Portland family sues city after permit denied to remove tree

A Portland family is suing the city after the Urban Forestry Department Denied their permit request to cut down a tree in their back yard.
By FOX 12 Staff
Published: Apr. 8, 2025 at 5:15 PM PDT
PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – A Portland family is suing the city after the Urban Forestry Department Denied their permit request to cut down a tree in their back yard. That tree ended up falling on their house missing their daughter by a few feet.

It’s been more than a year since a tree fell on the Bond family’s home. The house is still under construction and they will have to live in a rental for a while longer. But the family, and their attorney claim this whole situation could have been avoided if the city approved their request to remove the tree in the first place.

“It seems like it was totally preventable,” Joel Bond told FOX 12 last January.

Even at the time Bond said he did not understand the departments reasoning for denying the permit, adding he felt like there was not a complete inspection.

“He came out looked at the tree said it was fine and that was it there was no discussion of what would happen if it fell,” Bond said.

“The Portland urban forestry department is a nightmare for Portlanders to deal with and it’s not just the bonds who have this frustration, just what happened to them was the worst possible outcome,” the Bond’s attorney Joe Piucci said.

In Portland you do not have the right to remove a tree from your property without a permit from the Urban Forestry Department. In this lawsuit filed by the bond family on April 4, they claim the department was negligent and did not properly inspect the tree the Bonds wanted to remove.

“What that tree inspector missed was all sorts of signs that an arborist could have noticed at that time. It was unhealthy, it had root rot, it was diseased, and that the weight leaning toward their house, meaning it was going to fall on their house,” Piucci said.

Piucci and the Bonds hopes this lawsuits leads to some changes to how the Urban Forestry Department operates and considers tree removal permits in the future.

“Urban forestry needs to remember who it serves. They serve the people of Portland, but Urban Forestry acts like they serve the trees of Portland,” Piucci said.

The family is seeking more than $4.7 million in damages. A city spokesperson said the city does not comment on pending litigation.

——

The Willamette Week (Sophie Peel) was the first to publish this story.

Copyright 2025 KPTV-KPDX. All rights reserved.