Two North Vancouver property owners who had a swath of trees cut in a public park behind their homes have paid a significant price for their actions but won't be left with a criminal record, a North Vancouver judge has ruled.
The two owners, Hooman Bozorgnia, 42, and Roger Mulloy, 56, have agreed to pay $80,000 to Metro Vancouver as settlement of a civil court case launched after the pair were charged for illegally cutting 35 trees in Capilano River Regional Park.
But in the criminal case, Judge Steven Merrick ruled Thursday the pair has already been punished enough in the court of public opinion.
In granting both men an absolute discharge, Merrick noted both have suffered significantly as a result of public outrage over their actions.
"Prior to this each man was admired in the community and well respected and they've lost that," said the judge.
The two men appeared before Merrick after pleading guilty to charges of mischief for paying to have trees cut down inside the park to improve their views between Dec. 26, 2011 and Jan. 12, 2012.
In court Thursday, Crown counsel James Cryder told the judge how Bozorgnia and Mulloy paid Jeff Hoff to cut down, top and trim trees on a steep slope on the eastern edge of the park, just behind their homes on Capilano Road, to improve their views. "Obviously this is the motive behind the cutting," he said.
Some of the cutting was done during the day, said Cryder, but some of it was also done at more unusual times - "very early in the morning or at night." rees cut included red cedar, Douglas fir and hemlock between 20 and 100 years old. Seven trees were cut down at the base, nine were topped and others were "severely damaged in terms of trimming," said Cryder.
The cutting also damaged understorey plants important to holding soil in place and created wind tunnels, putting other trees at risk. Ironically, the two men's own properties would be most at risk in the event of a slope failure, Cryder said. An arborist hired by Metro Vancouver estimated cost of the damage at about $60,000 and said it would take 30 to 40 years for the stand of trees to regenerate. Restoration work in the park that can be done has now been completed, said Cryder. A Lawyers in the civil case didn't agree on how much the improved views might have increased the value of the men's properties, said Cryder, but estimates ranged up to $80,000. But lawyers said both men have already paid a significant price for their mistake.
Bozorgnia, who previously earned up to $463,000 a year as a top Vancouver real estate agent, has seen his income drop to about $50,000, according to his lawyer.
His real estate licence has also been placed under review pending the outcome of the court case.
Mike Shapray, Bozorgnia's defence lawyer, said public attention on the case has resulted in "the destruction of his world."
In addition to the loss of business, TV crews went to his office and he became the target of harassing emails and phone calls, Shapray said.
In one email, a stranger called Bozorgnia a "scumbag" and said, "You cut down the trees, huh? Maybe we'll burn down your house to improve my view."
Bozorgnia's wife also left him due to the stress on their marriage. Mulloy's lawyer Kristy Neurauter said soon after Hoff finished the cutting her client "knew deep down what he had paid him to do was wrong." Mulloy confessed to a parks board supervisor before the police began investigating. He also co-operated with police and apologized to all his neighbours, said Neurauter.
Mulloy also received threats from the public and has lost clients for his computer analyst business, according to his lawyer. "He's very, very ashamed of his actions," she said.
In handing both men discharges, Merrick said there would be little gained in punishing them further.
"Good people make mistakes. Sometimes those mistakes are criminal," he said.
Hoff, the third man charged in the case, will appear in North Vancouver provincial court in January.
