Suyematsu and neighbors bury hatchet over trees and property line.

A tentative agreement was reached Wednesday that will likely preserve a stand of trees and end a property dispute between a Day Road farmer and his Vista Drive neighbors.

“This provides adequate protection for the historic Douglas fir trees and is the best way to end the matter,” said Ryan Vancil, legal representative of longtime berry grower Akio Suyematsu.

The city, which owns the land farmed by Suyematsu, struck a deal with eight neighbors granting the city an easement over a drainage ditch running between the farm and various Vista properties.

According to both sides of the dispute, the agreement would end the conflict between Suyematsu and his neighbors.

“We did this for a simple reason: to get out of this legal mess,” said Vista Drive resident Don Frothingham. “Akio said no about the trees, and that’s it.”

Suyematsu sold his 15-acre farm to the city under the conditions that it remain farmland, no trees would be cut and that he could work the land until 2012. The second-generation island farmer had planted the trees over 60 years ago to screen his farm berry fields from the homes cropping up on Vista.

Suyematsu strongly objected to a city proposal last summer that would have allowed Vista residents to remove and prune some of the trees to improve west-facing views and address safety concerns.

Vista residents asked to cut and prune trees in exchange for allowing the city to maintain a narrow ditch that helps prevent flooding in Suyematsu’s and other nearby farm fields.

Although it was built by Suyematsu’s father in the 1920s, the ditch was almost entirely outside the farm property’s borders.

But opposition from Suyematsu, other Day Road farmers and some citizens pressured the city to reconsider its proposal with Vista residents.

“The city would have given permission for the Vista residents to prune 150 feet inside the property,” said Vancil. “It was pretty invasive.”

Last December, City Attorney Paul McMurray pledged not to enter into any agreements with adjacent property owners unless Suyematsu consented.

Meanwhile, Vista homeowners found themselves unpopular at cocktail parties and grocery story parking lots, according to one resident who wished not to be named.

“They called us tree cutters,” she said. “They protested near here with signs.”

Now Vista residents want to put legal issues to rest and mend relations with their farming neighbors.

“A lot’s been said and written, and there were hurt feelings,” said Vista resident Robert Booher. “We live next to the farm and consider ourselves lucky to do so. We want to start healing relations with the farm.”

Vancil commended Vista residents for their cooperation.

“Now everybody can get back to being neighbors,” he said.