California couple who illegally cut down trees slapped with almost $1million fine

Published: 02:32, 8 May 2026 | Updated: 02:42, 8 May 2026 A California couple was hit with an almost $1million fine after they illegally chopped down 38 trees on their hillside lot. Matthew Bernard and Lynn Warner purchased land behind the Claremont Hotel and Club in North Oakland back in 2019. In 2021, the city staff reported the couple started clearing out trees in the lot without the proper permits, the Oakland Side reported. Despite repeated warnings from officials, they say Bernard ignored them and continued cutting down the trees - some of which were reportedly on neighboring properties.  The couple later tried to apply for permits in 2025 to build a single-family home, but instead Oakland issued them a notice saying they had violated the city’s protected tree ordinance.  Officials said they had gathered plenty of evidence of the cleared trees and violations, including photos of people cutting down trees on the couple’s property, along with police reports after responding to calls about the chopping.  City staff estimated the value of each demolished tree. The cost varied widely, from $750 for a small plum tree to $95,000 for an old live oak.  All 38 cut trees costed the couple a staggering fine of $915,135. A hillside lot where Matthew Bernard and Lynn Warner cut down trees in violation of Oakland's environmental laws Bernard and Warner asked for City Council hearings on the tree removal, a right given to those contesting fines under the city’s tree protection law.  But both efforts failed, as the council couldn’t reach a decision in December 2025 or again in April 2026.  A motion on April 14 to slap on the maximum fine failed after three councilmembers voted no, and one member’s absence was counted as a no vote. The final decision came on Tuesday, when the Oakland City Council settled on giving the couple a hefty fine of nearly $1 million.  Bernard attempted to plead his case, saying he tried to follow the permit process while claiming some of the trees were diseased or had already been cleared.  'We dispute there were 38 trees removed,' he said. 'Some trees fell prior to our purchase, others fell during storms,' he added. The couple even asked the council to nix the fine, saying they would replant new trees after building their home.  Tree defenders rallied in support of the fine, bombarding councilmembers with emails, with some even speaking out at the meeting.  Should cities hit homeowners with massive fines for cutting trees, or is this punishment too harsh? What's your view? Officials said they had gathered plenty of evidence of the cleared trees and violations One of the cut down trees on the couple's property  Oakland City Council gathered at a previous meeting They raised concerns that if the city didn’t punish the couple, it would send a message to property owners that they could cut down any tree with little to no consequences.  Some councilmembers said they wanted to find a solution more favorable to the couple, calling the protected tree ordinance 'outdated' and adding that the pricey fine felt unfair.  Oakland councilmember Carroll Fife tried to reduce the fine to $300,000, saying: 'I believe a truly equitable approach requires us to distinguish between preventable loss and inevitable removal.' In the end, a majority of the council agreed that laws matter and the city shouldn’t be making excuses for people who break them.  Councilmember Janai Ramachandran said Oakland needs 'to be crystal clea' about law violations in the city. 'To anyone who wants to come into our city and trash our city, and violate our laws, and think you can get away with it: …You are going to be fined,' she said. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.