“Assuming you’re in Cali... why not cut it down anyway?”
No laughing matter, my FRiend. If you’re talking about a so-called “Heritage” oak tree here in Contra Costa county of trunk diameter greater than 8” (IIRC) and you cut it down without a permit, you’re probably looking at a $10K fine. I wish I was kidding but I’m definitely not. And if you think they wouldn’t come down on you like a ton of bricks in this budgetary environment, go ahead and try it. Just don’t do it on MY property, LOL.
Why not kill the tree and then say, “look it is dead”
You guys need to learn to turn it around. Two years ago, a contractor for my ‘green city’, that was hauling cement, crashed into my lot and took out a huge oak tree. They offered me nothing and my insurance company was stalling.
I offered to ‘settle’ for a few thousand bucks and they laugh at me in the face like I was insane. Little did they know my background in horticulture and landscape architecture. I know the true ‘value’ of trees. It’s not mythical either....there is a dollar amount per caliber inch depending on species.
All I had to do was go out and get a replacement bid for a 24” diameter tree, planted in the exact spot(which would have taken a crane)..and suddenly they were offering me 10,000 bucks to settle....LOL
Moral of the story...use their silly laws against them at every opportunity. My final settlement after they pissed me off was over 15,000.
They scratched my driveway...took out some crepe myrtles...etc. I was willing to let that kind of silly crap go...but they pissed me off.
If I had been smart, I would have sued for the ‘toxic oil’ the cement truck spilled on my land in the crash and gotten damages for ‘future’ generations!
LOL!
Is it the trees that are a problem, or is it a lot of uncleared underbrush? Also I heard that they have been having a twelve year drought and the temperature was 120 degrees. I guess all the global warming has gone down there, because we haven’t been having it up here this winter.
Under penalty of jail?
My point is, what real power do they have here? It’s your #@!$#@$ property ffs.
If that’s the case, get the hell out of there - fast.