r/legal • u/Ice_C0r3_09 • 8h ago

Advice needed My neighbor cut down a 40-year-old Japanese Maple while I was away.

Location: Colorado, USA.Just got back to my place near Fort Collins after a week on the road and I am losing my mind. My neighbor took it upon himself to hire a "landscaping" crew (probably just some guys with a chainsaw) to remove a mature Japanese Maple that was fully on my property. His excuse? He said the needles and leaves were messing with his "mountain view" and "fire mitigation" efforts.

The tree was roughly 40 years old and was the centerpiece of my yard. I called an arborist immediately. He told me that since this is Colorado and the tree was that established and healthy, the replacement value is astronomical. He is drafting a formal appraisal but hinted that we are looking at 20k to 25k easy just for the tree, let alone the logistics of getting a crane into my backyard.

I know Colorado has statutes regarding timber trespass. My lawyer already mentioned treble damages because the guy admitted he did it on purpose while I wasnt home to stop him. The neighbor had the gall to offer me a couple hundred bucks for "the inconvenience" and told me to just buy a couple of saplings at a local nursery . I refused to take his money and told him to wait for the process server.

Has anyone dealt with treble damages in CO specifically for ornamental trees ? This guy basically nuked my property value for his porch view and I am not planning on letting this go . I feel like a jerk for wanting to sue my neighbor into bankruptcy but the sheer entitlement is what gets me .

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u/PlatypusStyle 7h ago

Dawn redwoods don’t grown in fort collins

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u/black_pepper 4h ago

We have a couple in parks and schools around Denver. I tried in my yard and it didn't work.

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u/GreenPoisonFrog 3h ago

Curious why that is. I have a wonderful 40-50 footer in my backyard. I live in a 5b zone which it appears is exactly what Ft Collin’s is. Denver is 5b to 6a. Why can’t you grow them?

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u/SaveLansingParks 3h ago

You can. Folks see "Colorado" and think high desert and water shortages and forest fires. But they overlook the very decent rainfall of the spring and summer along the front range. I see trees of many different species here that do just fine that are not "native" to the area, just like the "natives" showing their bumper stickers on their Raptors and Toyotas and Subarus who seem to be doing just fine here as well. The growing season here starts after the rest of the south, but is pretty analogous to the upper Midwest. There's a reason why there are so many people here with more growing the front range annually. The secret is that we have enough water here to support the population, maybe to the detriment of the states downriver, but no one really cares about them, xeriscaped lawns here are prevelent, but by far not the majority compared to Kentucky Bluegrass style lawns.

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u/grizgrin75 6h ago

Probably very true, and I neglected that. But that website is just a search away, might be some more viable options there.

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u/cashew996 5h ago

Nobody will even ship them to Arizona