February 1, 2007

Tree-cutting issues grow after latest violation

City officials seek solution

By Carol Rosen
Editor

Saturday, Jan. 13 started out as a peaceful, serene morning in Willow Glen. But events soon turned noisy when a tree service began cutting down three Sycamore trees. The police were called and Willow Glen’s e-list was activated. It hasn’t been as quiet since.

This photo shows the three Sycamore trees at Willow and Camino Ricardo before they were cut down without a permit. Residents indicate the trees were at least 60 years old and have provided shade for the area for at least four generation. Below: Contractors illegally cut down one of three Sycamore trees, which residents estimate at about 60 years old. Photos taken by Liv Ames

But the hoopla surrounding these events has led to City Hall officials looking into the problem, and possibly coming up with a solution.

Permit?
Shortly after 8 a.m. that Saturday, the tree cutting service arrived at a lot on the corner of Willow and Camino Ricardo and started cutting down three Sycamore trees that neighbors estimate at about 60 years old.

When questioned, the men said they didn’t know if they had or needed a permit. Residents tried calling the code enforcement line, but no one answered, and it took the police time to arrive. When they did, the cutters were in the middle of their job and the damage had been done. And, the police were unsure whether and what they could do.

It turns out that the code enforcement line was discontinued on Saturdays after a pilot program. According to Jamie Matthews, director of Code Enforcement, the pilot program that began last spring did not elicit many calls so it was dropped Dec. 31 at the end of its trial period.

It also turns out that police could have forced the cutters to stop but were unaware of their jurisdiction.

E-list members soon began churning up the Internet, with more than 100 messages filed that weekend. (The e-list is a like a message board on the Internet. Residents can question, thank and alert others to problems and questions as well as provide information on a variety of subjects.)

Residents voiced anger at the police, at the lot owners, the tree cutting service and City Hall for allowing the trees to be cut without a permit. And, many of the e-mails indicated that this is more common than not and typical of a weekend when code enforcement is closed. At last count, e-list messages about the trees and related problems and solutions neared the 300-plus mark.

Permit rejected
It turns out that letters were sent to the previous and current owners of the property as well as San Jose’s building inspector delineating why the permit was not issued to cut down the trees and why the money for the permit was returned. The letter, dated Jan. 9, noted that the three-ordinance sized Sycamore trees measured 56 or more inches in circumference and as such required a hearing before a tree removal permit could be issued.

An arborist report and addendum, prepared by certified arborist Barrie Coate, was attached to the report and included tree protection plans for each tree on the site. The letter added that requests from the property owners for an architectural plan depicting construction had not been submitted.

In addition, the letter stated that “Building Permit File No. 06-001705…cannot be approved or released until the status of the three Sycamores and the Heritage tree is established through the tree removal permit request currently on file.”

Rebekah Ross, a city-planning manager, signed the letter. It was sent to previous owner Qui Van Phan, current owners Anita and Todd Holt as well as Ron Cruz, inspector PBCE for the city.

Meeting
The Willow Glen Neighborhood Association called a meeting for Sunday, Jan. 21 inviting city officials and association members as well as anyone in San Jose who had questions. The meeting, which attracted at least 100 people, also was attended by City Attorney Rick Doyle, Police Chief Rob Davis, City Arborist Ralph Mize, Deputy Traffic Director Kevin O’Conner, City Council-member Nora Campos, Rhonda Berry from Our City Forest, Mayor Reed’s Chief of Staff Pete Furman, District 6 Chief of Staff Megan Doyle and District 8 Chief of Staff Rabia Chaudhry representing Vice Mayor Dave Cortese who was ill.

Contractors illegally cut down one of three Sycamore trees, which residents estimate at about 60 years old. Photos taken by Liv Ames

Pierluigi Oliverio and Steve Tedesco, the two candidates vying for the vacant District 6 seat also attended.

Chaudhry provided attendees a memo to the city’s Rules Committee to discuss the situation at a City Council meeting no later than Feb. 13. The council has scheduled the discussion for Feb. 6 before 3 p.m. Cortese’s memo also called for an ordinance to increase fines for illegal tree removal plus a number of ideas that would work toward eliminating the problem.

