A 200-year-old Monterey cypress tree in Carmel is creating division as officials and private property owners haggle over whether or not the towering, 60-foot-tall marvel should be allowed to live. 

The city takes its arboreal protection and preservation seriously: It has a special commission that provides oversight to the town’s canopy. But Carmel is now caught in a debate over the fate of the magnificent specimen located in the heart of the oceanfront city’s historic residential zone. 

Last month, the Carmel Forest and Beach Commission met specifically to discuss a request from the homeowners who own the lot where the tree is located. They recently rebuilt their home on the lot, and asked to tear down the cypress, which the city defines as a “significant” tree. 

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“They brought up the concern of the tree,” Justin Ono, Carmel’s city forester, told the commission during the Feb. 19 meeting. Ono examined the tree for the first time last spring while the property owners were building their new home on Carmelo Street. “I looked at the roots and I wasn’t overly concerned.”

The Lone Cypress located between Cypress Point Golf Course and the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Carmel, Calif., June 24, 2018.

The tree species has a special place in the hearts of locals and visitors. Another Monterey cypress, the Lone Cypress on 17-Mile Drive, is stitched into the region’s lore as its unofficial mascot. That tree has become a world-renowned landmark and the logo for nearby Pebble Beach. 

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