Trouble over city trees grows after maintenance workers axed

Homeowner Bernard Schweigert, in front of his home along Oak Street with the two Ficus Microcarpa Nitalda trees on his front sidewalk, in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday April 26, 2013. Informed by the City of San Francisco that he is responsible for the maintenance of the trees in front of his home, Schweigert had the trees "pollarded" which is supposed to slow the growth. The city informed him that the process was not done properly and then fined him $1,700 per tree. less Homeowner Bernard Schweigert, in front of his home along Oak Street with the two Ficus Microcarpa Nitalda trees on his front sidewalk, in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday April 26, 2013. Informed by the City of ... more Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 10 Caption Close Trouble over city trees grows after maintenance workers axed 1 / 10 Back to Gallery

Antje Shadoan was cruising down Pine Street Tuesday when her car was nearly crushed by one of the city's most common menaces - a tree.

Shadoan was able to stop in time and ended up having a heartwarming experience when neighbors rallied to provide "hugs, offers of coffee, water, support all around." But it could have been serious. This tree was so large it blocked all three lanes.

So, you ask, where are the city workers assigned to maintain trees so that they don't crash down on unsuspecting residents? There are hardly any. Two years ago, citing financial constraints, the city turned most street trees over to residents - whether they wanted responsibility for maintenance or not.

Residents are only now beginning to realize the extent of that responsibility as the Department of Public Works slowly transfers maintenance to residents. A year ago DPW said only about 3,500 trees had been handed over. But the plan all along was to transfer 24,000 trees, which is in addition to the 65,000 that were already independently maintained.

It's one of those catch-22 moments. Residents are told they cannot remove the trees and that if they don't prune them they will be fined. Then, once they hear how expensive a top-level arborist is, many settle for independent branch-whackers who just lop off the tree top. If that happens, the city may fine the home owner for tree abuse.

"I think we have an awful system that is unfair to homeowners and almost guarantees poor care," says Supervisor Scott Wiener. "We are requiring homeowners to take care of a tree and the surrounding sidewalk whether they planted the tree, want the tree or have the money to take care of it."

The dreaded ficus is probably the worst offender. Planted mostly in the '80s, before people realized it was the tree from hell, ficus not only drop big branches with alarming regularity, but the roots are notorious for buckling sidewalks, invading water pipes and cracking foundations. All of which are the responsibility of the property owner, of course.

Wiener says constituents who are senior citizens and on a fixed income don't have the money to trim their trees or repair a sidewalk, but they face a fine if they don't.

He has a ballot initiative to alleviate the problem, but it unfortunately contains a word that is an automatic vote-killer - taxes.

His plan is to access a parcel tax on property owners. He says the amount would almost certainly be less than $100 a year, with the money to be specifically earmarked for tree maintenance. Taxes are never popular, but Wiener notes that some of the pruning and repairs - especially when roots crack the sidewalk - can run to tens of thousands of dollars.

"For many property owners (the parcel tax) would be a lot cheaper than paying for an arborist every couple of years," Wiener said. "This would actually save them money and would also relieve responsibility for the tree and damages."

Wiener says his camp did some polling before they put the tax on the ballot and the results were not encouraging, especially since it will take a two-thirds majority to pass. Unfortunately, there is rarely a positive reaction to the question: How would you like your taxes to go up $100?

Wiener thinks public opinion will shift once people see the tree problems facing the city. And maybe they won't notice those problems when they crash through the windshield.

Annals of crime - the perfect alibi: Well-informed reader John Motroni sends along an incident from the Ingleside Station newsletter. It seems a suspect was arrested for attempting to break into a home. When he was searched "a quantity of methamphetamine" was discovered in one of his pants pockets. Asked to explain, the suspect went with what was clearly the first excuse he could come up with on the spur of the moment:

"These aren't my pants."

"Nevertheless," the report continues, "he was taken to Ingleside Station and booked."