FREEPORT, Calif — Residents in the small town of Freeport are upset after they say decades of Delta history were chopped down in the middle of the night.
Valley Oak trees that once lined Freeport Boulevard near the Freeport Wine Country Inn were chopped down early Monday morning to make room for a new housing development.
Video obtained by ABC10 shows crews using a chainsaw in the middle of the night as they went to work, toppling over the 21 trees.
Leeann Maltby lives across the street and now has a view of a wasteland of Valley Oak trees.
"I thought you couldn’t do anything after 10 o’clock because of the loudness and the noise, but they were at it until 3 a.m.," said Maltby.
Anna Swenson, chair of the Delta Protection Committee, said she could not believe her eyes.
"These trees were part of the victory memorial for World War II veterans that bridge from New York all the way to California. These were a very significant part of Freeport history and it was an ongoing memorial of their service to our country," said Swenson.
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The new housing development by KB Home called "Edgewater at Delta Shores" will bring 81 homes to stand where the trees once were planted, next to a golf course.
According to an application and approval obtained by ABC10, KB Home was approved by the City of Sacramento to remove a total of 41 oak trees with the contingency they would replace 21 of them, 12 specifically with oaks.
"The justification provided was the necessity for offsite approved improvements in line with past resolutions and a tentative map project approved by the Sacramento City Council in 2009," the city said in a statement to ABC10. "
Trees for Sacramento, a group with the Environmental Council of Sacramento, filed an appeal in November contesting the trees removal, but a hearing examiner denied the appeal due to "compliance with City Code requirements and previous City Council resolutions."
Find more about Sacramento's permit process here.
