Lodi residents outraged after Union Pacific cuts down trees by railroad tracks

After spending months pushing Union Pacific to clean up the weeds and debris along the railroad tracks behind their homes, some Lodi residents got a lot more than they asked for.

In addition to clearing all the weeds and debris, Union Pacific recently cut down all the trees along the tracks as well, angering the residents living at the Mokelumne Village condominiums near Turner Road.

Justin Jacobs, a Union Pacific public relations director, said that Union Pacific is aware of the residents’ concerns, adding that the trees were removed in an effort to prevent potential fire hazards and to deter transient encampments. Jacobs said this work was being done in an effort to address community complaints about the vegetation growing along the railroad tracks.

Nancy Campbell, a resident at the condominiums for 17 years, said it’s been an ongoing struggle to get Union Pacific to come out and maintain the grass and weeds along the railroad tracks, but last week a crew came out and did a fabulous job cleaning up the area. “It looked beautiful,” she said. However, her satisfaction was temporary, as she learned that Union Pacific was also planning to cut down the redwood trees along the tracks. The trees had been planted by the homeowners association at least two decades ago, and most of the trees were healthy and mature, Campbell said.

“They had clear-cut every single tree back there,” she said. “That takes away all of our privacy, it takes away all of our shade, it takes away the noise barrier from the train. It was beautiful, now all we see is bare tracks.”

Campbell said she left her home at 7:30 a.m. Thursday morning, and by the time she returned at 9 a.m. the trees were gone. As a board member of the homeowners association, Campbell said she was completely oblivious to Union Pacific’s plans to cut down the trees and questioned why no one was notified.

She said she learned that the board president was notified by the manager of the association about Union Pacific’s plans, but the message was never relayed to the other board members or residents, Campbell said.

“I’m very upset, none of the neighbors were notified. We were not notified, otherwise we would’ve all been out there hanging on to our tree and it would’ve been some excitement down here,” Campbell said. “Union Pacific should be a good neighbor, and they have not been a good neighbor over the years. This has kind of been the last straw. I love the train and I have no problems with being here with the train, but now I have a problem that they come down and cut down all of our trees, taking away all of our privacy and the beauty.”

Susan Crosby, Campbell’s neighbor, was also enraged about the removal of the trees.

“We heard about it by accident, so Union Pacific had never even planned to tell us they were going to do this,” she said. “These trees were on the property of the railroad, and they have a right to do what they want to with it, but they were never good stewards of their property.”

Crosby said she was grateful that she at least got a heads-up the day before so that she was emotionally prepared for the removal of the trees.

Another resident, Kelly Watt, was concerned that the removal of the trees brought down the value of the neighborhood. Having previously worked in real estate, she said having a back yard view of a graffitied wall and railroad tracks is not a good selling point.

“I’m furious about it. They were beautiful, healthy redwood trees and they‘re all gone,” Watt said. “Those trees were there for a purpose. I wish somebody would’ve let us know so we could’ve at least met and maybe found some type of compromise.”