Battle Erupts Over Plan to Make Holly Tree Landmark

By Alastair Bland

One of the oldest holly trees in San Francisco has become the central character in a feud involving the owners of a Richmond District home, their neighbors and politicians at City Hall.

With the safety of the 25-foot-tall male tree in question, Laurie Quach and her family have had to halt their plans to add a third story to their 27th Avenue home and extend the first floor outward into the backyard, where the tree has lived for an estimated 80 to 90 years.

The drama began in November when neighbors reported to Supervisor Jake McGoldrick that the Quachs were clearcutting their yard of trees - they reported 17 trees felled, though Quach asserts that they were just shrubs and blackberry bushes - and that it appeared the holly tree was soon to fall.

The Bureau of Urban Forestry ordered the Quachs to halt the yard work.

In the meantime, various individuals have called for the city of San Francisco to officially designate the tree as a protected landmark to guarantee its safety.

Under new legislation sponsored by McGoldrick and passed by the SF Board of Supervisors, city trees can be landmarked.

The first two trees that requested landmark status were granted, with the owners of the trees not contesting the action.

In this third case, the owners of the tree don't want it landmarked.

Quach says her family has no intention of toppling the holly tree: She does not want the burden of it having extraordinary requirements for trimming and treating.

"The extension of the rear of the house will still give the tree 20 feet of space," said Quach. "It will be 100 percent safe. I don't want to hurt this tree, either."

But Ron Miguel, president of the Planning Association for the Richmond (PAR), questions the Quach family's intentions.

"If they don't want it cut down, then why not have it landmarked?" he said.

Designating the tree as a historical landmark would be a great liability, says Quach. It would be an expense, as well, and law would require that she hire a consulting arborist to analyze the yard and the tree before continuing the remodeling plans. Consulting arborists may charge as much as $200 per hour, and Quach estimates that the total cost could eventually run as high as $1,000.

Under the tree landmarking ordinance, any property owner who has a portion of the landmarked tree on their property is legally liable for that portion. Critics of the policy say branches overhanging on an adjacent property must be properly trimmed by specialized arborists and that underground roots must be protected, even when putting in a new fence, retaining wall or any other feature that requires digging near the roots.

Meanwhile, attention has been called to a buckeye tree in the yard behind the Quach property. A local consulting arborist contacted the property owner and suggested that the rare tree be landmarked.

The owner, who has no immediate plans to remodel the rear of the house, agreed and for the first time in San Francisco history, a privately owned tree became a city landmark. The decision renders the Quach family liable for the health of the buckeye, as its roots extend an estimated 20 feet under their fence and into their yard.

"I'm already required to protect my neighbor's tree now, and still they want me to invest more time and money in landmarking my own tree," Quach said.

Quach and her family, along with neighbors, community leaders, representatives of the Urban Forestry Council and several district supervisors have attended five meetings at City Hall since February. The most recent took place on June 14 when the five members of the Landmark Tree Committee, a faction of the 15-member Urban Forestry Council, heard both sides of the matter.

Some members of the public asserted that the holly tree is a rare and historical feature of the landscape while others declared that the tree is too common to be designated a landmark.

The committee voted 5-0 against landmarking the tree, but the Board of Supervisors and the Urban Forestry Council still failed to make a final decision. Thus, the tree has received temporary landmark status.

In the meantime, the Quachs' housework will remain on hold.

Quach believes that if her holly tree receives landmark status, the door will be opened to similar actions on a wide scale across the City. This, she believes, will incite homeowners to begin trimming their trees excessively to prohibit them from reaching their full size and potential.

"It will have a backward effect with people who don't want to deal with what we're going through," she said.

Quach has pointed out that one of the two nearby holly trees on her block is even larger than her own tree.

"But no one has landmarked them," she said. "I think this is not so much about my tree as it is about keeping us from finishing the remodeling job."