Mall Owner Fined, Told to Plant Trees
A company that owns the Ventura Boulevard Mall in Studio City was ordered earlier this week to pay more than $8,000 in fines and donations and to plant eight oak trees after pleading no contest to illegally cutting down protected oak trees without a permit.
Municipal Judge Harold Crowder sentenced Richley Inc. after it pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges that it cut down two species of oak trees, the valley oak and the live oak. Deputy City Atty. Brooke White said her office began investigating the company in April after authorities learned that the owners cut down the trees near the strip mall at 12038 Ventura Blvd.
The company was ordered to pay a $7,500 donation to the city’s Oak Tree Fund plus $505 in fines, said City Atty. Jim Hahn. The Oak Tree Fund is used to pay for oak tree replacement and education programs.
Part of the sentence requires Richley Inc. to plant trees in a ravine next to the shopping center to replace the trees it destroyed.
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