The city of Kent will serve three West Hill property owners with a correction letter in connection with an illegal topping of more than two dozen large trees last fall on city property.
Property owners were expected to receive the letter by the end of the week, said Tami Perdue, city chief prosecuting attorney, in a phone interview Tuesday. The city property is along a steep slope near Reith Road in the area of South 253rd Street and 42nd Avenue South.
The correction letter is the first step in the city’s code enforcement process, said Perdue, who is overseeing the investigation. Property owners will have 30 days to respond to the letter.
“They will have the option to work voluntarily with the city,” Perdue said. “If not, they will receive a notice of violation that will go to the city hearing examiner.”
The letter will note the amount of damage from the topping of the trees. Perdue said she would not reveal that amount publicly until after the property owners receive the letters.
Perdue said the property owners will be asked to pay for the repairs needed to restore the area, including possible removal of damaged trees and the planting of new trees.
The 34 topped trees were primarily Douglas fir, but also included western red cedars, red alders, big-leaf maples and cottonwoods that were cut or damaged. The trees were an estimated 90 to 120 feet tall and are anywhere from 40 to 60 years old.
Property owners reportedly cut the trees in late October or early November in an effort to improve views of the Green River Valley and Mount Rainier. Witnesses spotted the topped trees and reported the incident to Kent Police. Property owners reportedly hired a tree-cutting service to perform the work.
The city owns the 6 acres for road right of way as well as part of an open-space corridor.
Property owners also could face criminal charges from malicious mischief to interfering with the property of another, Perdue said. That would be a separate case from the code enforcement filed by the city.
“We decided right now to go with the code enforcement,” Perdue said.
Police, city code enforcement officers and a city arborist are involved in the investigation. City staff did not issue any permits to cut the trees.
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