June 1, 2006

Tree cutters beware: City increases fines for cutting trees

By Daniel DeBolt
Staff Writer

Property owners and tree cutters beware: cutting down a tree in San Jose without a permit will now cost you a lot of money.

In an effort to protect the urban forest, the San Jose City Council May 23 voted unanimously to increase fines, quadrupling them in some cases, for cutting down trees. The new fines are more than the earlier proposal, which in most cases doubled them. The time required for public notice to remove a tree has been extended to 14 days from seven to give more time for citizens to protest a tree removal.

“I agreed with many residents, who felt the staff’s initial proposal didn’t go far enough,” said Councilmember Ken Yeager, who authored the motion. “The fact that so few people are here today means we hit the nail on the head.

"Illegal tree removals were on the rise in the city, and the fines assessed were not high enough to serve as an effective deterrent," Yeager said. "We needed to strengthen the fines and increase the time for the public noticing process in order to protect our urban forest."

In April, Yeager held a community meeting on the issue, which was attended by a large number of residents and community groups. City staff incorporated their feedback into the final staff recommendation.

One public speaker said the fines wouldn’t be enough to stop the illegal removal of trees.

District 1 City Councilwoman Linda LeZotte agreed.

“I don’t think we can make them high enough,” she said.

Throughout the city there are very old trees called heritage trees. If you cut one down without a permit and a public hearing it can cost you double what it used to, $10,000 now. If you do it again within three years the fine increases to $20,000, and every time after that $30,000.

Those who illegally cut down a street tree less than 6 inches in diameter used to pay $300. Now it is $500. If the diameter is 24 inches or larger, the fine is $2,000. It used to be $500.

To some people it’s just the cost of business, LeZotte said, and some people really don’t know they need a permit. The real issue is getting people to understand the issue and the consequences, she said. The city plans to make outreach efforts at community meetings, in newsletters and on the city Web site.

Tree removal businesses could be part of the problem, and LeZotte said she wanted to make sure the city goes after businesses that may encourage illegal tree removal and even target the elderly, LeZotte said.

A city staff report said many offenders don't know about the permit process. Large tree removal companies generally aren't getting in trouble, as are smaller companies and contractors.

“At some point we have to start some process in mapping locations of existing trees,” said Councilman Dave Cortese.

Cortese suggested staff follow up on an action adopted years ago to keep track of city trees. Because of budget problems it was never pursued. Cortese said high-tech mapping systems could be used or staff could keep a simple journal.

Keeping track of trees would be helpful because there have been instances where, “all of the sudden the tree is gone. There are no witnesses, and no city record that a few months earlier a tree was there,” Cortese said.

The city recently added a code enforcement person to be on duty for this ordinance on the weekends for a quick response to complaints. The city is also encouraging people to take pictures of illegal tree removals.

Fines will be extended to anyone who helps remove a tree, so contractors and other businesses will be fined as well as property owners.

Other cities like Sunnyvale, have increased fines to as much as $25,000, but such ordinances are rarely enforced, according to a city staff report.

In the 2004 to 2005 fiscal year the city issued 65 citations for the illegal removal of street trees. The public filed 23 complaints of illegal tree removal, resulting in four citations. There are an estimated 340,000 street trees in San Jose.

Tree-cutting permits are free, but in some cases it can cost $200 for a public notice fee. Some large trees require a public hearing before being cut into. And, you don’t need to cut a tree down to get in trouble, you can also land a fine by pruning it too much.

In the past, people may have cut a tree down without a permit since the fine wasn’t much higher than the public notification fee. Fines for cutting down trees in San Jose used to be among the lowest in the state.
They are no longer low.

To obtain free street tree pruning, planting and removal permits, contact the City Arborist Office, 1404 Mabury Road, San Jose, Calif., 95133, at (408) 277-2762. For private property tree removal permits, contact Planning at (408) 535-3555. For more information on Our City Forest, visit www.ourcityforest.org or call (408) 99-TREES or 998-7337.