SIMI VALLEY : City Council Rejects Stricter Tree Law

A proposal to toughen Simi Valley’s tree preservation ordinance has been rejected by the City Council, which said the new law would have been unfair to small landowners.

The amended ordinance would have required owners of vacant land zoned for development but where none is planned to obtain a tree-removal permit before removing trees. A permit is $161 for the first tree plus $2 for every additional tree.

The same property owners could have also been required to replace each removed tree with one of equal value elsewhere on the property.

Under the existing tree ordinance, property owners whose land is scheduled for development must already comply with those provisions.

The City Council agreed during its meeting Monday night that the amended tree law would have burdened small landowners by charging them to cut down trees they may have planted themselves and now want to remove as nuisances.

“This would be overbearing on the rights of individuals, and that’s the thing we’re trying to avoid here,” Councilman Glen McAdoo said.

The amended tree law would have also protected smaller oak trees. The size of the protected trees would have been reduced from 9 1/2 inches in diameter to 5 1/2 inches. The change in the law was recommended because native oak trees grow very slowly, city officials said.

But council members said the existing tree ordinance is already difficult to enforce and would be even more so if it were changed to protect smaller trees.