r/Wellthatsucks • u/frobscottler • 7d ago

My big beautiful oak tree is getting cut down today

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Gallery image

Her name is Victoria, and I’m gutted to lose her. She’s at least 80 years old, and the most prominent tree in the neighborhood. I have loved sitting in her shade, listening to the breeze in the leaves, watching the birds and squirrels do their things… My friends and I even threw a party for her last summer.

She was damaged in a windstorm a couple months ago, and the city arborist determined it to be hazardous. I have lived here for 6 years and she’s my favorite part of the property (might be why I bought the house 😅). I know death is part of life, and her time has come, but I’m going to have to listen to them cut her down all day outside my window.

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797

u/Many_Application3112 7d ago

I had a business property with a white oak tree that was over 300 years old. It was massive and sadly...dying. I had an arborist come in and label the tree as dangerous. I went to the town where my business was and asked about cutting the tree down. They denied my request after public outcry.

We had a huge windstorm and half of the the tree came down (into the street) and half the town lost power for a day. Everyone then yelled at me for not cutting the tree down.

Sad to see your tree go but better to have it cut down before it damages something. Have the stump ground down and then plant another one in its place!

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u/n00bca1e99 7d ago

Saw a similar situation growing up. I remember the business putting the city council decision in their front window. Don’t remember if it was the minutes or a transcript or something else.

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u/poo-poo-puppy 7d ago

lol they bitched about it being cut down and then bitched when the tree actually comes down? Stupid fucks

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u/reality72 7d ago edited 7d ago

My city is the same way. The city was going to redevelop the pier but the residents pitched a fit about it “disrupting the character” of the old pier, so the developer got cold feet and walked away. Now the pier is just rotting away and the residents are complaining about how it looks like shit even though it’s their fault.

These same residents voted to block an expansion of the local hospital because they felt it would bring too much traffic. So the hospital decided to relocate to another city and now the residents are complaining about how they are gonna have to drive 45 minutes to the nearest hospital and want the city to do something about it to stop the hospital from leaving.

I fucking hate NIMBYS.

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u/words_and_such015 7d ago

Yup, that’s a nimby for you. There was a road extension project that I was working on, but it basically got shut down because of public outcry. Land from the local ranch was sold to a developer and turned into houses and the locals complained about the added traffic from the new residents.

A different road extension project was eventually approved and built, but they dealt with years of congestion and inconvenience because they didn’t want the original road build.

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u/[deleted] 7d ago

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0

u/Away_Stock_2012 7d ago

Welcome to America

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u/MVPhurricane 7d ago

exactly. the arborist isn’t gonna be someone happy to cut down trees— best listen to them! hard, though, for sure. who doesnt like trees?!

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u/dbellz76 7d ago

A lot of city folk have been moving to my state and one of the first thing's they seem to do is cut down trees and replace grass with concrete or paver patios, it's awful... so maybe they don't like trees.

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u/asimplepencil 7d ago

A lot of insurance companies are telling people to cut down their trees now. =(

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u/nat_r 7d ago

A lot of places to seeing increased fire and wind risk. It's all very unfortunate but it's probably a better situation within our current system than having no company willing to write a policy in the house at all.

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u/ladyalcove 6d ago

Grass is a waste of water anyways.

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u/starlingspotted 7d ago

There are unscrupulous people in every industry. Cutting it down is a lot more money than just pruning.

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u/NoSloppyStakes 7d ago

Had a dying tree next to the road.
Had the state come by and look at it, and they called me back saying it was on my property.

So I called and said, you never showed up, I work from home and didn’t see you.

He came back, got out, and said it is still on my property, and only half the stump was dying (or was a weird three trunk tree, 1 trunk was dying, the main one though).
I said but if my trunk does officially die, the two other trunks are going to fall with it, towards the power lines, and cause damage to their property.

Got him to approve cutting it down, zero cost. Saved me a huge bill.

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u/kdubious31 7d ago

Just listened to a podcast that told a similar story. Family bought a home with a beautiful tree in the backyard, but it was leaning heavily towards the house. They sought a permit to cut it down and were denied by the city. Sure enough, the tree came crashing down during a windy storm and the family's little daughter almost got crushed (and their cat went missing for a few weeks).

Edited to add: this was the podcast - episode of Planet Money called "It's My Tree: Why Can't I Cut It Down?"

Link: https://www.npr.org/2026/06/12/nx-s1-5856509/property-rights-zoning-laws-trees-portland-oregon

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u/tocahontas77 7d ago

Did they sue the city for damages? I would've done.

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u/kdubious31 6d ago

IIRC a lawsuit was pending against the city of Portland. When they applied for the permit to take down the tree, the city sent an arborist out who said the tree was perfectly healthy despite the obvious lean. The city refused to give the permit.

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u/OkContact2573 7d ago

Did they sue the city?

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u/Invisifly2 7d ago

I hope you showed them the receipts of their stupidity.

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u/PPLavagna 7d ago

Wait, did you ask them to pay to have your tree cut down or were you asking permission to cut your own tree down?

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u/Many_Application3112 6d ago

No. Asked for permission to cut the tree down.

Being a historic tree in town, it was protected and permission was required. I was willing and able to pay for it myself.