The Glendale Fire Department sent Ann and Mike Collard a notice informing them that the branches on some of their trees were too close to their home. The notice ordered the couple to maintain 5 feet of “vertical clearance between roof surfaces and overhanging portions of trees.”
They hired a tree trimmer, paid him $3,000 to trim the trees, and were assured that no permit was necessary.
Not so.
From the LA Times:
On the third day of the three-day job, the city’s urban forester happened to be in the neighborhood, and noticed the tree trimmer doing his thing.
“She saw what was happening and said, ‘Stop! Cease and desist!’ ” says Mike, a work-at-home software and computer guy.
Glendale has an indigenous tree protection ordinance that dates to the 1980s. It was enacted to discourage developers and homeowners from bulldozing or hacking trees willy-nilly. Earlier this year, because of citizen complaints that native trees were still being ruined, the city approved more restrictions and bigger fines.
None of which the Collards knew about.
They now admit that had they read the Fire Department notice closely, they would have seen in small print that a free permit was required to trim oak and sycamore branches larger than 1 inch in diameter. But it was an understandable oversight.
A week after her first visit, the urban forester was back, telling the Collards an arborist would come by soon to assess the damage. The Collards recall being told they might want to hire an attorney.
“That’s when we realized the gravity of the situation,” says Ann. “I was pregnant and crying, but it didn’t help.”
In August, the Collards got a visit from the arborist. She looked at the trees, took measurements and jotted down notes.
How bad could it be? The Collards began to anticipate the possibility of a fine, but it wasn’t as if the trees were mauled. They looked pretty good, in fact.
Finally, on Oct. 1, a letter arrived. It was from Glendale’s Neighborhood Services administrator.
“Dear Owner,” it began. “The city of Glendale is committed to maintaining a community with quality streetscapes that include the care and well-being of protected indigenous trees.”
The letter informed them they had improperly pruned 13 trees, some of them on city property because they were near the street, and some on their own property. The fine was listed on Page 2, where the Collards were informed they would be charged “two times the value of the damaged tree(s).”
“Total: $347,600.”
“I about passed out,” says Ann.
After hiring a lawyer and getting the press involved, the Collards are off the hook “for now,” but will still have to pay a fine of some kind.
The weird part is that they aren’t the only ones who have been fined a ridiculous amount of money for trimming trees in Glendale.
“I was fined $175,000 for cutting two sycamores after my architect contacted the city and was warned not to touch oak trees,” says John Oppenheim, a registered nurse and single dad. “I am not a criminal, though because of a string of bad advice, I did make a mistake.”
Ann’s reaction to the fine mirrors our own thoughts about the matter:
Ann points out that White House aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby was fined $250,000 for perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators in the case of CIA operative Valerie Plame. She adds, with appropriate exasperation, that Glendale Memorial Hospital drew a $25,000 fine in October for a medical error in which “a person was killed.”
Yeah! It’s not like they were caught videotaping the Jets’ top secret defensive signals or something.
Out on a limb over trimming fiasco [LA Times] (Thanks, Cesar!)
(Photo:Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)
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You know… if these fines were originally designed to punish super-rich land developers who run amuck tearing trees down like crazy….. then why are they being used on regular people who trim trees after being orderd to? I find it rediculous that you have to take diameter measurements of the limbs you want to trim or be handed insanely inflated fines!
Seems there is a major flaw in this law.
IF you wanted to be fair…. then work out a penalty fine based on the income/holdings of the offender.
btw…. I really hate over-legislated communities. If you live in the countryside where you are allowed to do as you wish with your property (within reason), then move to an ultra-restrictive community where every little thing/action has a rule attached to it & little weaslely beauracratic code-enforcers who run amuck handing fines out like confetti….. you would be longing to go back to living in the countryside & doing what you wish with your property.
More & more & more rules, codes, and regulations keep being enacted….. so much so that it is literally IMPOSSIBLE for everyone to know them all. Christ! I bet I could take a casual walk down a street & somehow break a law or ordinance without even trying.
