wanderer asked
Richard Treanor and Carolynn Bissett of Sunnyvale were criminally prosecuted because redwood trees in their backyard cast a shadow over their neighbor's solar panels. The showdown began in 2001, when neighbor Mark Vargas installed a 10-kilowatt solar system on his roof and on a 10-foot-high trellis. Vargas said he first asked Treanor and Bissett to chop down eight redwoods that the couple had planted from 1997 to 1999 along the fence separating their yards. The trees range in height from about 20 to 40 feet tall. Later, he asked them to trim the trees to about 15 feet. On Monday, state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, introduced a bill that would change California law so that anybody whose trees were planted before a neighbor's solar panels were installed can't be required to cut them back or chop them down. That would apply even if the trees grow up later and cast a shadow over the solar panels, as happened in this case.
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