A Bay area couple has been hit witha whopping fineof nearly $1 million dollars after removing trees from the property they owned, after officials said they violated Oakland’s protected tree law.
Matthew Bernard and Lynn Warner of Emeryville purchased the lot behind the Claremont Resort and Club in North Oakland in 2019. In 2021 and 2022, the city claimed the landowner had illegally startedcutting down treeswithout the proper permits, per a city council agenda report.
The city said the couple ignored warnings about removing the trees without a permit, suggesting they had even done so on two neighboring lots.
Last year, when the couple tried to apply for permits to build a single-family home on the lot they were denied, being told they had already reportedly violated the city’sProtected Tree ordinance.
The city claimed they had removed native trees to the area like live oak and broad-leaf maples. Staff said they also had gathered plenty of evidence of what they had done.
The couple was then issued a fine of $915,135.40, the maximum fine for cutting down what the city said was 38 trees, per theOaklandside. Bernard appealed the matter to the city council, per the city’s tree law.
Council members attempted to deal with it both at the end of 2025 and again in April, but could not come to an agreement on the fine the couple would have to pay.
On Tuesday, a majority of Oakland City Council members voted that the city’s tree ordinance was violated and the landowners must pay the nearly $1 million fine.
Theordinancesays that “A violation shall be liable for all costs associated with the investigation and enforcement of this chapter by the city.”
The couple tried to dispute the claim that dozens oftreeswere removed.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
