Homeowners may be facing more than just fines after hiring a tree-cutter to slice down 150 trees in West Seattle &#8212 an action they are summing up as a mistake.

The trees cut down in West Seattle’s West Duwamish Greenbelt neighborhood were primarily mature big-leaf maples, some leaving stumps of about 2 feet in diameter.

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With the trees gone, the view for a group of homeowners has dramatically improved. And Seattle real-estate attorney Mike Spence says that’s important to understand.

“It’s spring time, real estate is hot right now. There are multiple buyers. You can advertise your property as having a view, get a bidding war going, and get a whole bunch of extra money,” Spence said. “And you’ll have to pay something (like a fine), but I’m guessing these people think they will pay the city less than they made by adding value.”

It is not certain that is what happened in West Seattle. Lawyer Clayton P. Graham sent a letter to the city on behalf of a client stating that the client and his or her neighbors all hired a landscaping business to top and prune the trees. The job was meant to improve their collective views. The client called the clear cut a mistake.

Calling the action a “mistake” is something Spence, who also has an urban-planning degree, is familiar with. Just in the last few years, he’s worked on several cases where homeowners were accused of chopping down trees in order to gain a view. Homeowners will often say the cuttings are a mistake, but those cases often involve five or six trees.

“One hundred and fifty trees is a mistake?” Spence said with a laugh. “I’d say if you cut down 150 trees you are definitely not making a mistake.”

Spence says it’s typical for homeowners to lose their views over time as trees grow, which can be crazy-making.

“A lot of times trees grow up,” he said. “They grow so fast around here. You buy the house, you have a view and 10 years later you don’t.”

City Attorney Pete Holmes has said the perpetrators in the recent case could end up with felony charges, especially considering the land in question is environmentally critical and is considered in a landslide zone.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.
Richard D. Oxley contributed to this article.