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California Landowners Who Cut 38 Trees in Oakland Hills Hit with $915,000 Fine
Councilmembers split over whether to uphold the full penalty after residents urged the city to enforce tree protections without exception.
- On Tuesday, the Oakland City Council voted to fine Emeryville residents Matthew Bernard and Lynn Warner $915,135 for illegally felling 38 protected trees on their North Oakland hillside property without permits.
- Bernard and Warner purchased the hillside lot behind the Claremont Hotel and Club in 2019; city staff issued a violation notice last year under the Protected Trees Ordinance when the couple began clearing trees without authorization.
- Staff calculated tree values from $750 to $95,000, totaling nearly $1 million. Arash Daneshzadeh, director of programs at the Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation, called the removal "a civic, public safety and equity issue."
- Councilmember Carroll Fife questioned whether enforcement was racially equitable, asking "why a Black man should be the first to receive consequences for things that white people have been doing for centuries." Other councilmembers emphasized upholding city laws.
- Environmental advocates flooded council inboxes supporting the fine, with residents concerned that failing to penalize Bernard and Warner would signal developers they could destroy trees with impunity.
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Associated Press News+11 Reposted by 11 other sources
California landowners who cut 38 trees in Oakland hills hit with $915,000 fine
After two previous attempts to decide how to deal with a couple who chopped down 38 trees in North Oakland in violation of the city’s Protected Trees Ordinance, the Oakland City Council decided Tuesday to fine them $915,135.
·United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources15
Leaning Left5Leaning Right2Center6Last UpdatedBias Distribution46% Center
Bias Distribution
- 46% of the sources are Center
46% Center
L 39%
C 46%
15%
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