Farmer to have final say on tree clearing

Published 10:00 am Wednesday, December 27, 2006

The city tries to head off a dispute over changes to a Day Road farm.

A Day Road berry farmer now has the final say over whether his neighbors can clear trees on city-owned land he and his family have farmed for nearly 80 years.

The city attorney announced last week that any agreement reached with neighbors will require the approval of Akio Suyematsu, who still raises raspberries on the 15-acre property.

“We won’t execute a settlement without Akio signing off,” City Attorney Paul McMurray said.

Suyematsu strongly objected in August after the city struck a tentative deal with seven neighboring property owners to allow the trimming and removal of trees on the farm property.

Through his attorney, Suyematsu issued a formal response to the settlement last week opposing the tree clearing.

“Mr. Suyematsu…is not interested in sacrificing controls of his property, the trees, or the buffer offered by the trees to resolve this matter,” wrote attorney Ryan Vancil in his statement.

Suyematsu sold the property to the city six years ago with the stipulation that he could farm the land until 2012, and that it would be preserved as open space.

But neighbors living along Vista Drive to the east complained that the narrow stand of approximately 80 trees blocked views and are a danger to their homes.

They pointed out that an irrigation and stormwater ditch, which helps prevent flooding in Suyematsu’s berry fields and nearby agricultural lands, bisects nine Vista Drive residents’ properties and is almost entirely outside the city’s property.

Suyematsu’s father established the ditch shortly after purchasing the property in 1928. The trees were planted in the 1960s to screen the land as new homes sprouted along Vista Drive.

The ditch’s location touched off a dispute last summer. The city tentatively agreed to allow tree cutting within a 125-foot zone on the farm property, in exchange for the right to maintain the ditch.

Vista Drive residents had planned to hire an arborist to trim branches for improved west-facing views, which includes Suyematsu’s berry fields, row-planted vegetable farms, rolling vineyards owned by the Bentryn family and a horizon lined by the Olympic Mountains.

Eight trees judged dead or dying would also get the ax as a safety measure, according to the proposal.

But opposition from Suyematsu, other Day Road farmers and a noted island arborist made city government think twice. The City Council, which was scheduled to approve the agreement in early August, tabled the issue for renewed discussion that included Suyematsu as a key stakeholder.

Vancil, in discussions with Vista Drive residents, stressed that the firs have “significant personal sentimental value” to Suyematsu, and that cutting them would hurt the farm’s bucolic setting.