July 1, 2005

Cutting down heritage tree costly to builder

By Ken Lotich
Times Intern

Illegally cutting down a tree in San Jose used to garner a mere slap on the wrist for offenders, according to some in Willow Glen. But that’s changed now. A recent incident left one violator with a hefty fine and, hopefully, the notion that cutting down trees could be hazardous to a wallet.

Community members took it upon themselves to make sure one violator was given a harsher punishment after a 75-year-old redwood tree was cut down.

Andrew Latala, owner of three adjacent lots on Broadway Avenue, filed for a permit to remove two trees at 1038 Broadway Ave. The request for the redwood tree to be removed was denied, said Carol Hamilton, senior planner for the city of San Jose.

“It was disappointing when we learned both trees had been removed,” Hamilton said.

At a public hearing on June 15, Broadway Avenue resident Patty Toth and a number of her neighbors argued that the planning department’s proposed sanction of a $500 fine and the planting of ten, 24-inch box trees was not adequate enough.

One week later, a harsher penalty was approved. Latala would be required to donate 20 trees, 10 to be planted in the neighborhood. In addition, he would have to pay $300 a piece for 10 trees to be given to Our City Forest, Hamilton said.

Ed Rast, president of the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association, said Latala was remorseful about the situation.
“He regretted it was cut down,” Rast said. “He wanted to work with the neighbors to get this resolved.”

Helen Solinski, a current board member and former president of the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association, said she feels the $500 fine for illegally removing a tree is not tough enough on developers.

“I’ve been with other projects, and I’ve seen this happen before,” Solinski said. “I’ve always thought the fines were not steep enough. These developers are building million dollar homes—a few hundred dollars in fines is not enough.”
Solinski said she hopes the city will reconsider its current penalties. “The fine amount should hurt the developer,” Solinski said. The city should also consider no longer offering the violators future permits, she added.

Rast said two things have to be done in order to ensure large trees are preserved and not illegally removed.
“First you have to educate everyone about the existing private and public property tree regulations, and then you have to come up with substantial fines for those who ignore the law or chose to remove trees for financial gain,” he said.

Getting the word out is the most important thing, Rast said. He suggested various ideas, ranging from putting the laws of tree removal in specific cities in garbage bills or in tax bills.

“There’s a variety of ways to reach people,” Rast said. “We have to develop a way to reach all property owners to inform them.”

Currently, the city measures trees at 24 inches above ground level. If the tree is more than 56 inches in circumference (about 18 inches in diameter) the property owner must have a permit regardless of the size of tree.

Any street tree (between the sidewalk and curb) must also have a permit before being removed, no matter what size it is.

Rast said San Jose is very tame in its sanctions for illegally removing trees compared to other cities, which hand out fines for illegally uprooting trees as little as 4 to 12 inches in diameter.

“We have the lowest fine and the largest diameter trees to qualify for tree preservation.  Los Gatos protects trees with 4-inch diameters on undeveloped land and a number of other cities protect trees with 12-inch diameters,” Rast said. 

Rast said a group of volunteers from WGNA and other neighborhood associations are complying a summary of all Santa Clara County local city tree regulations to preserve large and heritage trees that contribute to the quality of life in Willow Glen. They will be discussing what reasonable changes in the regulations are necessary in a few months with the business community and San Jose Planning Department.

Rast thinks the city should levy fines and replacement trees based on the size of the tree illegally cut down. He added that the director of planning be given discretion as to the fine based on the reason why it was brought down, whether due to lack of knowledge or for financial gain.

For more information, visit the WGNA Web site at www.wgna.net.