Rec and Park Fined for Felling Community Trees

A small crabapple and abundantly fruiting fig tree that bordered the Potrero Hill Community Garden – and served as a gathering place for Hill residents – were cut down last fall. The fig tree was planted roughly 20 years ago by Hill dweller, Stephen Lewis, among others, through Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF), a nonprofit that organizes neighbors to cultivate trees and sidewalk gardens. 

“So very sorry to hear it’s been cut down. I didn’t expect to outlast it,” said Lewis.

“I feel like we lost a family member today,” said Pete Ceja.  

FUF tends foliage for three years post-planting, after which it becomes San Francisco Public Works’ (DPW) responsibility. Bryan Ong, DPW Urban Forestry Inspector, said that his department didn’t remove the trees. After researching the incident, Ong determined that they were chopped down by the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department (RPD). DPW fined RPD $10,000 per tree for illegally removing them.

RPD appealed the fine, claiming that it mistakenly removed the trees because they thought they were located within the perimeter of the community garden and therefore on RPD property. The department further asserted that the trees were a danger to the public because they were pruned improperly, arguing that the fig tree was badly damaged after it was clipped without authorization and couldn’t be saved. The apple tree was also injured and showed signs of poor health.

“When trees are incorrectly pruned, they can sometimes produce new branches known as epicormic growth,” RPD stated. “These branches often grow quickly but are weakly attached to the trunk or main limbs, making them more prone to breaking, especially during high winds. In this case, the combination of structurally unstable regrowth and the tree’s location in a heavily visited garden created a potential safety hazard for visitors.”

DPW held a public hearing via videoconference on May 21 attended by several Hill residents to mediate the dispute. 

“I’m not really sure what the basis [was] for removing, just because the tree was topped”, said DPW urban forestry inspector captain Susan Nawbary during the hearing, referring to the fig tree. 

 “Our very own director, Mei Ling Hui, has been managing pruning on this tree,” responded Will Lyons, operations manager for RPD’s Community Gardens program. “She had been trying to get this tree into good condition for many, many seasons. So, when we found the tree topped/ hat racked again one day, which was work done by an unknown community member, and not authorized by the Recreation and Park Department, everybody was really sad to see that the tree had been put into really poor condition, and we believe that this street tree provided a hazard and so we became pretty concerned about the tree. We did believe that this whole parcel belonged to Rec and Park so we continued to do what we just normally do for street tree removals”. 

 “I don’t believe this was removed in good faith,” countered Monica, a Hill resident. “This [fig] tree was a very important part of our community. Everybody would come and pick the tree. The tree was extremely healthy. The people in the community garden would try and heckle me out of the tree… At one point, they even stole the figs out of my car… We don’t want a fine. We want another tree”. 

“I can personally attest that they were healthy until the day of removal,” said Vermont Street resident, Caitlin, who recalled hearing a community member “bragging about chastising someone” for “stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of figs”. She suspected that the trees were removed in response to, “some weird turf war or power trip situation…The trees were perfectly healthy. The community was benefiting from them…. We just want to see the trees replanted”.

“I’ve seen the street trees listings, and mostly they avoid any kind of fruit trees just because of the fact that they fall on the ground, they’re slippery,” said community gardener, Erlinda. “They aren’t on any of the lists of the trees that you can actually have as street trees”.

“Claiming that these trees were in any dire need of attention is disingenuous,” said Josh Klipp, a San Francisco Urban Forestry Council member and 18-year Hill resident. “Rec Park is on a 15-year tree maintenance cycle, meaning they don’t typically cut down a tree until it’s practically falling over on its own, which is clearly not what was happening here”. 

According to Nawbary, the fig tree will be replaced. A final decision on the fine will be made by DPW Director Carla Short after she sifts through hearing findings. If a penalty is assessed it’s unclear whether it’ll be paid through taxpayer funds or other RPD resources.