I’ve been fined $10k for cutting down trees in front of my property – they won’t accept evidence of damage they caused

A CAR dealership owner will have to pay thousands of dollars for cutting down trees from their property that was hurting business.

Randal Petersen, the owner of Fairly Reliable Bob’s, removed trees from his property that he claimed were sick and disruptive, but officials in the Idaho town thought otherwise.

The trouble started when a person noticed that shrubs along the business's sidewalk were missing and filed a code enforcement complaint.

The trees that were originally in the area were replaced with gravel and grey rocks.

To rectify the situation, Petersen filed for retroactive design review approval of the landscape change.

He revealed that getting rid of the trees solved several issues.

“First, it will removed (sic) the sick and destructive trees that have ruined the sidewalk, (lifting it as much as three inches in places), and have plagued us with damage to our inventory with frequency droppings of tiny foliage and sap,” Petersen wrote.

When speaking with Boise Dev he claimed he made the changes because of the issue emerging with the sidewalk.

Petersen provided photos to officials to show the damage that was done.

However, officials in the City of Boise didn't think this was worth it.

“The sidewalk issues appear to be minimal,” Community Forestry Manager Micahel Andrews wrote.

“In most cases, when sidewalk issues are brought to the attention of ACHD, they will work with Boise Community Forestry to find a solution that allows existing trees to remain.”

He also added that despite business owners' claims, the trees never appeared to be sick.

“Based on observations and prior public tree inventory, the public
trees were healthy, and removal was unnecessary,” Andrews wrote.

He believed that it would have been better to simply prune the trees to stop the issue of tree droppings.

To rectify the situation, Petersen was asked to compensate $10,800 to the city’s public forestry fund for the three trees that stood at 10-12 caliper inches.

The city also reserves the right to make changes to the landscape if it needs to.

“The retroactive design review application will allow us to evaluate the landscape changes for compliance with our ordinance and require any necessary changes,” planning spokesperson Lindsay Moseer said.

Petersen said he was willing to plant new trees, suggesting buckhorn as an option.

The City of Boise will have to review the design review application which could require changes or modifications to the landscaping area.

The U.S. Sun has reached out to the City of Boise for comment.

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