Felled Trees Spur Malibu Feud

Homes dotting the hillside on Winding Way in Malibu are worth millions -- with good reason. The ocean views are spectacular. Forests of eucalyptus trees attract wildlife and provide a rural refuge from the city.

But those same trees can obstruct the ocean views, igniting nasty disputes among neighbors. One such conflict now brewing could land a 73-year-old man in jail.

The trouble started in March, when Winding Way homeowner Rick Thurman discovered that 18 eucalyptus trees in his backyard were missing. They had been chopped to the stump.

Thurman, founding partner of a Beverly Hills sports agency that represents 300 professional baseball players, quickly concluded that a neighbor, real estate investor Milton Sidley, 73, was the culprit.

The case took an unusual turn when the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office charged Sidley with felony vandalism. Such spats typically lead at most to civil litigation. Sidley faced a possible five-year prison sentence -- until a judge reduced the case to a misdemeanor Friday.

The decision by Superior Court Judge Lawrence J. Mira still leaves open the possibility of a one-year jail sentence and restitution that could reach six figures. In explaining his ruling, Mira said that Sidley had no criminal background and that the case likely would not have resulted in a felony conviction.

Authorities say Sidley paid to have the trees removed to improve his ocean view, sending a work crew onto Thurman’s land without permission. Sidley lives in a modern-design, 4,000-square-foot home built primarily of stainless steel and glass and with panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean. The home has been featured in architectural publications, including a tabletop book, “Malibu -- A Century of Living by the Sea.”

“This guy went onto someone else’s property and basically destroyed a small habitat,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Ralph Shapiro. “It’s a betrayal, and it’s wrong. It’s criminally wrong.”

Sidley denied he did anything inappropriate.

“This whole thing, as far as I’m concerned, is a fabrication. It’s not what I would do. I spent my whole life dealing with people on an above-board basis,” Sidley said.

Defense attorney Rodney Perlman said, “Our position is Mr. Sidley didn’t do anything criminal, and what he did he had permission to do.”

Thurman said he did not give Sidley permission to remove the trees. “Who in their right mind would do that?” he said.

He said he has allowed Sidley to send workers onto his property to trim the trees each of the last 11 years. But this time, Thurman said, Sidley did not ask for permission, and the crews went much further than a trim. Thurman said he was in Florida meeting with baseball clients when the trees were mowed down.

He said one landscape company estimated it would cost $595,000 to replace the mature trees, a job made more difficult because of the steep terrain. It would take a crane or helicopter to drop the trees into place, the company said.

Shapiro was so upset by the judge’s decision to reduce the case to a misdemeanor that he filed paperwork disqualifying the judge from future proceedings in the case. Under California law, both prosecution and defense attorneys can disqualify one judge from hearing a case without having to disclose a reason. It’s a move that is rarely exercised, particularly in the middle of a case.

“There’s a loss of six figures, and a rich, important person with a big home gets a misdemeanor,” Shapiro said. “The judge is flat-out wrong. He trivialized this case.”

Perlman said he was pleased that the judge reduced the case to a misdemeanor, but he did not believe that his client committed a crime. He said his client has offered from the outset to work out a solution with Thurman.

“This would be more appropriate in a different forum, civil courts, mediation, something that gets all of the parties in the case together to discuss it,” he said.

Thurman said he wanted to see Sidley punished.

“I’d love to see the guy go to jail,” Thurman said.

Thurman said he missed the trees that used to frame his backyard, providing habitat for deer and hawks. Gone are the afternoons when he could lounge by his pool, enjoying the eucalyptus fragrance that would waft by on the afternoon breeze.

“If this guy gets away with this, then it sends a message to any rich guy in town: If anything blocks your view, go cut it down. You’ll get away with it,” Thurman said. “What’s next, he doesn’t like the color of my roof tiles, so the next time I’m out of town he comes and has them taken down?”

Trees and views have long been on a collision course in Malibu, where an unobstructed ocean view can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to a home’s value, local real estate agents said.

“If everybody got the view they wanted, we wouldn’t have a tree in Malibu. It would be a wasteland,” said longtime real estate agent Katie Bentzen, author of an upcoming book, “Buy the Beach: How to Make Millions in Malibu.”

“I’ve heard about these feuds between neighbors for 25 years, ever since I first came here. Unfortunately, Malibu is one small community with a lot of bickering. It may be because of the desire to have the biggest view available.”

Sidley adamantly maintained his innocence.

“What [Thurman] is telling you is not true.... You think I’m crazy? That’s not what I would do,” Sidley said.

A former resident on Winding Way said he had had a similar experience with Sidley 15 years ago. Stephen Malin, who lived next door to Thurman but moved away several years ago, said he had confronted Sidley in 1990 after he found a work crew removing trees on his land.

“Some people never learn. Some people just abuse other human beings,” said Malin, a retired Los Angeles police officer. “I could have reported it. Maybe Rick’s trees would still be there. So I feel a little responsible.”

Sidley denied Malin’s allegation.

Thurman said he didn’t understand why his neighbor thought he could get away with removing his trees.

“I feel violated. I really do,” he said. “It’s one thing to have this happen. To have your neighbor do this to you, it’s unbelievable.”