King County attorneys have dropped their civil lawsuit against one of five Issaquah property owners accused of cutting dozens of trees in Grand Ridge Park to improve mountaintop views for their high-end homes.
But an air of mystery still surrounds the case.
County attorneys filed a lawsuit early last month against the five property owners in an expensive and private development off Issaquah’s Grand Ridge Drive. They accused them all of slashing, sawing and topping a slew of trees on public land, one of which tumbled down a steep hillside toward nearby homeowners who alerted the authorities.
County attorneys estimate the damage adds up to about $2.3 million. State law allows for such damages to be tripled in these cases, which would bring the total to nearly $7 million. Additional costs for restoration, emotional damage and more should also be tripled, the complaint says.
A wave of criticism followed for the defendants named in the lawsuit, one of whom was Julie Hsieh, a candidate for Mercer Island City Council and a new name to the Issaquah neighborhood. Hsieh lives on the island but served as the registered agent for her parents’ corporation, through which they bought the Issaquah home.
Hsieh said her parents had closed on the home in early March and hadn’t yet moved in when the cuttings took place. Still, her family had been dragged into the very public debacle.
Originally county attorneys included Hsieh in their lawsuit but after she publicly distanced herself from the cuttings, and another of the defendants acknowledged she had no involvement, she was dropped from the lawsuit.
“Truth prevailed!” Hsieh said in a text message. “Grateful for many in the community who believed in me and sent me messages of support.”
Now, Hsieh said she’s looking forward to enjoying the holiday weekend and focusing on her ongoing campaign.
The county’s petition dropping Hsieh and her corporation from the lawsuit — filed in Superior Court of Washington for King County — held little additional information but she said several of her neighbors signed a declaration testifying that her family hadn’t been involved.
While Hsieh is off the hook, the case remains a thorn in the side of the remaining defendants, Sam Cunningham, Laura Brice Cunningham, Vlad Popach and Jessica Popach, all four of whom work in real estate.
Vlad Popach has defended the cuttings, arguing they had been done because the trees posed a threat to their homes. Popach had acknowledged he knew the crews hired would be cutting on King County land but maintained they had been granted “verbal permission.”
Popach repeatedly refused to reveal the name of the company he hired to cut the trees. County attorneys listed pseudonyms for this company in their lawsuit as their investigation continues.
