Utility Company Cutting Down Trees

[DianeCourt]

I heard chainsaws outside today, and was surprised to look outside & see two men who are apparently from the utility company cutting down trees along the back boundary of our property where phone or electrical lines are. I was going to go outside and ask them what they were up to, but they left before I had an opportunity to. I'm a little miffed about this because we received no notification that they were coming and they cut down a lot of branches & trees that give us privacy from the neighboring subdivision. Also, they were working in a wooded area & just left the stuff they cut down in piles - they did not haul it away.

1. Do utility companies have rights to cut down any trees that are close to their lines?

2. Are they required to notify you that they're going to cut down trees on your property?

3. Are they required to clean up anything they cut down?

DH is calling our Homeowner's Association since I don't even know if these men were from the phone company or the electrical company.

[alisong]

From DH (an arborist):

1. Do utility companies have rights to cut down any trees that are close to their lines? Yes.

2. Are they required to notify you that they're going to cut down trees on your property? No. You can request that your own arborist perform the work, but that will be at your expense (obviously!), and you have to be proactive about it.

3. Are they required to clean up anything they cut down? Yes.

[Ericka_Jarett]

was going to say what alisong said. If the trees interfere with the lines, they can cut what they need to off the tree to protect the lines.

They will probably have a tree company come and haul all the branches down.

[PinkMartini]

DH works for the telephone co and they do have a right to cut down any trees that are threatening their lines/poles. And they are not required to give notice. They leave the clippings for a tree co. to come in & clean up.

[Niobe]

This happened to me a few weeks ago. Only, it was the gas company cutting down a big limb because the limbs were blocking a vent on our roof or something. They were really nice though, they chopped all the branches up and bundled them up as required for curbside recycling in our city.

[MrsBeckyLP]

Yep. The trees are probably in a right-of-way or utility easement, so while the property and trees are "technically" yours, the utility company/municipality you live in has the right to do anything they need or want to.

[tenofcups]

Ugh. This happened to us too, except they cut off the tops of almost every tree on the front of our street. Just OUR block, no others. They did a horrible job -- didn't just cut back branches, but cut off whole tops so they're little more than stumps that are several feet high. I understand why they might need to do it, but I don't understand why they did it so poorly.

Unfortunately it was the same week that our nextdoor neighbor cut down his two big backyard trees, which used to give us a lot of privacy and protection from neighbors in our city street of townhouses.

So in one week, we lost all the greenery on our city street. It was really depressing.

[DianeCourt]

Ugh. This happened to us too, except they cut off the tops of almost every tree on the front of our street. Just OUR block, no others. They did a horrible job -- didn't just cut back branches, but cut off whole tops so they're little more than stumps that are several feet high. I understand why they might need to do it, but I don't understand why they did it so poorly.

Unfortunately it was the same week that our nextdoor neighbor cut down his two big backyard trees, which used to give us a lot of privacy and protection from neighbors in our city street of townhouses.

So in one week, we lost all the greenery on our city street. It was really depressing.

Same here....I'm looking out at a bunch of decapitated trees. :mad: I understand why they need to do it, but it wasn't done very well.

[jessesgirl]

They have the right to do it without notification. The only way around it is to have the trees trimmed yourself next time by hiring a private professional to come out and do it. We just had this done ourselves to eliminate the utility company having to do it and ruining our trees.

[lml41981]

Around the DFW area, there have been a LOT of complaints of TXU (the main electric provider) butchering trees. Truly, they look awful. Citizens are starting to fight back by filing protective orders for their trees and demanding that TXU move the lines instead. Some of the trees they are cutting down are hundreds of years old. I could understand cutting or trimming a tree that was planted after the lines were installed, but I have problems with destroying a tree that was there before the lines.

I don't think you should have to just sit back and accept that they butchered trees. I would file a complaint.

[akacharlotte]

The utlity company came around last year and did this. As we live in an older neighborhood the lines are above ground. They cut tree branches inside our property lines. We weren't thrilled with how they cut the branches but they did not make them look hideious.

They did leave notices about 3 weeks prior to cutting and they marked the trees they planned to trim.

Oh and they cleaned up after themselves.

[DianeCourt]

OK, this was apparently the start of a much bigger project. They are installing huge, new wooden poles for the electric lines in our backyard.

They still haven't cleaned up the wood left from the first round of tree cutting. We've called the electric company to complain, but it's still there. A new tree company came out Monday to cut more trees and left another pile of wood in our yard. We asked them who was going to clean all of it up, and they informed us that their "policy" is to leave anything that can be used as firewood and haul away everything else. WTF! I can't see that they hauled away anything. We have a gas fireplace and finding a new home for the wood is going to be a PITA for us.

Our homeowner's association won't help. The utility company won't help. Any suggestions on how we get the surplus of wood in our back yard cleaned up? :mad:

[Niobe]

I'd be tempted to call the BBB and file a complaint with them against the tree company, but I'm not sure if that's would necessarily be the correct course of action.

Know anybody who does have a wood burning fireplace? Or maybe who go camping and build bonfires? There must be some charity that needs wood and would come get it from you...

[alisong]

Our homeowner's association won't help. The utility company won't help. Any suggestions on how we get the surplus of wood in our back yard cleaned up? :mad:It's completely ridiculous that they haven't removed the wood. I don't think comlaining to the tree company will do much good, as cleanup probably just wasn't included in their contract. If it truly is firewood quality, and you're in a reasonably large city, try Craigslist. That's what DH uses all the time to avoid dump fees - just posts an ad for free firewood. He's generally rid of it within 24 hours.

[akacharlotte]

Maybe just post a sign around the neighborhood for Free Firewood? People around here do that and typically that is how we restock our firewood each year. If we lived in the same city I'd come haul it away for you. :)

[greenbunny]

I'd try the local news. Do they have one of those "consumer complaints" bits?

[KitKat]

Hopefully someone wanted firewood in your area, that is a lame policy. And hopefully your HA will try to do something to prevent this in the future.

The utility co will notify the homeowner where I am at and most times would require the homeowner to remedy the situation. If the u. co subs out the work it includes removal of all debris. As homeowners we are generally responsible for maintenance of all trees on our property including sidewalks. Fall cut backs are common preventive measures (done by individual homeowners' gardening cos.) And many neighborhoods where single family homes are have underground utilities already.

Niobe, I am surprised to hear about your situation (no notice, debris left on your curb instead of full removal) -- isn't your house in PH of San Francisco? I have never seen/heard this happen in PH. And most of PH where single family homes are have gone to UU.

[DianeCourt]

We called the utility company again and they said they'd be out within 5 days to clean up the mess. Yeah right.....I'll believe it when I see it! :mad: