South County landowner chops 100 oak trees

October 17, 2014

Pasolivo'a mature olive treesA rural Arroyo Grande landowner has recently cut down approximately 100 oak trees on his property, angering neighbors about the devastation of nature. [New Times]

Nick Stephenson the proprietor of Arroyo Grande’s Pro-Tech Landscape Management, owns a 50-acre parcel near Corbett Canyon Road. Stephenson plans to plant a lemon grove on the property, and is thus chopping down oak trees and building a road, according to San Luis Obispo County Code Enforcement Supervisor Art Trinidade.

Stephenson is within his rights to do so, Trinidade said. He does not even need a permit, so long as he moves less than 50 cubic yards of material.

The engineer’s report on the project states the he is only moving 41 cubic yards, Trinidade said.

In addition to reporting the project to regulatory officials, neighbors are calling for the county to adopt an ordinance protecting inland oak trees. No such ordinance is on the books.

County Supervisor Adam Hill, whose district includes Stephenson’s property, said the county has discussed an inland oak tree ordinance for years, but the issue has taken a back seat to drought-related items.


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I do not like cutting down trees but it is not a death sentence to the future of a forest. If you stick a few eggcorns in the ground, it is amazing how fast they grow. In a 50 short years the forest is back so what’s the BFD? The real problem is the entitlements people politically garnish to control others, a serious mental illness.


They never see it until it faces them.


Where was the outrage when land developer, John King, chopped down thousands of oak trees to develop Tract 1990 near Lake Nacimiento from a pristine oak studded rural area into an ugly, cut and fill, high-density housing development?


To add insult to injury, John King raped the land with the full approval of the Planning Commission and the BOS.


Are the Planning Commission and the BOS being influenced by the political influence of the highest “money politics” bidders?