Seal Beach resident Rocky Gentner has agreed to pay the city $250,000 to settle its lawsuit over the destruction of 153 trees in Gum Grove Park last year.

On March 19, 2016, tree trimmers hired by Gentner mowed down the Brazilian pepper trees behind his home on Crestview Avenue, a residential street bordering the 11-acre park.

In a brief telephone interview with the Orange County Register after the demolition, Gentner said, “They weren’t trees, they were bushes – and they were dead.”

But Seal Beach City Attorney Craig Steele disputed that assessment, saying the “trees were alive when they were cut.”

Neighbors expressed anger over the dozens of unsightly stumps left behind.

“It’s just total disregard for the park,” said Mike Varipapa, the councilman who represents the neighborhood.

Last summer, the city sent Gentner a letter demanding reimbursement for the “unpermitted, illegal” clearing of trees — some of which were small offshoots of mature trees.

In the settlement, both parties agreed to pay their own legal fees.

Councilwoman Ellery Deaton said the city will use the money to “replant a canopy.”