Some snipping of trees in a North Springfield neighborhood has led to sniping among residents, some of whom believe preserving foliage is a neighborhood right.
Richard Stritter, a resident of Hinton Street in the North Springfield community, has taken issue with the decision by two of his neighbors to have several large old trees completely removed from their property.
"I don’t know why they cut them down to the ground, I just can’t figure it out," said Stritter, who has lived in the neighborhood with his wife for five years.
The owners of one of the homes, husband and wife Wilson and Luz Centellas, maintain their intentions for removing the trees were status quo.
"Some trees just mess up your house," said 19-year-old Santa Centellas, one of four children who live in the home. The Centellas family had two very large trees cut down, one in the front yard and one in the back yard, over the course of several weeks in mid-December. Santa Centellas spoke on behalf of her parents, who spoke little English, and said her family had lived in the home for 3 1/2 years. The decision was her father’s, based mainly on the fact that the presence of the large trees impeded visibility, and they were beginning to encroach on the roof of the home.
"People say it looks better because the trees were blocking the view," said Santa Centellas. She also said the family was able to install a satellite dish on their roof, now that the tree in the front yard has been removed.
Despite their decision, the Centellas’ next-door neighbors, the Bangerts, said they aren't happy that the trees bit the dust.
"These trees have been here a long time. We moved here when some of them were little trees," said Norma Bangert, who said she moved into the home in 1954, when it was built.
She and her son Robert marvel at the massive amount of wood scattered about the back yard of the Centellas home, visible from their back deck.
"The back yard kind of looks like a war zone," said Robert.
AROUND THE CORNER, other trees were cut down recently in the yard of another home, and Stritter said he doesn't understand the rationale for that either.
"I don’t just understand their rationale for cutting down a perfectly good tree. Trim the tree if it needs it, but cutting it to the ground because you don’t like it, or you’re trying to sell it for the wood, I don’t like that. It should be prevented," said Stritter.
"You don’t just cut down trees this old. They don’t just belong to the property owner. They belong to the community."
Nonetheless, communities have little power in the way of regulating the removal of trees, said Cal Wagner, homeowner association liaison for Fairfax County's Consumer Protection Division.
"A homeowners association has a legal obligation to maintain and care for the common ground, but the association typically has a limited control over the appearance and use of the private properties that comprise the association," said Wagner.
Typically, said Wagner, homeowners associations will have an "architectural control" section of their bylaws that regulates certain features of private residences, such as siding type and color, paint type and color, and pavers. Generally, though, these guidelines don't extend to trees, unless they are specifically mentioned in the standards.
"It's private property, so the trees are owned by the property owner. Unless the trees are specifically identified in the architectural standards, the association really doesn't have [much] to say about," said Wagner.