Washington: Arborvitae topped without my consent.

A landscaper working for our neighborhood association topped my row of 30 9ft tall arborvitae that have been growing for 15 years down to 6 feet witout my authorization. I wanted to maintain the privacy of the taller conifers with their natural shape, rather than a rectangular hedge. I have heard that once arborvitae have been been topped, they will never completely recover, while others seem to think they will grow back to 9 ft within 3 years.

I turned in a claim to the landscaper's insurance, but they claim I am better off since the arborvitae needed to be topped. My contention is that another line of thinking is that arborvitae never need to be topped. I feel like my privacy was worth about $5000 and the cost to replace the arborvitae with 9ft tall arborvitae would be over $10,000, yet all the insurance company would offer is $250, which I refused.
The arborvitae were only extending out over the sidewalk about 6 inches, which wasn't really any problem, but since they have been topped, in less than a year, the diameter has increased by a couple feet so now they extend about 20 inches over the sidewalk and the city is telling me I need to cut them back.

I would love to find an expert who can write a report confirming that the arborvitae should not have been topped and topping them caused them to grow larger in diameter.

Here is my idea to save the arborvitae. There was a fence between the trees and my back yard, which I removed to see what my side would look like. As you would expect, the side against the fence is mostly brown and dead. Instead of cutting the green leafy branches over the sidewalk off, I want to pull them around to the back yard side and train them to stay in my back yard. They seem quite flexible.

Then, I am thinking that the the sun which now shines on the back yard side may help the green branches to learn to grow in that direction and thicken up. Eventually, I am thinking I will replace the fence on the sidewalk side, which will also keep the passers by from thowing litter into the trees.

Anybody think this might work? And, for branches that currently have no green on them at all, should I just cut them out to make room for the green leafy branches I want to pull around from the other side?

Thanks for your thoughts.
Larry
Here is what I want to try, if anyone thinks it will work.

 

Look in directories for a "consulting arborist". As for them "needing to be topped", that's like somebody cutting your hair off while you slept and then exclaiming you "needed a haircut" when confronted later. How a planting "should" look is subjective, and not a license to damage the property of others.