Those Unsightly Trees

In the Old West, vigilantes and trees usually meant a neighborhood nuisance was getting hanged. But here in the New West, the trees are deemed the nuisance--and the vigilantes carry saws.

A civil lawsuit filed Tuesday by the state accusing four men of felling more than 50 eucalyptus trees on Caltrans property in San Clemente is only the latest in a series of skirmishes between coastal residents seeking to preserve expensive views, and owners of trees--both public and private--that obscure the vistas.

But the disputes range far beyond Caltrans and freeways, pitting neighbors against neighbors, residents against homeowners associations and citizens against government.

And people against trees.

“It’s not a Southern California phenomenon,” said Bruce Wegner, director of Beaches, Parks and Recreation for San Clemente. “Any situation where a view is desired you will see tree removals.”

Tree attacks usually occur under cover of night, and involve public and private property, officials said. Marauders trim bothersome low branches, cut the tops off tall trees or simply cut whole trees down. Occasionally, trees and branches land on fences and other structures, causing property damage.

More than vistas is involved. Caltrans officials file as many as 10 lawsuits a year primarily against companies that clear trees and foliage blocking billboards, said Robin Witt, a Caltrans spokesman. In one recent Sonoma County case, the agency accepted a $100,000 settlement from a company over 14 incidents involving one sign.

Tracking down the trimmers can be difficult, particularly if the removed tree opens a vista for several homes, Wegner said. And some of the attacks are brazen.

Residents in one San Clemente neighborhood once called city officials when laborers for a trimming company began working on nearby public trees. Wegner said officials halted the job and confiscated the equipment. But they were unable to identify the company--or those who paid for the job--because no one returned to pick up the workers or the equipment.

“The workers could not say which people had hired them to do the work,” Wegner said.

Officials up and down the coast have tried to deal with tree-versus-view disputes through local ordinances. In Monterey, the city hired a forester and enacted stiff restrictions on tree removals and trimming. In Laguna Beach, residents within 300 feet of an offending tree can take their complaints to a special city review board.

But there’s a difference between complaining and getting results.

Homeowners in the San Clemente neighborhood argued Wednesday that Caltrans should be more receptive to requests from the public to remove trees.

The lawsuit accuses Phillip Street, Stephen M. Glenn, Edward I.A. Fife and Frederick B. Frank of putting on orange uniforms and helmets and felling more than 50 trees between their neighborhood and the freeway.

Street, who says his own view remains obscured by Caltrans trees, has denied being involved. Caltrans said it has photographs of Street and the others cutting down trees. Glenn, who is active in the neighborhood association, declined comment. Frank could not be reached. Fife reportedly moved out of state last year.

The tree-cutting incidents occurred over a three-year period, according to the lawsuit, which seeks $500,000 from each man.

In the lawsuit, Caltrans contends that the trees were a natural sound barrier between the freeway and the homes, and that they improved the look of the area. Their removal “destroyed” the aesthetics of the area, the suit said.

Residents, however, said the trees destroyed the view of the glistening Pacific across the freeway and a series of lower bluffs.

While several residents were careful not to endorse the act, they said they were happy when the trees began coming down a couple of years ago.

“I was glad I got my view back, that I had paid for,” said Primas White, one of the first residents in the neighborhood 20 years ago.

One resident, retired Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy Chuck Daly, said the Caltrans lawsuit could be the opening salvo in a legal war.

“I think there could be a class-action countersuit,” said Daly, who bought his house 18 months ago because of the view only to have it threatened by the growth of eucalyptus trees below. “This is a good example of what happens when a governmental entity ignores the people.”

Witt said Caltrans often removes trees if a complaining homeowner pays for planting a new tree in another spot.

But Caltrans will not cut historic or rare trees, or trees that form a sound or wind barrier. Witt said he was unfamiliar with the details of the San Clemente case, but neighbors said the trees were planted as a sound barrier--which they said was ineffective.

The roots of the tree dispute go back years. White said he paid an extra $30,000 for his view of the Pacific. At the time, he said, there were no trees between the back of his house and the San Diego Freeway, giving him a wide vista that on clear days includes Santa Catalina Island.

But a few years later, Caltrans planted the trees. White, a former director of the local homeowners association, said residents had expected a noise-reduction wall like the one that lines the west side of the freeway.

“It’s beyond my thinking,” said White, a retired San Onofre nuclear plant safety engineer. “If they wouldn’t have planted those trees in the first place, people wouldn’t be so upset.”

Paula Settle, who lives next door to White, said she complained several times to Caltrans about the trees. A crew came once and trimmed treetops but didn’t return.

Settle and White were glad when the trees came down last year, and were annoyed with Caltrans for leaving the trunks and branches where they fell. They were surprised Wednesday to learn Caltrans didn’t remove the debris because it didn’t do the cutting.

“I hope nothing happens to [the tree cutters],” Settle said. “Good for them for taking the initiative.”

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Stumping Ground

Caltrans alleges in a $2 million lawsuit that a group of renegade San Clemente residents cut down a stand of trees that blocked the ocean views of homes in The Coast neighborhood.

At least 64 trees cut down

Trees were 40 feet tall

Sources: Caltrans, San Clemente Planning Department

Graphics reporting by BRADY MacDONALD / Los Angeles Times