It’s always ironic when you look at lists of the “best states to do business in” put out by business and commerce publications. Almost always they put Florida, California, New Jersey, and New York at the bottom of the list due to high taxes, excessive government regulation, and the like. And they put states like Alabama, North Dakota, and Montana at the top. Funny how you don’t see streams of UHauls going from New Jersey or New York to Alabama. It’s almost always the reverse direction.
The city of Glendale has fines for everything imaginable. I visited there once and parked my rental on a street in front of a business… like other vehicles. Well, here comes lovely Rita meter maid… I received a ticket for not turning my wheels in the proper direction on a FLAT street.
@C2D: Isn’t Cali in Columbia where the druglords hang out?
@badgeman46: Same nonsense goes on in the urban east as well. Just try cutting a tree in some parts of suburban Maryland or Virginia and not tell anybody. My uncle lives in Trinity county, Cailfornia. He cuts quite a few trees.
“”That’s when we realized the gravity of the situation,” says Ann. “I was pregnant and crying, but it didn’t help.”
Ugh, shut up lady, way to set back respect for women about 50 years.
That being said, the fine was beyond ridiculous considering they didn’t *kill* any trees, they just trimmed them. Based on the updates that have since been posted, the Glendale mayor sounds like a major prick. He still wants blood? Because someone trimmed their own trees a bit? It’s not like they killed his first-born son, or even his trees.
As someone who spent the first 31 years of his life living in California I am not surprised. The notice from the fire department should have warned them in 20pt type of the possibility of fines if they didn’t follow the proper procedure. Also if the tree trimmer was licensed in Cali he should be responsible for the fines if he told them no permit was needed.
Bottom line though, is that people continue to sit on the floor rocking on their ass and sucking their thumbs the government will continue to increase the reach of the nanny state.
I live in Georgia now (for the past 5 years) and dread the idea of ever returning to Cali.
John and Ken. I listened to them when they were in NJ.
@EtherealStrife and others:
If the city is concerned enough about it’s tree branches (which grow) being too close to people’s homes (which don’t) to hand out tickets and .33 million dollar fines, perhaps the city should bear the responsibility of keeping said trees trimmed.
Also ethereal, a communist state is NOT ‘no state’. I am concerned, as you, about the erosion of our civil liberties but unless the US gets A LOT worse in terms of that, I’ll take it over a communist or socialist state any day.
big brother and catch 22 are alive and well
@whitjm5: Most cities and communities do pay for the trimming if they dictate that it needs to be done, but its obvious that this was a ruse to make money for the city.
I know my city actually told us we HAD to cut down one of our trees because it potentially would be a problem, and came the next day with a municipal truck and did it for us.
Of course this is California we are talking about here..They might have some of the nicest, most laid back people I know from my visit there, but MAN do they have their priorities screwed up when it comes to running things.
I think Glendale needs a new city Arborist. Sounds like someone was on a power trip and needs to be fired.
Is that “arborist” on a freaking commission plan? Even if the trees were completely destroyed, why should the penalty be anything beyond the value of the trees?
Also…did the “urban forester” REALLY say “Stop! Cease and Desist!” ? I think that speaks volumes.
I don’t even own a house with trees and that made my stomach hurt reading it. You can’t do anything without a permit these days.
California is a huge state. This is one urban area that this happened in. To equate all of California, all three million plus square miles of it with one urban area in or near Los Angeles, is beyond the pale.
Cali, almost as nasty sounding as San Fran, or Frisco.
@demonradio:
City Slush funds.
@davebg5:
Florida is an absolutely wonderful place to live, especially if you aren’t in a major metro area. I’ve traveled & worked in a good bit of the US (other than the Midwest, Hawaii & Alaska) & I can easily say I’d rather live in Florida than anywhere else. YMMV.
On the third day of the three-day job, the city’s urban forester happened to be in the neighborhood…
Oh really? Just “happened” to be in the neighborhood, eh?
Does anybody really believe this was just coincidence?
“I was pregnant and crying, but it didn’t help.”
LAME.
This is where I think local municipalities are pathetically uncoordinated. If the city fire department is going to go to the trouble of alerting you that you are in violation of code due to the proximity of the trees, couldn’t they provide a pamphlet alerting you of the proper steps to address the problem? Otherwise, it stinks of a money making campaign and not of a kindly eco-friendly program. Bury the rules, but openly provide the warnings, typical of any governmental agency!
