Michael Crick worries that unwieldy fir trees will crush his home. His neighbors think otherwise.
Michael Crick worries that unwieldy fir trees will crush his home. His neighbors think otherwise. Pavelk /Shutterstock

Today in tree news: Michael Crick just wants to cut down his damn trees. Although Crick purchased a Bellevue city permit to cut down 67 unwieldy Douglas Firs surrounding his property, the Bridal Falls resident's neighbors are putting up a fight, KOMO reports.

"I'm not clear-cutting the property. I'm leaving half the trees in a heavily-wooded space," Crick told reporters. Unlike a group of West Seattle homeowners who hired contractors to illegally hack down some 150 trees that were obstructing their precious hilltop view, Crick sought to do his tree-cutting in a reasonable way.

According to KOMO, Crick met with city arborists who confirmed that the trees he wanted to cut down were "structurally compromised or diseased." Crick worries that the trees could fall on his house during a windstorm and kill his family, but his neighbors disagree.

When a tree removal company arrived Monday morning to begin, more than a dozen neighbors gathered to express their opposition to removing the trees.

"You can't reverse what's about to happen," said Ray Reass, a neighbor and president of the homeowners association. "What he's doing is simply unreasonable and we'd like it to stop immediately."

The association's lawyer wrote a non-legally binding cease and desist letter residents delivered to Crick.

After taking down about eight trees, the loggers stopped and left, saying they did not want to be on TV.

According to KOMO, Crick has since decided to meet with his neighbors to negotiate a compromise.

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