Court docket battle ends tree dispute in expensive San Francisco space – KXAN Austin
Posted: 09/24/2021 / 02:37 PM CDT
Updated: 9/24/2021 / 2:37 p.m. CDT
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Tall trees are revered across California, but a towering Monterey pine at the center of a heated argument in San Francisco’s wealthiest neighborhood is due to go, according to an appeals court ruling this week.
A state appeals court on Wednesday ordered a couple in the Pacific Heights neighborhood to remove the tree, which is at least 10 meters tall. A neighbor argued the tree blocked her view of San Francisco Bay and other city landmarks, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The neighbor is an 81-year-old woman who moved into the San Francisco home with her late husband in 1976. When the couple “saw the magnificent views, they were sold,” said Barri Bonapart, the woman’s attorney.
“You could see all the way from Marin Headlands to the Pacific Ocean and then the Golden Gate Bridge, the Palace of Fine Arts, Sausalito, Belvedere, Tiburon and Angel Island,” said Bonaparte. She said her client asked to withhold her name because she feared harassment.
The pine was planted by a previous resident in 1999 and by the time the case went to court in 2019 had grown dozens of feet tall with widening, dense branches. The lawsuit was filed in 2018 after the mediation failed.
The woman “tried everything to work with her neighbors to find a common solution,” said Bonapart. “Unfortunately, they have always been adamant that they would never agree to restore their views unless told to do so.”
Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ross visited the site before issuing a ruling to remove the jaws in December 2019, citing a San Francisco ordinance aimed at resolving treetop feuds. He decided that “the tree’s rapid growth in height and width blocked the view of landmarks and vistas that could once be seen”.
The first district appeals court upheld Ross’ order, ruling Wednesday that the only viable solution in the case was to remove the tree.
The pruning might have worked when the jaw was smaller, but it has now grown too much to thin or top it to restore the prospect, Judge Ioanna Petrou said in the 3-0 decision. She cited the statement by arborists that the tree provides little shade or privacy to homeowners and could be cut down without disturbing the ground. Under the ordinance, both households would split the cost of the removal, which an arborist estimated at $ 1,800.
The exclusive neighborhood of Pacific Heights, famous for its expensive mansions and breathtaking views, is no stranger to tree disputes.
Larry Ellison, the billionaire chief executive officer of Oracle Corp., sued a downhill neighbor in 2011 for the removal of three sequoia trees and an 80-year-old acacia that was blocking his view of the bay. The lawsuit was settled with an agreement to prune the trees.
