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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 am an Oakland resident and I am writing to express my support for the full enforcement of the tree protection ordinance and the fine of the property owners who violated the ordinance. It is critical we enforce our protected tree ordinance because trees provide benefits for our entire community and permitting a flagrant violation of the ordinance without the appropriate consequences would set a dangerous precedent.
Trees are integral to our lives, safety, and happiness. They must be protected. The laws are in effect for a reason and must be enforced. This ordinance must be enforced. Protect our trees!
Please uphold the city's code to protect trees. The council members who think it is racially unjust to hold these property owners accountable for violating policy are not taking into consideration the racial and environmental injustice the property caused to residents in previously redlined communities with very little tree canopy cover. If this fine is not upheld, it will set a dangerous precedent for any future land owner to ignore city policy if they can afford to pay the fine, or if they happen to be a person of color. These acts were inexcusable and the race based defense council members are using to justify not upholding the law is also inexcusable. I support the full fine to be enforced, and I would also hope that the city requires any native trees be replanted.
The code is clear and the violation was egregious and intentional. Failure to apply the appropriate fines and restrictions weakens the City’s ability to enforce violations in the future. This was selfish and irresponsible, the fines and holes should be enforced in full.
Please protect Oakland’s trees! Especially the native species like oak trees that support many other life forms. We must hold the property owners who cut down dozens of protected trees accountable for their actions. Our protected tree ordinance must be fully enforced.
Trees are incredibly beneficial to the environment and cutting them down affects our whole community. Trees provide shade, clean air, erosion control, and a myriad of other benefits. Native trees such as oaks in particular are keystone species that support an entire ecosystem.
I am an Oakland native and currently resident and I am writing in support of enforcing the full fine against the property owners who violated Oakland's Protected Tree Ordinance.
I've spent my career studying ecosystems and advocating for environmental justice, so I want to be direct: what happened in Claremont Canyon was not a mistake. Thirty-eight protected trees, including some of the oldest surviving coast live oaks in Oakland, were deliberately destroyed by people who knew exactly what they were doing. That hillside was a living system, and it is now a fire and landslide hazard blanketed in invasive weeds.
But I'm equally alarmed by what happens next. If this Council declines to enforce its own ordinance, you are effectively telling every corporate landowner in this city that the Protected Tree Ordinance is optional. The communities who will pay that price are Black, brown, immigrant, and low-income Oaklanders who already bear the heaviest burden of extreme heat and air pollution, and who depend on trees on private land because that's where most of Oakland's tree canopy lives.
I've heard the racial justice framing offered by some councilmembers, and I want to respectfully push back: protecting the urban tree canopy IS the racial justice issue here. Non-enforcement is not solidarity. It is abandonment.
Please vote to uphold the full fine and the integrity of this ordinance.
I urge you to support the resolution to enforce Oakland's protected tree ordinance and to ensure that the ecology of Oakland is respected for the benefit of all and not just the wealthy.
Please uphold the law that the city has put in place, and used resources to follow through on citation. Please also hold accountable those who would wantonly destroy natural resources not only on their own land, but adjacent private and city owned land. When the wealthy are given a free pass it sends a message that the rules don't apply to them.
Please enforce the protected tree ordinance. There is no reason for developers to be immune to laws. Trees take a very long time to grow and because they can outlive us, they carry memories across generations that are still in Oakland, despite gentrification. Shade is an important part of cities for temperature control, encouraging people to be out and about, and more. Shade is also unequally distributed between wealthy and poorer areas. Not only are developers contributing to this problem, they are breaking the law to do so. There should not even be a question whether they must be held accountable and this behavior cannot be encouraged.
Matthew Bernard is a scientist funded by the Russian government who used his wealth to destroy a millennia worth of the oak trees that are Oakland’s heritage and future.
He is one in a centuries-long line of people who have come to the Bay and used their money and power to cut down forests which the locals had rightly protected.
The people of Oakland should question why their representatives feel so much empathy for some rich guy who broke the law for personal profit that there needed to be a second meeting. The council has a clear opportunity here, to either recognize and rectify the sins of the past or to legitimize them with a slap on the wrist.
