Blog: In Memoriam of Our Oak Tree

We have been Sierra Madre residents since 2000. We love this city for all it has to offer. Beautiful homes, great schools, and friendly neighbors...or so we thought.

We have been renting a residence on W. Mira Monte Ave. since 2007. It is a beautiful tree lined street with gorgeous homes and the neighborhood is quiet and for the most part all of the neighbors are extremely friendly. The kind of neighbors who will give you butter or eggs if you run out, but then also throw in a bag of avocados!! We love this about our neighborhood.

In the last week however, we have experienced something by one neighbor that has tarnished that image. During the recent windstorm that occurred recently, something happened that would change our view not only of this certain neighbor, but our view of the way certain things are done here in Sierra Madre.

Our neighbor approached us about six months ago and asked us if we would contact our landlord (Yes, we are a family of the huge population of renters in Sierra Madre) about removing an Oak tree that was on our side of a fence that separated our two properties. The neighbor explained that they wanted the tree removed because it was hanging over the fence and that they had plans to build a shed on their side. We never did ask the landlord, as we knew that this was something that she would never agree to. Not to mention that the Oak tree is a protected species. The neighbor persisted several times over the next few months. Still, we basically ignored the request. During this time, the neighbor never mentioned the fact that the tree may or may not be on the property line, just that she wanted it removed. So, there it sat. A beautiful Oak that provided shade and beauty in front of our bedroom window. The neighbor quit asking, and we assumed that she just gave up on the idea. Enter the horrific windstorm that blew its way through our small little town. It was wild! The night was so scary as you could hear leaves and plants plaster themselves to our house. You could hear trees cracking and falling. When we made it outside the next morning, we discovered that our beautiful and HUGE oak tree in our back yard had met its demise with the wind. The rest of the neighborhood looked just about the same.

All of the neighbors gathered that morning, talking about what a crazy night it had been. Some brought breakfast snacks and the neighborhood kids were having fun climbing on some of the trees that had made their way to the middle of the road. It was a surreal day.

We were telling the neighbors that we would be getting out of town for the weekend for our daughters birthday. It was something our family was looking forward to since there was no power. Might as well go camping right??

We left on Saturday morning, and arrived home Sunday evening. As we were pulling onto our already tree ravaged street, we noticed a new huge pile that was almost completely blocking the entire front of our property on the street. My husband and I started to walk towards our house and realized there was a huge empty space where the beautiful Oak that shaded our bedroom once stood. It was gone!!! What happened?? It was horrifying to realize that the only tree left standing on our property was now gone! We immediately thought back to the conversations that we had with our neighbor regarding the removal of this Oak. We started to feel angry and violated and decided to go ask the neighbor what happened. She informed us that indeed, she was responsible for the removal of the Oak and that there were branches of the tree that were broken on her side of the fence! Why on earth would you kill an entire tree just because there were a few broken branches? Her reply to us at this time was, "If you pay good money, people will do anything for you." I was at a loss for words and walked away. How selfish! At this point, my husband called the Sierra Madre Police Dept. and had a unit up to investigate. They told us that as renters we needed to speak with the owner, and that it was a civil matter. What?? How could our neighbor hire a crew to come on to our property and remove a beautiful Oak without permission? At this point in the story, the neighbor still had no proof whether or not the Oak was on her property.

The thought of someone coming on to our property while we were gone started to sear into our brains! This can't be right!

I walked into Sierra Madre City Hall on Monday morning to find out what we could do. We were instantly told that the owner had not pulled a permit to remove a tree, and that I should go and file a report with the SMPD.

So, there I was at the SMPD where I was told that this was a civil matter and that the code enforcer spoke with the homeowner. The homeowner informed the code enforcer that they had a surveyor coming out to survey the property to see whom the Oak really belonged to.

Am I wrong? Or is this totally backwards? Shouldn't you have the surveyor out to determine whom the tree belonged to before you cut it down?? It seems like a no brainer.

We have been in contact with the owner who lives in a different part of the U.S. Boy! Was she livid!! At this moment, she has her own surveyor on the way to do his own survey of the property. In the meantime, she has agreed with our request to initiate a report of trespassing.

I did go down today to do just that. I was informed by the code enforcer that because I was not home to tell the "tree homicide crew" to get off of my property, that I could not file a trespass report. The owner of our property is taking steps of her own now, and we are just playing the waiting game at this point. We just wanted to share our story.

Until we have the surveyor give us the results of who owned what and which property the poor dead Oak resided, here are the facts shared with us by the SMPD.

1. You can cut down an Oak tree or any other tree as long as it is on your private property.
2. Anyone can come on to your property and unless you verbally tell them to leave or post a do not trespass sign, there are allowed to do so. To honor the beloved Oak that we loved so much, we will continue to battle to get some sort of justice out of this situation, and unfortunately a department that we felt would serve and protect us, feel that they can choose their own battles. This is one that they feel is not as important as we do.

A note to residents. We would appreciate any advice that would help. We want to thank all of the neighbors, friends, and pass-byers that have viewed the sign on our front yard for their support. It is people like them that have concern like we do that keep us going in the battle of justice for the beloved old Oak.