LA City Council wants strict action after owner chops down 8 protected trees

Councilmember Nithya Raman said L.A.'s protected tree ordinance is a key tool to save the city's cooling urban canopy.

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday, May 21, vetoed a decision made by the Board of Public Works and called for stricter enforcement of the city’s laws following the removal of eight protected trees from a Laurel Canyon homeowner’s yard.

Council members voted unanimously to reject the Board of Public Works’ determination to withhold building permits for two years to Misha Crosby for removing eight protected trees from his residence. The board had also called for a replanting plan that would bring the property into compliance.

Citing concerns that the Board of Public Works’ decision was too lenient, council members approved sending the matter back to the board for further consideration with the recommendation to fully enact penalties under the city laws.

Last year, the Board of Public Works found that protected trees and shrubs had been removed without a permit, according to a city report. The board reduced the moratorium on future permits down to two years instead of four. The replanting plan is also voluntary.

Councilwoman Nithya Raman, who represents the Fourth District, and including the area of Hollywood Hills where the violation took place, introduced a motion last week to review the board’s action and assert jurisdiction over the action. The council approved it, and the matter came before it Tuesday.

“I think we need to be as a city able to enforce the rules that we make and use the tools that we have to deter bad actors — whether it’s on homesharing, an AirBnB, or protected trees or other issues that are integral to our quality of life, which this body frequently legislates,” Raman said before the vote.

“We are not telling them how to decide but we would like to ask them (the Board of Public Works) to reconsider and that is what I hope that we will do today — and that is a decision that is supported by our city departments through this process.”

Raman noted that enforcement of the city’s protected tree ordinance is an important tool to preserve the city’s urban canopy.

David Monroe, the attorney representing Crosby, explained how the homeowner purchased a small residential lot in Laurel Canyon to build his home. There were trees on the lot that prevented construction, and Crosby hired arborists. Monroe said that Crosby had been misinformed and the contractors cut the protected trees.

Monroe claimed that while some of the trees that were cut down were designated as protected, others were not, and he emphasized that the fault lay with the contractors.

David Rivera, chief street services investigator, wrote in a report that a neighbor filmed Crosby with an arborist while they removed four protected trees — three black walnut and one Mexican elderberry — in June 2023.

An additional two protected black walnut trees were later removed in July. Crosby was aware that developing on this property was not viable without the removal of these protected trees, Rivera noted.

Raman’s colleagues ultimately agreed with her and sent the matter back for consideration.

“We’ve carefully listened to the property owner’s representative. We’ve read all the materials and we’ve heard the argument that the body below found there was a violation,” Councilman Tim McOsker said before the vote.

“They found a violation. They said instead of the full extent of their authority, they instead would have a remedy that was much, much lesser in my estimation. I think it’s important for us to support our communities based on the facts.”