Property owner illegally cuts down 70 trees in Red Bird

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The owner of a 4-acre property in Red Bird hacked down 70 trees without the city’s permission Sunday.

The property, on Ledbetter at U.S. Highway 67, was a buffer between residential neighborhoods and the highway.

Now that the trees are gone, neighbors say they have less shade, more highway noise and an increase in critters near their homes.

The trees were protected under the city’s tree ordinance. The city’s chief arborist, Phil Erwin, told the Dallas Morning News that he is working with the property owner, SNSA Group, to mitigate the damage.

This destruction comes a couple of weeks after a business owner in Lake Highlands illegally chopped the tops off of nearly 100 live oak trees in order to make their business, Cube Smart, more visible from the street.