At the meeting, WGNA board member Larry Ames showed photos of homes that were built around large trees. Some developers/homeowners work with neighbors, he said, to ensure that the mature trees aren’t removed and to help with heating and cooling.

Ames added that often the situation is similar with historical homes. Too frequently developers and home buyers choose to get rid of older homes and trees that are in their way instead of looking for a way to incorporate them into their plans.

WGNA President Ed Rast said that the fines that were increased last spring don’t appear to mean much to developers. Often, he said, developers will willingly pay $9,000 to increase the property value by $250,000. Like Cortese, he suggested that developers must plant mature trees where they had illegally removed trees.

In other cases, he said, “developers will ‘accidentally’ damage a tree that was in their way. Then they will have to remove it,” he said.

Mayor Chuck Reed told the Times he believes the tree canopy is an asset to the city and is important to neighborhoods. He liked the idea of making contractors have permits on site, as well as would educating police officers to stop all activity until the contractor is in compliance.

Reed also suggested that policy be implemented to make the situation work the way it is supposed to and that may result in changing penalties to include replacing the tree with another of like size, if possible.

City officials speak
Since the event, Matthews said, he has been working with the police departments “to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I was angry when I found out about it the following Monday, when the San Jose Mercury News called me,” he said.

Police officers and residents discuss the situation and try to hold off removing the trees despite the fact that much of the tree has already been cut down.

Unfortunately, “there’s nothing so fast as a chain saw and the willingness to remove a tree.”

Matthews said he was looking into possible ordinance changes, but that whatever the decision is, “it must be citywide and it must be enforceable.”

City Attorney Doyle said he is open to any and all ideas to solve this and future situations. As a homeowner in Willow Glen, he said he feels the same way as those attending. The same thing happened about a year ago in Almaden Valley, he said. Those miscreants were fined $40,000 and ordered to replant the illegally removed trees.

His office, he said, is investigating whether or not such actions could be determined as criminal.

Doyle suggested that in the future no tree could be removed without a permit on location. Whether the cutters have begun or not, if there is no physical permit at the location, they would have to stop.

Chief Davis added that he already had spent time letting police officers and dispatchers know that they were responsible for stopping such incidents. He explained that police will ask for a permit, if none is available, then the cutters will be forced to stop and the police follow up with code enforcement. If they don’t stop, then they will be charged.

Davis was later castigated by Rebecca Schoenenberger who told him that the “police had no excuse for not stopping the cutting. The trees need to survive,” she said adding that the trees have been around for at least four generations. “The police are here to protect and serve,” telling Davis that this time his troops had done neither.

Bureaucratic mess
One issue that came to light during the meeting is the manner in which trees are covered by the city. For example, the city arborist is under the Department of Transportation because his office only works on street trees. Trees on private property are controlled by the Planning Department.

San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis explains to area residents what happened on Jan. 13 and tells them that officers are now being educated to know that they can stop illegal tree removals. Photo by Carol Rosen

Arborist Mize says that planning and DOT need to work together and are trying to develop policies and procedures, but “it’s always confusing.” That was reiterated by many of those attending, that there were too many departments and it’s difficult to determine who to go to for help.

Davis added that perhaps a tree commission might be an answer to the problems in illegal removal and in dealing with city hall.

During the later comment session, John Engell of the Campus Community Association said he thought that San Jose’s government is not set up to deal with environmental issues. He questioned why the city arborist’s office is in DOT, private trees are issues for the Planning Department and environmental services are under Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services.

“The city needs to be reorganized,” said Schoenenberger, “what is the arborist doing in the DOT?”

Recommendations
Seven recommendations were offered to alleviate the situation and possibly prevent future episodes.
Require valid removal permit, business license and California contractors license on-site for possible inspection.
Police can order the work stopped if any of the above are not available.

Trees should be protected during construction, for example, with fences.

The city should suspend or cancel licenses of violators and file a complaint to the California License Board.
Increase fines for violations.

Require violators to replace in-kind at the same location; don’t allow developers to benefit from their offences.

Others attending brought up additional suggestions. These included having a code enforcement officer “on call” so that he wouldn’t have to be at the office, but would be available for problems. Others asked for publishing methods of finding contractors’ licenses at www.wgna.net and the possibility of hiring a lobbyist for clout at the city, doing a tree inventory of Willow Glen and possibly establish a list of heritage trees.