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Agenda Item
4.1 26-0267 Subject: Violation Of The Oakland Municipal Code Chapter 12.36 (Protected Tree Ordinance) At Assessor Parcel Number 48H-7672-18
From: Oakland Public Works Department
Recommendation: Conduct A Public Hearing And Upon Conclusion Adopt A Resolution Finding Matthew Bernard And Lynn Warner, Owners Of Record Of Assessor Parcel Number 48H-7672-18, In Violation Of Oakland Municipal Code Chapter 12.36 (Protected Trees) By Illegally Removing Thirty-Eight Protected Trees At Said Parcel And Imposing A Penalty, Per Chapter 12.36.150 Of The Oakland Municipal Code, Of A Total Sum Of Nine Hundred And Fifteen Thousand, One Hundred And Thirty-Five Dollars, And Forty Cents ($915,135.40), To Place On Hold Any Building Permits, And Place A Lien For Said Property Until This Penalty Is Paid In Full
I strongly support Oakland’s tree protection ordinance and urge strong enforcement by city council.
Heritage oaks are vital to Oakland—providing shade, wildlife habitat, and hillside stability—and they also hold deep cultural significance for Ohlone communities, Oak ecosystems have long provided food, materials, and a foundation for cultural practices. Weak enforcement is a continuation of white colonialism and racist systems that devastated Bay Area ecological systems and cultural continuity. Wealthy Bay Area residents are not above the law, and the entitled behavior here is offensive and deserves the highest legal penalty.
Without firm protections and meaningful penalties, violations like this risk becoming more common. Oakland’s tree ordinance is an essential safeguard for both our ecological health and cultural heritage, and it should be upheld and strengthened. A slap on the wrist is not enough or acceptable. Fines should be even higher—equal to the amount that Oakland should value their indigenous residents.
Our urban tree canopy is one of our greatest assets for a healthier, more equitable city. Trees absorb pollution, cool the air, and boost physical and mental health. Imposing this fine will set a precedent to protect trees all over Oakland, including in areas that have low tree cover.
The money from the fine should go towards funding the 2024 Urban Forest Plan, a bold plan to reverse Oakland's longstanding tree canopy inequity by planting and maintaining trees throughout the flatlands. The flatlands have way less tree cover because of a legacy of redlining and disinvestment: investing in a fully funded tree services department would go a long way towards more equitable health outcomes in Black, brown, and poor neighborhoods.
As an Oakland resident I am writing to support the enforcement of our protected tree ordinance.
The crime this property owner committed stands at the intersection of ongoing climate crises and class warfare.
As population-threatening climate events continue to occur at ever increasing frequency, it is of the highest importance to protect those ecological assets that provide insulation against their effects. This is not a principle that we can follow only when convenient, or only when it serves the interest of capital.
Furthermore, this wealthy criminal has shown this community that he has no regard for its residents or its values, and sees it as nothing more than an asset from which profit can be squeezed. To allow this act to go unpunished sets a precedent that the city values wealth over people. No surprises there, in 2026.
It is beyond imagination to me that there are city council members who propose that we should not enforce this ordinance as a matter of "racial justice." The color of your skin does not determine whether you get to be a vandal and to spit in the faces of the people who live here.
If we want to make it about race, I suggest the council members in question ask the tribal council of the Muwekma what they think about it.
Please enforce the Tree Ordinance. This case is an extreme violation. There probably needs to be further penalties as well, or the fine is just "the cost of building".
We need to protect Oakland's heritage, ecosystem, and by extension its people/
Oakland’s Protected Tree Ordinance is an essential protection for our city’s health and resilience. Our remaining forests and trees are essential protections go our residents-providing buffers against harsh climate change realities, like soating temperatures and increased air pollutants. Any development that destroys our namesake native oak woodland without consequence is setting a terrible precedent. A moratorium on development needs to be in effect immediately along with mandated restoration of the site that was destroyed, the fine is merely a slap on the wrist for these wealthy developers.
As resident of Oakland for 30 years, I support the resolution and want the violator to be held accountable. The current fine is a rounding error for someone extreme wealth. They should be required to re-plant the trees and not allowed to build or required to build AROUND the new trees. We need to draw the line. I have a 10+ year old oak in my backyard and I take that stewardship very seriously. We live in OAKland, and our trees should be protected. If this out-of-town millionaire investor can act with impunity, then what's stopping anyone from doing the same thing? It's simply wrong. Time to make it right.
