$35,000 fine possible for tree trimming

A Kings Beach homeowner may face a $35,000 fine for allegedly cutting seven Jeffrey pine trees on state property to enhance his view of Lake Tahoe.

The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency board will decide whether to levy the fine at their Tuesday meeting. The agency's staff has recommended the maximum fine: $5,000 per tree.

The agency alleges that the owner of a home at 489 Beaver St., Avion Inc., is responsible for the tree cutting. According to both the agency and the California Tahoe Conservancy, which owns the property where the trees were cut, seven Jeffrey pines were either girdled, limbed or topped.

"We have nothing to do with that," said Mark Stewart, asset manager for Avion Inc., in a telephone conversation Wednesday.

Stewart would not comment on what he or his company, which he said is a property rental business, would do if the fine were approved.

"They think because we are absentee homeowners we are an easy target," said Stewart.

An eyewitness has asserted that Avion official Michael Sahlbach either directed or conducted the limb removal, the agency said.

While Avion officials continue to assert the company did not cut the tree limbs, they did offer to pay $2,400 as a settlement to avoid legal costs, according to TRPA documents.

The pines ranged from 15 inches to 25 inches in diameter at chest height, according to Milan Yeates, a forester with the California Tahoe Conservancy.

Damage, vandalism or tree cutting is "very rare," said conservancy deputy director Ray Lacy. "Most people really respect what we do and value having conservancy property in the neighborhood."

TRPA has repeatedly levied fines for unpermitted tree removal in the Tahoe Basin, including against the South Lake Tahoe Airport.

"Depending on the number of trees involved, these settlements have gotten up into the six figures," said TRPA spokesman Dennis Oliver.