Neighbor forced to cut down 2 huge trees to give John Olerud a better view of Seattle.
Last edited Wed Feb 20, 2013, 08:42 PM - Edit history (1)
I just happened on this story, and it really made me angry. The video at the 3rd link of Olerud presenting his case was like the icing on the cake. Money can buy just about everything.
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020389113_treecuttingloxml.html?prmid=obinsource
The story is almost apologetic and way too nice. The idea that neighbors can be forced to remove trees that block someone's view is ridiculous.
Mike Siegel / The Seattle Times Kevin Wells, from The Davey Tree Expert Co., works with a crew to remove a 50-year-old Chinese pine at the center of a legal fight between its owners, Bruce and Linda Baker, of Clyde Hill, and neighbors John and Kelly Olerud, who said it blocked their view.
A chain saw growled as, limb by limb, the foliage fell from Bruce and Linda Baker’s cherished Chinese pine.
Soon the crew went after the denuded trunk until it, too, was gone.
The rare pine was removed Tuesday by order of the Clyde Hill Board of Adjustment, which said it unreasonably obstructed the view from the nearby home of retired baseball star John Olerud and his wife, Kelly.
The Bakers decided last month not to appeal the ruling. The pine and a Colorado spruce will be replaced with smaller plants at the Oleruds’ expense.
Be sure to read the comments in the right column. I am not the only one this bothered.
I also saw this about the 50 year old Chinese Pine:
http://nosonicsarena.com/wp/?p=1488
Recent stories of John Olerud’s building a house in 2006, staying at his neighbor’s house for 8 months while his home is being built, and then waiting a few years before having the Clyde Hill Board of Adjustment vote 3-2 to condemn his neighbor’s decades-old trees as obstructing Olerud’s view have highlighted the different set of rules the wealthy live by.
Picture in your mind what an “obstructed view” looks like. Now take a look at what Olerud’s obstructed view of the Seattle skyline looks like. Hey Mr Golden Glove, if a single tree 100 ft away can “obstruct the skyline” it’s not a panoramic skyline view you’re looking at but only a “feature” on the horizon. You should have built your home on the West half of the lot, where your massive back yard is, if you intended to get a better angle on Seattle… and don’t give your neighbors to the East any ideas with those privacy hedges growing taller over the years.
And there is a news video at this link. The word "entitled" came to my mind.
http://www.komonews.com/sports/Mariner-great-Olerud-hits-home-run-in-battle-over-trees-177811571.html?tab=video&c=y
CLYDE HILL, Wash. -- Dozens of people packed Clyde Hill City Hall on Wednesday to fight for two trees, and the man they were fighting happens to be a former Seattle Mariner great.
John Olerud, the former Mariners first baseman, wants his neighbor to chop down a spruce and a Chinese pine to improve his own view and up the value of his $4 million home.
The neighbor trimmed one tree, but doesn't want to part with either of them.
...."They are not exempt from the view ordinance," Olerud said of the trees. "We have also established that these trees unreasonably obstruct our view, and we respectfully submit our complaint."
The first article as well as Olerud in the video use the term "unreasonably obstructed". How can a tree that is 5 decades old be an unreasonable obstruction when it was there first?
On Edit: Adding a picture of his "obstructed view".
The “evidence” of an obstructed view Olerud submitted. As shown in Komo4 story.
= new reply since forum marked as read
The really hilarious chapter of this whole story was when he brought the bible into it. The "christian" thing to do was tear down the eyesore trees that were in place loooong before they built the house. 
http://seattle.curbed.com/archives/2012/09/john-olerud-defines-what-it-means-to-be-a-good-neighbor.php
What Would Jesus Demolish?
He is an ass and a selfish arrogant pig with no respect for other peoples property let alone respect for beauty and life and the earth. I have a real loathing for people like this jerk.
Have I made myself clear???
John Olerud Onester cuts down a truffula tree. And not even a thneed to show for it!
The “evidence” of an obstructed view Olerud submitted. As shown in Komo4 story.
the HUMANITY!!! 
I am really sick of having a Hummer obscure my view of the parking lot. I AM OUTRAGED!!! 
OMG STOP IT; YOU'RE KILLING ME
Here's where you tell me that natural beauty comes in all scales and all natural beauty is equivalent.
In fact they lived with the Bakers for several months while their house was being built.
Way to treat a friend, huh? 
It's not like those trees sprang up out of nowhere.
If Olerud was so goddamned concerned about his precious view, maybe he could have taken that into consideration before he bought his house?
It's complete bullshit that someone should have to cut down some trees because some asshole decided after the fact that he didn't like the view. It would be one thing if the homeowner had erected some eyesore that blocked his neighbor's view, but that's not the case here.
Cutting it down was mean and ignorant.
Didn't he and his architect check the views of the property to see if there were any trees, etc., that would "unreasonably obstruct" their views??? Seems to me if you want a panoramic view, you would do this before you broke ground on the damn house!!
Now, a rare tree dies so a dipshit asshole can have a CLEAR PANORAMIC VIEW!! My, isn't he privileged...and all for being a stupid baseball player who has some money!!!!
"You guys saw the trees," Olerud said at the board hearing. "They're not attractive trees. I would say they're the kind of tree that only an arborist would love. ...
"I'm just making the point that if you're willing to cut down your own trees to maintain your view and yet you aren't willing to offer that to your neighbor, how is that being a good neighbor?
"The Bible says, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength, and your neighbor as yourself.' That's Jesus' commandment."
..."In an effort to placate Olerud, Baker cut down a small coast redwood, agreed to remove the spruce and had the pine pruned in a way intended to allow some of the viewscape to show through. But he wasn't willing to cut down a tree that his arborist called very rare and valued at $18,000.
It WAS a trivial reason to cut down a tree. It really angered me to read it, and he sounds so entitled.
...primarily with new construction and now with wholesale tree removal. 