Hold people accountable for breaking the law. Our ecology must be protected. This is a wealthy person who does not care about our ecology. Allowing them to still build is insulting. At minimum you must fine them the full amount,
The city should not only enforce the full fine for the landowners, but also should do everything possible to prevent further development. These ecosystems are crucial for protecting our most vulnerable from the consequences of climate change through high tree cover and soil retention. To allow this owner to flout the law or agree to a lower fine to continue building only shows other, larger, richer entities that our laws mean nothing. Is our future security against worsening wildfires and landslides so easily traded?
I’m a resident of West Oakland, in councilmember Fife’s district, and I am so concerned that wealthy people will see what happened here and be willing to pay a lower fine so that they can keep building. Yes, it is unfortunate that this particular land owner is a person of color, but if we do not enforce our own laws here, wealthy folks will intentionally come in and know that they can break the law to get what they want. Please, please, please vote to enforce Oakland’s laws, they are critical for residence of the city and particularly in under-trees areas like West Oakland to be able to continue living healthily and joyfully in this city.
Please support the resolution to enforce Oakland's protected tree ordinance. Anything else incentivizes others to cut down trees as they wish in the future.
As a life long Oakland resident and nature lover the destruction of some of the last remaining mature oak woodland in the city was like a punch to the gut. And now to hear members of our city councle say that this illigal act shouldn't even be punished according to our laws is even more disgusting. People who violate our protected tree ordinence should be punished in accordence, especially when they are wealthy. The fines being proposed are nowhere near steep enough for what these people have done but at bare minimum will serve to send a message to other wealthy landowners that Oakland truely cares about protecting what natural spaces we have left and that the rich are not above the law.
We need to hold people accountable for destroying our PROTECTED trees. These trees protect our whole community and ecosystem, not punishing offenders sets a dangerous precedent that as long as you have wealth you can destroy the environment for everyone. These trees are supposed to be protected, if there's no consequence for destroying them then that was that protection for? We need to keep our native trees healthy and strong to support our incredibly special ecosystems, and protect our community from air pollution and a warming climate.
I am an Oakland resident and I am writing to express my support for the full enforcement of the tree protection ordinance and the fine of the property owners who violated the ordinance. It is critical we enforce our protected tree ordinance because trees provide benefits for our entire community and permitting a flagrant violation of the ordinance without the appropriate consequences would set a dangerous precedent.
Trees are integral to our lives, safety, and happiness. They must be protected. The laws are in effect for a reason and must be enforced. This ordinance must be enforced. Protect our trees!
Please uphold the city's code to protect trees. The council members who think it is racially unjust to hold these property owners accountable for violating policy are not taking into consideration the racial and environmental injustice the property caused to residents in previously redlined communities with very little tree canopy cover. If this fine is not upheld, it will set a dangerous precedent for any future land owner to ignore city policy if they can afford to pay the fine, or if they happen to be a person of color. These acts were inexcusable and the race based defense council members are using to justify not upholding the law is also inexcusable. I support the full fine to be enforced, and I would also hope that the city requires any native trees be replanted.
The code is clear and the violation was egregious and intentional. Failure to apply the appropriate fines and restrictions weakens the City’s ability to enforce violations in the future. This was selfish and irresponsible, the fines and holes should be enforced in full.
Please enforce the ordinance and protect Oakland trees! We need more trees not less.
Please protect Oakland’s trees! Especially the native species like oak trees that support many other life forms. We must hold the property owners who cut down dozens of protected trees accountable for their actions. Our protected tree ordinance must be fully enforced.
Trees are incredibly beneficial to the environment and cutting them down affects our whole community. Trees provide shade, clean air, erosion control, and a myriad of other benefits. Native trees such as oaks in particular are keystone species that support an entire ecosystem.
I am an Oakland native and currently resident and I am writing in support of enforcing the full fine against the property owners who violated Oakland's Protected Tree Ordinance.
I've spent my career studying ecosystems and advocating for environmental justice, so I want to be direct: what happened in Claremont Canyon was not a mistake. Thirty-eight protected trees, including some of the oldest surviving coast live oaks in Oakland, were deliberately destroyed by people who knew exactly what they were doing. That hillside was a living system, and it is now a fire and landslide hazard blanketed in invasive weeds.