Sometimes, to stay healthy, trees NEED TO BE TRIMMED AND/OR CUT DOWN. Anyone with even a basic understanding of forestry management should know this (CERTAINLY in the “urban forester”‘s case but also in the overzealous “treehugger’s” as well). I’m all for conscientious development and saving the environment but (as seems par for the course in CA) this is way too overzealous.
And, I always thought that it was the contractor’s job to get the necessary permits…?
@9us: +1 for the Brazil ref. Perhaps the “Dept. of Urban Forestery” was actually looking for a Mr. & Mrs. Dollard?
So, unless this has all happened within the last week or so, I think there should be a fine for those “Holiday Lights” on the house. Has CA completely missed the boat on laws about that?!
There are several comments on here indicating that noting the woman was pregnant was not and is not relevant.
In fact it is. Stress, indeed, can affect pregnancy.
It’s pretty damn stressful to be fined 1/3 of a million dollars over something the city told you to do in the first place.
This is pretty stupid.
Let’s all pretend that this took place in Glendale, Texas. How many comments can we get about stupid rednecks who deserve to have their state destroyed?
Those writing off, insulting, or calling for the destruction of an entire state because of the actions of ONE city are beyond belief. California is such a huge state, with so many people, with so many problems as well as advantages, that this incident doesn’t even BEGIN to represent what life is like in Cali.
I’m amazed how sensitive people are about California! Maybe you guys should just be thankful you don’t live in the state that making fun of is practically a competitive sport – NJ.
@Troy F.: Heh, point taken. However, I was really surprised that so many comments to this story were “This is what you get in California! Let it burn!” That’s what you jump to first? Not that the city is being stupid and unfair? Not that the bureaucrats responsible should be called on the carpet for it?
Grossly unjustified. Makes me real mad! >:(
Good. Now if only we can get these Cal’tards to stop moving into our states.
The keep passing insane and inane laws in CA … and then, once they have thoroughly shat their own beds, insist on selling out, moving out, voting for the same kind of losers in their new home state, and then get confused as to why the problems they fled from have followed them here.
Texans don’t pass laws like that, or try to punish people for obeying directives from the local firemarshal.
Fail.
@Troy F.: Maybe you’d be sensitive too if several of your friends lost their homes in a fire, and someone said they’d wish the entire state would go up in flames? Kind of like saying you’d like to see all of Louisiana underwater because you hate Mardi Gras or something.
I actually wonder why people take the time to bash California if they hate it so much… sort of belies their motivations, I think.
There’s been a lot more comments about “Don’t hate on California” in general than there were about the one tasteless comment about the state going up in flames.
Greens gone wild! Haha
@Troy F.: Several anti-CA trolls backed up the pyrophile with their own flames. Hate the city policy, not the state.
@whitjm5: community != state
@MoCo:
Well, they won’t be cutting down any trees now, will they? :p But, there will be lots of leaves for them to rake up.
The homeowners should sue the contractor for legal fees and any fines that they actually do incur.
sounds like California has employees with alot of free time on their hands
i mean the “urban forester” and “arborist” that is
People from other states have such weird attitudes toward California. I suspect those who voice such ideas must be peering through a very narrow Hollywood/Los Angeles lens. I wouldn’t like to see people suffer no matter what state they call home. That’s just silly isn’t it? We’re all Americans, right? And I wouldn’t even wish bad things upon, say, Saudi Arabians, because we’re all people with a lot more similarities than differences.
Anyway, Northern CA is a much different beast. Some of the most beautiful places on Earth are in the top 1/2 of the state — The Lost Coast, Tahoe, the San Francisco cityscape, the Sierras, hundreds of national parks. I am a weekend adventurer, and though there are many other states I enjoy I would never choose to live anywhere else.
sounds like some hippie ass bullshit. kinda fukt up when a maiming a tree costs more than killing a person.
The idea that someone would require permission to trim trees on their very own property is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of. Anyone who interferes with the trimming of one’s own trees on their property probably belongs in jail, whether or not they work for the government.
This just shows you how twisted our justice system is when the victims are being punished and the criminals who were involved in interfering with property rights are upheld as in the right to lay down a fine like that.