Oakland has a protected tree ordinance for a reason. Extreme heat and particulate pollution cause serious and irreversible damage to the health and welfare of so many people who live in Oakland, especially our most marginalized communities, and trees significantly improve public healthy by mitigating these harms. We need more trees, not less, and since the City doesn't fund routine tree care, those privileged enough to own parts of this land that we all share (especially wealthy landowners who own large parcels) have a responsibility to the rest of the community to maintain a healthy living environment for everyone.
There's a reason the wealthiest communities in Oakland also have the highest tree cover and the lowest rates of heat-related and air-pollution-related illnesses. If City Council chooses to go out of their way to let a wealthy landowner (who doesn't even live in Oakland) get away with the most egregious violation of our protected tree ordinance in recent history, it will set a precedent that will allow large landowners throughout Oakland to remove trees and amplify our community's exposure to extreme heat, particulate pollution, and other harms that trees protect people from.
The heat wave this March showed us just how extreme our climate is becoming. More and more people in Oakland will suffer and die from heat and pollution if City Council refuses to enforce our protected tree ordinance, and it won't be the wealthy landowners who suffer.
Please enforce the Tree Ordinance, especially for such egregious violations. Our oak woodlands are an essential part of what makes Oakland Oakland, and without them our quality of life suffers. Tree cover makes our city cooler in a time of rising temperatures, it makes our air cleaner to breathe, it supports ecosystems that we ultimately depend on, and it just makes us happier.
A large fine is the minimum enforcement that should be taken in a situation like this. I'd like to see a stronger ordinance that withholds/withdraws permits from property owners who violate tree protections in such a flagrant way.
If you don’t hold property owners accountable for so flagrantly violating the tree ordinance, what’s the point of having the law? Why should anyone follow any city ordinance?
That’s what you’d be signaling loud and clear if you don’t either fine them with the full amount suggested by your tree staff, or place a 10-year development moratorium.
This case is as clear as it gets. The property owners were made aware of the permit process by city tree staff after initial visits resulting from their unpermitted tree removal, and then they went ahead and cut down the remaining trees on the lot — most of which are precious oak trees — despite repeated attempts to confront them.
The tree ordinance needs enforcement. Ideally, this situation would have been averted by strong enforcement at the start of the cutting. Instead, 5 years later, we have 38 stumps on a steep lot, and there have to be consequences.
I fully support either the full fine, or mandatory native restoration with a 10-year building moratorium.
There seemed to be some confusion on the part of council members at the last meeting. Either you hadn’t fully familiarized yourself with this case, or you were intentionally trying to deflect on this issue by bringing in race, or saying that “we still want the property to be developed.”
Read the full report, and tell us again that the behavior of these property owners don’t require consequences.
Come on now.
Please support the Oakland Trees Protection Ordinance! We deserve to have trees to help cool and clean the air. Plus! They create cover on rainy days. I alway miss trees the most when it rains. Help keep our cities, beautiful, breathable, and our heads dry!
Please support the resolution to enforce Oakland's protected trees ordinance. The individuals should be banned from building on that land. They should not be allowed to build anywhere in Oakland. At this rate if we don’t protect our environment, there will be no Oaks left in OAKland. Wouldn’t that be asinine and ridiculous? Fines for illegal destruction just equate to a shiny price tag for the rich. We need real permanent consequences. They deserve jail time no bail.
During a time of ongoing climate catastrophes, it would be a huge mistake to signal to landowners that there will be few if any consequences to destroying protected trees on their property, especially in the name of development. Oakland residents deserve to have their ecosystem and quality of life (air quality, temperature regulation, fire & landslide risk) protected. Please protect the future of Oakland by protecting our ecosystems.
I’m an Oakland resident and writing to express my support for the enforcement of the tree protection ordinance and to fine the property owners who violated the ordinance. Furthermore, paying the fine does not absolve these property owners of the illegal removal of Oaklands trees.
As a longtime Oakland resident, I am writing in support of enforcing the full fine against the property owners who violated Oakland's Protected Tree Ordinance. You must enforce our protected trees, they are absolutely vital to our current and future wellbeing.