But I'm equally alarmed by what happens next. If this Council declines to enforce its own ordinance, you are effectively telling every corporate landowner in this city that the Protected Tree Ordinance is optional. The communities who will pay that price are Black, brown, immigrant, and low-income Oaklanders who already bear the heaviest burden of extreme heat and air pollution, and who depend on trees on private land because that's where most of Oakland's tree canopy lives.
I've heard the racial justice framing offered by some councilmembers, and I want to respectfully push back: protecting the urban tree canopy IS the racial justice issue here. Non-enforcement is not solidarity. It is abandonment.
Please vote to uphold the full fine and the integrity of this ordinance.
I urge you to support the resolution to enforce Oakland's protected tree ordinance and to ensure that the ecology of Oakland is respected for the benefit of all and not just the wealthy.
Please uphold the law that the city has put in place, and used resources to follow through on citation. Please also hold accountable those who would wantonly destroy natural resources not only on their own land, but adjacent private and city owned land. When the wealthy are given a free pass it sends a message that the rules don't apply to them.
Please enforce the protected tree ordinance. There is no reason for developers to be immune to laws. Trees take a very long time to grow and because they can outlive us, they carry memories across generations that are still in Oakland, despite gentrification. Shade is an important part of cities for temperature control, encouraging people to be out and about, and more. Shade is also unequally distributed between wealthy and poorer areas. Not only are developers contributing to this problem, they are breaking the law to do so. There should not even be a question whether they must be held accountable and this behavior cannot be encouraged.
Matthew Bernard is a scientist funded by the Russian government who used his wealth to destroy a millennia worth of the oak trees that are Oakland’s heritage and future.
He is one in a centuries-long line of people who have come to the Bay and used their money and power to cut down forests which the locals had rightly protected.
The people of Oakland should question why their representatives feel so much empathy for some rich guy who broke the law for personal profit that there needed to be a second meeting. The council has a clear opportunity here, to either recognize and rectify the sins of the past or to legitimize them with a slap on the wrist.
Hold people accountable for breaking the law. Our ecology must be protected. This is a wealthy person who does not care about our ecology. Allowing them to still build is insulting. At minimum you must fine them the full amount,
The city should not only enforce the full fine for the landowners, but also should do everything possible to prevent further development. These ecosystems are crucial for protecting our most vulnerable from the consequences of climate change through high tree cover and soil retention. To allow this owner to flout the law or agree to a lower fine to continue building only shows other, larger, richer entities that our laws mean nothing. Is our future security against worsening wildfires and landslides so easily traded?
I’m a resident of West Oakland, in councilmember Fife’s district, and I am so concerned that wealthy people will see what happened here and be willing to pay a lower fine so that they can keep building. Yes, it is unfortunate that this particular land owner is a person of color, but if we do not enforce our own laws here, wealthy folks will intentionally come in and know that they can break the law to get what they want. Please, please, please vote to enforce Oakland’s laws, they are critical for residence of the city and particularly in under-trees areas like West Oakland to be able to continue living healthily and joyfully in this city.
Please support the resolution to enforce Oakland's protected tree ordinance.
Please support the resolution to enforce Oakland's protected tree ordinance. Anything else incentivizes others to cut down trees as they wish in the future.
Please enforce the tree ordinance and levy the full fine on these property owners. Rich people should have to follow the law just like the rest of us.
Please support the resolution to enforce Oaklands protected tree ordinance.
As a life long Oakland resident and nature lover the destruction of some of the last remaining mature oak woodland in the city was like a punch to the gut. And now to hear members of our city councle say that this illigal act shouldn't even be punished according to our laws is even more disgusting. People who violate our protected tree ordinence should be punished in accordence, especially when they are wealthy. The fines being proposed are nowhere near steep enough for what these people have done but at bare minimum will serve to send a message to other wealthy landowners that Oakland truely cares about protecting what natural spaces we have left and that the rich are not above the law.
We need to hold people accountable for destroying our PROTECTED trees. These trees protect our whole community and ecosystem, not punishing offenders sets a dangerous precedent that as long as you have wealth you can destroy the environment for everyone. These trees are supposed to be protected, if there's no consequence for destroying them then that was that protection for? We need to keep our native trees healthy and strong to support our incredibly special ecosystems, and protect our community from air pollution and a warming climate.