Luxury Home Developer Charged With Cutting Down Trees On Neighbor's Property To Enhance Coastline View From His Ridgetop Chateau

In Santa Cruz, California, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reports:

• A luxury home developer faces felony charges after allegedly cutting down 49 trees on his neighbor's property without permission, giving his new ridgetop "chateau" an unobstructed view of the Monterey Bay coastline. Charles Storey, 49, of Santa Cruz was arrested in December and charged with felony vandalism after a forest owner below his new custom home on Glen Canyon Court reported redwoods, pines and firs that once stood hundreds of feet tall had branches stripped, crowns lopped off and trunks cut in half, according to court and property owner reports. Others trees were felled at the base.

• "He just mowed them down like a lawnmower wherever the horizon line or the beach line was," said forest owner and Scotts Valley resident Roger Roesner. "Whatever was in his way, he just cut it off."(1) Storey also faces misdemeanor charges of trespassing and cutting trees on neighboring property. His preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 8.

For the story, see Developer arrested after neighbor's trees illegally felled.

(1) According to the story, Roesner said the tree-felling happened in two spurts in 2008. All the trees cut were in the sight line of Storey's nearly 5,000 square-foot-house named "Le Petit Chateau de Santa Cruz." The home's amenities include a three-car garage, five potential bedrooms, three fireplaces and a gathering room with 20-foot ceilings and 18-foot-tall gothic arches, according to the home's promotional Web site. The house is listed for sale at $1.999 million, and the seller descriptions emphasize its sweeping ocean and mountain views, the story states.