Private Views Vs. Public Trees

The City of Dana Point sues a resident who chopped off the tops of seven pine trees in a public park to improve the view from his multimillion-dollar home.

1 minute read

July 16, 2004, 7:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"Unauthorized tree trimmings are common along California's coastline, where homeowners fiercely defend their views and sometimes take extreme steps to safeguard or restore them.A panoramic view can easily add $25,000 to $100,000 to a home's value, real estate brokers say. They add that the value can diminish by that much if a view is blocked.

Reports of residents sneaking around at night with cans of poison to kill their neighbors' trees or calling tree-trimmers to hack offending growth while their neighbors are on vacation prompted several Southland cities to enact ordinances that try to balance the rights of homeowners who have paid a premium for a view against their neighbors' rights to grow trees on their property."

Thanks to Chris Steins

Friday, July 16, 2004 in The Los Angeles Times

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