Oakland officials have ordered Nigerian physician Dr. Matthew Bernard and his partner Lynn Warner to pay $915,135 for cutting down dozens of protected trees without approval at their Claremont Avenue property, according to Blueprint Newspaper.
City staff carried out several inspections of the hillside lot between February 2021 and May 2022 after receiving complaints about illegal felling. The visits confirmed that mature trees had been removed in violation of local conservation rules.
More than 20 residents attended a council hearing to push for strict enforcement, arguing that the area’s dense canopy helps lower wildfire risk and supports ecological balance.
Bernard told the council the trees were “dead, dying, leaning, or hazardous” and said a certified arborist had recommended their removal.
Authorities rejected his request to retroactively legalize the work or link new plantings to planned construction. Instead, they imposed the fine and placed a lien on the property, blocking any sale or development until the penalty is paid in full.
A municipal tree specialist explained that trees of that size cannot be replaced quickly, noting that full ecological recovery could take decades or even centuries a key reason for the penalty’s scale.