Tree removal made easier in Carmel-by-the-Sea

Following the damaging storms that tore countless trees out of the ground in Carmel-by-the-Sea, the city is attempting to make it easier for residents to remove dead or damaged trees.

The city has implemented a policy that allows it to waive the cost to remove a tree on your property. The city said it has received so many requests for removals, it wants to make it easier for homeowners to get rid of any potentially damaging trees or limbs on their property.

Requesting tree removal is a process that typically requires getting a permit from the city with a $225 application fee. However, in the midst of the storm season, the city is waiving the fee and allowing homeowners to have arbiters and tree services take a look at their trees to determine if they can be removed.

Now, even a picture is enough proof for the city to allow the removal of the tree. It’s part of a plan to avoid injuries and property damage, and residents have no complaints.

“Anything we can do to have less red tape around here to make things administratively easier I’m all in favor of, and I think my neighbors are, too,” said Carmel-by-the-Sea resident Heidi Van Der Veer.

But the city says this doesn’t mean just any tree can go.

Holly Wright, who had her neighbor’s tree crash onto her house earlier this month, wants to avoid another disaster and has a giant tree out front she can only hope isn’t next.

“If the tree falls towards our house, it is going to take out the whole house,” said Wright.

Unfortunately for the Wrights, that tree doesn’t qualify to be removed.

“Two foresters came out one before we actually closed on the house and one after, they said the tree was healthy and we absolutely can’t remove it,” Holly Wright said.

The city says the focus is only on the trees that have to be taken down right away.

Click here for the full details on the tree removal process in Carmel-by-the-Sea.

Carmel-by-the-Sea emergency situations:

Requirements for a permit may be waived for situations that require immediate action such as uplifting roots, tree rocking in the soil, split or cracked trunks or other eminent hazard.
Trees that are an immediate or eminent hazard must be documented or verified by either city staff, an arborist or a licensed tree service and reported to the City Forester as soon as possible.
Once the hazard is documented and verified, work can proceed to abate the hazard.
A removal application should be submitted as soon as possible after the hazard is abated so the City can issue a permit for the work.