly coifed with spheres of bright green on top and white long stem trunks.
What an exceptional sight through out the community. A real inviting promenade. There was no comparison to all the other adult communities here in the Valley that look so drab and lifeless.
A couple of years ago the powers that be decided to save money. They tore out all the pretty orange trees on R.H. Johnson Boulevard and left the ones on Stardust Boulevard die. Nobody said what the costs for various alternatives or savings were. There was no discussion from the community.
The beauty is gone. Not only the “lollipop trees” are gone but all the stately palm trees have not been trimmed on the boulevard. In years past all the palm trees were trimmed before June. So what have we is an unkempt, blah looking boulevard like most other adult communities.
Can we not pay to have a little of nature’s beauty remain and make our community exceptionally beautiful again? Before the powers that be start cutting down the trees, might we consider preserving our environment? We still have a few “lollipop orange trees” left on Stardust Boulevard. Could we not replace the ones that died? Can we not please keep our beautiful stately palm trees?
