Appeals Judge Overturns Ban on Tree Sales

An appeals court judge late Thursday overturned an order by a Superior Court judge that banned the sale of Christmas trees on the Pierce College campus in Woodland Hills, paving the way for Joe Cicero to reopen his tree lot today or Saturday, said Cicero’s lawyer, Harold Kippen.

The action by the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles was a victory for the Ciceros, a San Fernando Valley farm family locked in a legal struggle with a large tree-selling chain that operates a sales lot across the street from the college.

Stu Miller, owner of Miller & Sons, which operates more than 40 lots statewide, brought legal action to block the Ciceros from selling trees, saying he was illegally denied the right to bid on the campus location, which is public land.

The Los Angeles Community College District, faced with a lawsuit by Miller, on Monday obtained a restraining order against Cicero from Superior Court Judge Dzintra I. Janavs.

Cicero “is really very happy,” Kippen said. “If the order had not been stayed, it would have bankrupted him.

Cicero had protested that he had already ordered about $150,000 worth of trees when the order was issued. He said his $22,000 profit on tree sales last year was all that kept afloat the 15-acre farm he leases on the college campus, the last remnant of a landmark Valley agricultural operation.