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Nevada County Residents Furious Developer Cut Down Redwoods, Sequoias

NEVADA COUNTY (CBS13) — Residents are fuming after a property owner chopped down nearly two-dozen trees, including redwoods and sequoias, and the county is considering legal action.

An entire side of the property was covered in trees last week, but what's happened since then has people at a Penn Valley hair salon furious.

"Took all of our shade away, all our beauty, those trees were so beautiful. It made the complex look beautiful," said Kathy Oropeza.

She's shocked the new owner of the complex had several-dozen large trees removed that lined the area for 25 years.

"We're not in the city, we have trees up here, that's why were here. Otherwise we'd be in the cement," she said.

Nevada County officials were going back and forth on a landscaping plan with property owner Ethan Conrad out of Sacramento, but says ultimately it never gave Conrad permission to chop down the trees.

"It was clearly pointed out to him that he had an existing landscape maintenance plan, that he was obligated to upkeep, and that includes maintaining the mature trees," said county lawyer Katie Jacobs.

CBS13 spoke with Conrad on the phone. He says he relied on a local tree guy for advice on whether he was allowed to get rid of the trees, and after not hearing back on the legality of the tree removal from the county, he went ahead and did it.

"I basically said, 'We're going to cut down these trees without involving the county, unless we hear otherwise from you,'" he said.

Conrad says he chopped the trees to give the businesses more visibility.

"You can actually see these buildings versus them being in a jungle where you couldn't see them," he said.

But Jacobs says that move could land him in legal trouble.

"At the moment we are reviewing all of our legal options, at the civil level, administrative level and possibly the criminal level," she said.

The county isn't sure if they would go forward with a replanting effort, saying they're still working things out.

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