Irreparable tree damage during construction of housing development

liloander

New Member
Jurisdiction
Washington
The property adjoining ours is being developed for housing. A trench was dug along property line thus cutting the root system of our very old fir tree which will now probably die. We had voiced our concern from the beginning when he city started the permission process. At the public hearing, we again brought up our concern. The hearing officer referred us to the then attending representative of the property owners who said she would check into it and get back to us but never did. We followed up with a letter to the hearing officer but never heard back either. Our property was damaged - according to my research, evidence of damage may not be visible for 5 to ten years but this tree will eventually die and fall over, potentially harming lives and destroy buildings. The tree provides shade and enhances the value of our property. Do we have any recourse? Is the city or the developer the guilty party?
 
You might possibly be due some monetary amount for the tree, but the damage is done. There is certainly no fixing it.
You might first investigate what compensation you could reasonably expect to get and decide whether it is worth pursuing.
If you do pursue it, you may consider having an arborist or other expert evaluate the condition of the tree to verify irreparable damage.
Meanwhile keep trying to contact the parties you already spoke with. Don't rely on email and phone calls as they are easily ignored.
 
Do we have any recourse?

Perhaps, but NOT until you have evidence of a loss or losses.

Is the city or the developer the guilty party?



That would be a question to determine, IF and WHEN, you can prove you were damaged.

Unlike contract law, where one can litigate anticipatory breach of the contract, you'd be suing under general tort law.

(An anticipatory breach, is a term in the law of contracts that describes a declaration by the promising party to a contract that he or she does not intend to live up to his or her obligations under the contract.)

For you to prove you were damaged, because the tree's roots were severed, you'd have to prove the tree died.

Until the tree dies, proving damages would probably be difficult, if not impossible.
 
this tree will eventually die and fall over

As will all trees.

Do we have any recourse? Is the city or the developer the guilty party?

The city has nothing to do with this. If you wanted to prevent what happened, you could and should have filed a lawsuit and sought an injunction.

As far as I know, the law in every state allows a property owner to cut a tree's branches and roots that are encroaching on the owner's property, as long as doing so does not kill the tree. The longer it takes for your tree to die, the less likely you will be able to prove that it had anything to do with the neighbor's actions. Consult with a local attorney.
 
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