A British Columbia woman gave her neighbours permission to trim a few small saplings on her property. She set a three-inch diameter limit and told them the trees had to remain at least six or seven feet tall. What happened next became a four-year legal dispute over property rights, damaged trees, lost shade and a view of Shuswap Lake.
Jacalyn Hays has now been awarded the maximum $35,000 available in the Provincial Court of British Columbia’s Small Claims Court after a judge found six neighbours liable for trespass over the cutting and topping of trees on her property. The defendants were found jointly and severally liable for the judgment.
