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Home – Housing Market News – Housing Is Too Expensive. Blame Your Local Tree Ordinance.

Housing Is Too Expensive. Blame Your Local Tree Ordinance.

Matthew Bernard wanted to build a home. He bought a small lot in Oakland, California, and began clearing several diseased and fallen trees that the local fire department had identified as hazards. The result was a $915,000 “mitigation fee” from the city of Oakland—nearly five times the value of the lot itself. 

Under Oakland’s tree ordinance, property owners who remove trees must pay into a city tree fund before they can obtain building permits. Once a fee is imposed, a lien is placed on the property and development must cease until the fee is paid. Bernard’s dream of homeownership came crashing down. 

Oakland is not unique.

Across the country, local governments have adopted tree ordinances that impose massive costs on property owners who want to build homes.

In Michigan, one township demanded more than $400,000 from two brothers who cleared part of their land. In Austin, a homeowner was recently required to pay thousands of dollars in mitigation fees merely for trimming trees on his own property. 

It doesn’t take a degree in economics to see the problem. When government policies dramatically increase the cost of building a home, homes become more expensive. That’s just math. 

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Defenders of these ordinances respond that trees provide valuable public benefits. They’re right. Trees provide shade, wildlife habitat,........

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