SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : City Abolishes Fee for Tree Removal
Residents who wish to remove a tree within the city limits will no longer be required to pay a $50 fee, the City Council ruled recently.
The council’s vote last week to abolish the fee came after a city staff report indicated that the fee was counter-productive. While the fees for tree-removal permits had generated about $6,000 in annual revenues, it was found that there had been a 35% reduction in permit applications, according to a report from Thomas Tomlinson, the city’s director of planning.
Because of the fee, residents were simply removing the trees without a permit, Tomlinson said in his report.
“It was deterring what we were trying to do,” said City Councilman Lawrence F. Buchheim. “They were actually taking (the trees) out on the side and we were making a lot of people illegal. There’s no sense in doing that.”
Under the new rules, residents will still be required to get a permit to remove a tree.
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