I am a registered nurse at UCLA. I work hard to support my kids and provide a home for them. I am not a criminal.
I was planning to add on to our house after moving in. I hired an architect who drew plans and called the city when doing her research, as the addition was contingent on removing two sycamores 8 feet away from the existing foundation that were threatening the house and pool, and cracking our concrete walkway. The city representative told her to make sure not to touch any oak trees. With this information, I took the next step.
I obtained three estimates, all from licensed contractors, none of whom warned me of protected trees. I hired an International Society of Arboriculture-certified arborist. I thought I was doing the right thing by hiring professionals.
His website stated he would prevent legal problems from occurring down the road. My contractor called the city to move the power lines during the work to protect them. The city came, shut down the workers, and had the police come to file a report. The contractor was told he would be fined $2,000 and we would both be contacted by the city.
By June, I had heard nothing, so I filed an application for a permit with a letter of explanation to complete the removal. A man from Public Works came out, saw the remainder of the trees and gave my son an incomplete permit that required me to pay the city $450 to replace the two damaged trees with two boxed trees. This sounded unfortunate but reasonable.
When I saw the incomplete document, I called to find out what the next step was and how I should pay the fee, and he told me he would have to come out again with the urban forester. She came out and measured the trees and said the fine would be a bit different and then warned me I should get a lawyer. She estimated the fine at that time to be $100,000 and said I would receive a written notice within 30 days.
