KANE'OHE — Complaints about possible illegal cutting of trees in the Pohakea Point section of the Pu'u Ali'i subdivision have prompted the city to investigate and request a landscape plan from the community association to determine if any violations have occurred.

Residents of the condominium complex that overlooks Kane'ohe Bay have complained to the city that some of the trees protected under the building permit issued for the complex are being cut down. Recently some 80 trees were marked for cutting, said Pohakea Point resident David Swann.

Swann and other residents called in the city and hired an attorney and an arborist.

Swann said the complex had a history of cutting down trees or severely pruning them without notifying neighbors and he did not want that to happen with the 80 trees. A stand of Mindanao gum trees was cut last winter leaving a portion of the complex bare and unsightly, he said.

Carol Foote, acting site manager for the complex, said she is aware of the city investigation but that no one with the community association could comment on it because they have not seen any report.

But Foote said: "There are no trees to be removed. There are some for trimming. To the best of my knowledge the only trees that were taken out were for safety issues or were dead or dying trees."

According to Swann, when the condominium project was developed about 20 years ago, the city placed restrictions on the project that ensured view planes, protected trees and required the association to obtain permission from the city when certain trees needed to be trimmed.

The resident manager of the complex abided by this stipulation for years, but for some time now that does not seem to be the case, he said.

Bill Russell, a Pohakea Point resident, said many of the trees near his home have either been cut down, topped or stripped of the lower limbs. When trees are removed, they are not replaced and that affects the whole landscape, Russell said. Management complained about maintenance costs but other things can be done to cut those costs, he said.

"Our landscape has been one of the selling points other than the view," Russell said. "The landscape has always been beautiful and little by little they're destroying it."

Art Challacombe, with the city Department of Planning and Permitting, said if there is a violation, the city would cite the group under the zoning code for not meeting the conditions of a permit.

However, at this time the city hasn't been able to determine if a violation has occurred and will continue its investigation, said Challacombe, who is chief of customer service. The city has asked the Pu'u Ali'i association to provide a landscape plan. The inspector would then compare the old plan with a new plan to make a decision, Challacombe said.

Challacombe said he doesn't know which trees are protected and which ones are not. "The condition to save certain stands of trees at that time may not necessarily apply to other trees that are on the property," he said

Swann said one of the arguments for cutting trees is to preserve residents' views to the bay and he is not opposed to that, but he thinks the association is moving too quickly and without consideration of all the residents in the complex. Still, he said, people on both sides of the issue have good intentions and are trying to do the right thing.

"The landscaping is beautiful," Swann said. "That's the main thing we have, including the view of the bay so we want to keep the place looking nice."