Sure.
It's his tree.
If he wants to cut it down that's his business.
tHAT'S NOT CLEAR. The story stated that the tree was on public property and on the edge of his property. I saw the video and the City Manager said it was on public property. The video shows the vacant lot and a sidewalk. The yree is across the sidewalk from the vacant lot. Looks to me like the guy just hacked at the tree to kill it. He says he paid $1500 for the job...if so he was robbed.