I wonder if he also did not realize this; or if he was working on the ugly-but-not-implausible assumption that it wasn’t a big deal since he’d only need to destroy the trees relatively quickly and quietly since that’s the illegal bit; while the cleanup could be handled later(with the extra bonus of the mess also being undesirable to the neighbor).
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My GF is studying to be a paralegal. She loves tree law.
I love tree law too, when some fucking idiot is cutting trees down they shouldn’t. All for a better view? Of the fucking city? Buy a postcard.
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I suspect that the downed trees were not visible from his property. He probably figured that even if the trees were replaced, they’d be replaced with younger ones that were not tall enough to block his view.
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Of course violating forest law is one of the things that Robin Hood was in trouble for.
New Forest: forest laws, poaching, punishment and reform | New Forest Commoner
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Just for Funsies. One of the commentors on the Gothamist article wrote
The fine for the first tree should have been $1,000, followed by $2,000 for the 2nd , and $4,000 for the 3rd , and so on
That would work out to ~$4.3 Quadrillion 
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Isn’t this guy a billionaire? A couple million hurts anyone, but a billionaire has to make and lose a million dollars several times a day depending upon what his money is in. Fees and fines should be proportional to your income/net worth or they aren’t meaningful. $32k is like 1/3rd of the average american’s net worth. (I’m guessing.) The guy should have a more punitive amount so that he pays the price for being an asshole.
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Yah, horses are still used to thin and clear deadfall in areas like national parks where motor vehicles are prohibited. Pretty neat!
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Ok, so what happens now? Assuming his property is worth less than $2mil (I have no idea, it might be worth more, but for my point here let’s assume less):
There’s a lien put on it. NJ demands the money. He’s forced to sell it.
I assume the lien and debt stay on the property? In other words, is there a negative $2mil hanging over this property even if he loses it? If so, and no one will buy it, what then? Or is the debt attached to the individual who did this, and selling the property just sells the property, and the guy is the one who remains on the hook?
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Not to mention the eternal enmity of his neighbor, who, even if they were amenable to some tree removal for an improved view wouldn’t have been ok with trespass, illegal logging and failure to remove the debris.
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that makes it even better. i feel bad about the trees. for this guy i have no sympathy. i guess its a good thing he didn’t try and take down those trees with explosive rounds.
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The latter, I assume. Of course attaching other assets might or might not be more difficult.
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If your property is many acres large and doesn’t have a fence around it, it is possible to hire an arborist (or really, for this kind of job, anyone with a chainsaw) and simply act like it’s your property, as long the trees aren’t obviously part of another property. Even if they’re bordering the grass surrounding the neighbor’s house – and there’s always acres of grass surrounding these kinds of houses – you can claim that your property ends at the grass, not the last stand of trees.
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When I got an arborist to remove one half-dead tree from my lot, he insisted on having a permit in-hand before any cutting got started (which I fully supported). So pedantically, in fact, that although we knew the permit had been issued and just had to be picked up at City Hall, we still postponed the work until the arborist could actually get to City Hall and pick up the permit.
But I guess YMMV for rich a-holes.
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If no-one buys and the dickhead refuses to pay the fines, the town eventually takes over the property. The lien and debt is thus voided and the town sells the property and collects the revenue. The sale price, even without the “improved view”, should be enough to cover the restoration of the trees and any legal fees (because the dickhead will try to tie this up in court) with plenty more left over to go into the public coffers.
The real question is, will the neighbour also go after him with a civil lawsuit of their own, and/or file a criminal complaint based on trespassing and vandalism? I hope the answer to all of these questions is “yes”.
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That isn’t even REMOTELY normal. I’ve had trees cut down (8 this year thanks to damn ash borer beetles) and no permits were necessary.
I did reach out to the neighbor where some of the trees were close to his property just to let him know that the dead trees wouldn’t be in danger of falling across his driveway anymore, but that was courtesy, not law.
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Payable at $500 / month.
Would it? Wasn’t there a recent case the leftover goes to the individual?
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I’m not sure. It depends on the local regulations. Whatever the case, he’s going to walk away with a lot less money than he paid for the property.
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Unfortunately it would just be some guy he paid to cut the trees down getting shot.
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If the town takes the property and sells it, wouldn’t it be nice if the neighbor whose trees were cut down buys it for cheap?
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