Hello, I am writing to support the current ordinance to protect the trees. The trees offer us clean air, shade, home for the birds, temperature management…and more importantly, we’re living and breathing here before many of us were born! They deserve our deep respect!
I strongly support Oakland’s tree protection ordinance and urge strong enforcement by city council.
Heritage oaks are vital to Oakland—providing shade, wildlife habitat, and hillside stability—and they also hold deep cultural significance for Ohlone communities, Oak ecosystems have long provided food, materials, and a foundation for cultural practices. Weak enforcement is a continuation of white colonialism and racist systems that devastated Bay Area ecological systems and cultural continuity. Wealthy Bay Area residents are not above the law, and the entitled behavior here is offensive and deserves the highest legal penalty.
Without firm protections and meaningful penalties, violations like this risk becoming more common. Oakland’s tree ordinance is an essential safeguard for both our ecological health and cultural heritage, and it should be upheld and strengthened. A slap on the wrist is not enough or acceptable. Fines should be even higher—equal to the amount that Oakland should value their indigenous residents.
Our urban tree canopy is one of our greatest assets for a healthier, more equitable city. Trees absorb pollution, cool the air, and boost physical and mental health. Imposing this fine will set a precedent to protect trees all over Oakland, including in areas that have low tree cover.
The money from the fine should go towards funding the 2024 Urban Forest Plan, a bold plan to reverse Oakland's longstanding tree canopy inequity by planting and maintaining trees throughout the flatlands. The flatlands have way less tree cover because of a legacy of redlining and disinvestment: investing in a fully funded tree services department would go a long way towards more equitable health outcomes in Black, brown, and poor neighborhoods.
As an Oakland resident I am writing to support the enforcement of our protected tree ordinance.
The crime this property owner committed stands at the intersection of ongoing climate crises and class warfare.
As population-threatening climate events continue to occur at ever increasing frequency, it is of the highest importance to protect those ecological assets that provide insulation against their effects. This is not a principle that we can follow only when convenient, or only when it serves the interest of capital.
Furthermore, this wealthy criminal has shown this community that he has no regard for its residents or its values, and sees it as nothing more than an asset from which profit can be squeezed. To allow this act to go unpunished sets a precedent that the city values wealth over people. No surprises there, in 2026.
It is beyond imagination to me that there are city council members who propose that we should not enforce this ordinance as a matter of "racial justice." The color of your skin does not determine whether you get to be a vandal and to spit in the faces of the people who live here.
If we want to make it about race, I suggest the council members in question ask the tribal council of the Muwekma what they think about it.
Please enforce the Tree Ordinance. This case is an extreme violation. There probably needs to be further penalties as well, or the fine is just "the cost of building".
We need to protect Oakland's heritage, ecosystem, and by extension its people/
Oakland’s Protected Tree Ordinance is an essential protection for our city’s health and resilience. Our remaining forests and trees are essential protections go our residents-providing buffers against harsh climate change realities, like soating temperatures and increased air pollutants. Any development that destroys our namesake native oak woodland without consequence is setting a terrible precedent. A moratorium on development needs to be in effect immediately along with mandated restoration of the site that was destroyed, the fine is merely a slap on the wrist for these wealthy developers.
As resident of Oakland for 30 years, I support the resolution and want the violator to be held accountable. The current fine is a rounding error for someone extreme wealth. They should be required to re-plant the trees and not allowed to build or required to build AROUND the new trees. We need to draw the line. I have a 10+ year old oak in my backyard and I take that stewardship very seriously. We live in OAKland, and our trees should be protected. If this out-of-town millionaire investor can act with impunity, then what's stopping anyone from doing the same thing? It's simply wrong. Time to make it right.
Oakland has a protected tree ordinance for a reason. Extreme heat and particulate pollution cause serious and irreversible damage to the health and welfare of so many people who live in Oakland, especially our most marginalized communities, and trees significantly improve public healthy by mitigating these harms. We need more trees, not less, and since the City doesn't fund routine tree care, those privileged enough to own parts of this land that we all share (especially wealthy landowners who own large parcels) have a responsibility to the rest of the community to maintain a healthy living environment for everyone.
