Tales of Trees and Tumult

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

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

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 the San Clemente Department of Beaches, Parks and Recreation. “Any situation where a view is desired you will see tree removals.”

Tree attacks usually occur under cover of darkness, 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 panoramic vistas are involved. California Department of Transportation officials file up to 10 lawsuits a year primarily against companies that clear trees and foliage blocking billboards, said Robin Witt, an agency spokesman. In one recent Sonoma County case, Caltrans accepted a $100,000 out-of-court settlement from a company over 14 separate incidents involving one sign.

Corralling the cutters 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 day laborers began working on public trees. Wegner said city officials halted the job and confiscated the workers’ tools. But they were unable to identify the company--or those who paid for the job--because no one returned to pick up the workers.

Municipal officials up and down the coast have tried to deal with tree-versus-view disputes through local ordinances. Monterey hired a forester and enacted stiff restrictions on tree removals and trimming. In Laguna Beach, where view preservation has been a simmering issue for years, 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 involved in this week’s Caltrans lawsuit argued Wednesday that the agency should be more receptive to requests from the public to remove or trim trees.

The state’s lawsuit accuses Phillip Street, Stephen M. Glenn, Edward I.A. Fife and Frederick B. Frank of costuming themselves in orange uniforms and helmets and felling more than 50 trees over a three-year period.

Street, who says his own view remains obscured by Caltrans trees, has denied being involved despite the agency’s contention that 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 from 1996 to 1998, according to the suit, which seeks $500,000 from each defendant.

Caltrans contends that the trees were a natural sound barrier between the freeway and the homes, and that their removal “destroyed” the aesthetics of the area.

Residents, however, said the trees themselves destroyed a key aesthetic lure to the area: the view of the glistening Pacific.

Although several residents were careful not to endorse the act, they said they were happy when the trees began coming down. “I was glad I got my view back, that I had paid for,” said Primas White.

Caltrans spokesman Witt said the agency often removes trees if a complaining homeowner pays to plant a new tree in another spot. “If we can accommodate their needs, we try to,” he said.

But Caltrans will not cut historic or rare trees, or trees that form a sound or wind barrier.

At the time White bought his house, he said, there were no trees between the back of the house and the San Diego Freeway, giving him a Pacific view that on clear days included 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 rather than trees.

“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, said she complained several times to Caltrans. A crew came out once and topped the trees, but never came back, she said.

Settle said emotions ratcheted up in the past year after the homeowners association forced some residents--including Settle and White--to cut down mature palm trees blocking neighbors’ views.

“Private people are not allowed to block anybody’s view, but Caltrans is allowed to,” she said.