Builder Who Bulldozed Trees to Pay $150,000 : Landscaping: A lawyer for the developer describes the payment as a goodwill gesture, not compensation for the 104 eucalyptuses that were destroyed.

An Orange County developer has agreed to pay Thousand Oaks $150,000 and perform extensive landscaping after bulldozing 104 mature eucalyptus trees in what officials have called the worst case of tree destruction in city history.

The cash will substantially augment a fledgling forestry endowment fund and enable the city to spend at least $15,000 a year to plant trees, train maintenance workers and educate the public, said William Elmendorf, Thousand Oaks’ urban forester, Thursday.

The Davis Development Co. also agreed to seed the hills behind its Newbury Park property in an anti-erosion effort, plant oaks on the site once it is developed and landscape portions of the nearby Ventura Freeway, Elmendorf said.

“It was a good settlement, it worked out well,” Elmendorf said.

He said he hoped the settlement, which the City Council unanimously approved Tuesday, would also act as a deterrent to further tree destruction in a city that takes its name from a native species and recently adopted an ambitious reforestation program.

The eucalyptus trees, some as tall as 80 feet and 40 years old, were felled March 27 at a site off the Ventura Freeway and Newbury Park Road where Davis plans to build a light-industrial complex.

Elmendorf placed the value of the trees at $311,000.

Charles Cohen, a lawyer who represents the developer, described the settlement as a goodwill gesture toward the city rather than compensation for the trees. Cohen said his client wasn’t familiar with the city’s tree protection policies and had been erroneously advised by a municipal employee that he was free to remove the eucalyptuses. A building permit issued to the land’s prior owner barred any tree removal but was not in effect when Davis bought the property, Cohen said.

Elmendorf and other city officials have acknowledged that they couldn’t prosecute Davis because an ordinance designed to preserve oak trees does not protect eucalyptuses and a policy aimed at conserving “landmark trees” exists only in the form of an unenforceable resolution. The city plans to update its tree protection laws, Elmendorf said.

But Davis recognized the aesthetic value of the trees and wanted to maintain good relations with the city, Cohen said. Elmendorf and other officials have said the developer also recognized that he would need building and occupancy permits from the city to pursue his building plans, although the attorney denied this was a factor.

The three payments of $50,000 are timed to coincide with permit applications, although the payments are not a condition for planning approval, Elmendorf said.

“I’m very delighted at getting $150,000. That’s significant money and will buy a lot of trees for our streets,” said Councilman Frank Schillo, who was involved in the settlement negotiations.

In 1986, Beverly Hills developer Houshang Beroukhim was fined $21,000 for felling 27 young oak trees. Beroukhim pleaded no contest to charges that he ordered the cutting of the trees, which were protected under the city’s oak-preservation ordinance.