There's a reason the wealthiest communities in Oakland also have the highest tree cover and the lowest rates of heat-related and air-pollution-related illnesses. If City Council chooses to go out of their way to let a wealthy landowner (who doesn't even live in Oakland) get away with the most egregious violation of our protected tree ordinance in recent history, it will set a precedent that will allow large landowners throughout Oakland to remove trees and amplify our community's exposure to extreme heat, particulate pollution, and other harms that trees protect people from.
The heat wave this March showed us just how extreme our climate is becoming. More and more people in Oakland will suffer and die from heat and pollution if City Council refuses to enforce our protected tree ordinance, and it won't be the wealthy landowners who suffer.
Please enforce the Tree Ordinance, especially for such egregious violations. Our oak woodlands are an essential part of what makes Oakland Oakland, and without them our quality of life suffers. Tree cover makes our city cooler in a time of rising temperatures, it makes our air cleaner to breathe, it supports ecosystems that we ultimately depend on, and it just makes us happier.
A large fine is the minimum enforcement that should be taken in a situation like this. I'd like to see a stronger ordinance that withholds/withdraws permits from property owners who violate tree protections in such a flagrant way.
If you don’t hold property owners accountable for so flagrantly violating the tree ordinance, what’s the point of having the law? Why should anyone follow any city ordinance?
That’s what you’d be signaling loud and clear if you don’t either fine them with the full amount suggested by your tree staff, or place a 10-year development moratorium.
This case is as clear as it gets. The property owners were made aware of the permit process by city tree staff after initial visits resulting from their unpermitted tree removal, and then they went ahead and cut down the remaining trees on the lot — most of which are precious oak trees — despite repeated attempts to confront them.
The tree ordinance needs enforcement. Ideally, this situation would have been averted by strong enforcement at the start of the cutting. Instead, 5 years later, we have 38 stumps on a steep lot, and there have to be consequences.
I fully support either the full fine, or mandatory native restoration with a 10-year building moratorium.
There seemed to be some confusion on the part of council members at the last meeting. Either you hadn’t fully familiarized yourself with this case, or you were intentionally trying to deflect on this issue by bringing in race, or saying that “we still want the property to be developed.”
Read the full report, and tell us again that the behavior of these property owners don’t require consequences.
Come on now.
Please support the Oakland Tree Ordinance and pass this resolution.
Please support the Oakland Trees Protection Ordinance! We deserve to have trees to help cool and clean the air. Plus! They create cover on rainy days. I alway miss trees the most when it rains. Help keep our cities, beautiful, breathable, and our heads dry!
Please support the resolution to enforce Oakland’s protected trees ordinance
Please support the resolution to enforce Oakland's protected trees ordinance. The individuals should be banned from building on that land. They should not be allowed to build anywhere in Oakland. At this rate if we don’t protect our environment, there will be no Oaks left in OAKland. Wouldn’t that be asinine and ridiculous? Fines for illegal destruction just equate to a shiny price tag for the rich. We need real permanent consequences. They deserve jail time no bail.
I’m an Oakland resident and support holding the landowners accountable. We need to protect the environment for all of us and our future
During a time of ongoing climate catastrophes, it would be a huge mistake to signal to landowners that there will be few if any consequences to destroying protected trees on their property, especially in the name of development. Oakland residents deserve to have their ecosystem and quality of life (air quality, temperature regulation, fire & landslide risk) protected. Please protect the future of Oakland by protecting our ecosystems.
I’m an Oakland resident and writing to express my support for the enforcement of the tree protection ordinance and to fine the property owners who violated the ordinance. Furthermore, paying the fine does not absolve these property owners of the illegal removal of Oaklands trees.
Oak trees are an integral part of California’s ecosystem-Enforce the laws that protect our trees and Oakland.
As a longtime Oakland resident, I am writing in support of enforcing the full fine against the property owners who violated Oakland's Protected Tree Ordinance. You must enforce our protected trees, they are absolutely vital to our current and future wellbeing.
Please enforce the tree ordinance and related penalties. We cannot allow residents and developers to destroy mature trees in sensitive areas.
Hello, I am writing to support the current ordinance to protect the trees. The trees offer us clean air, shade, home for the birds, temperature management…and more importantly, we’re living and breathing here before many of us were born! They deserve our deep respect!