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Downtown waterproofing plan pits building owner against tree advocates; Board asks for more analysis and continues matter

San Francisco Board of Appeals · May 15, 2024
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

A developer’s request to remove 10 street trees near 100 Mission/60 Spear for basement waterproofing — with a plan to replant eight trees in larger boxes — sparked wide public protest; the Bureau of Urban Forestry and commissioners asked for appraisal/basal-area data, the MTA to clarify a signal-box constraint and for BUF/DPW to produce development-versus-maintenance analysis before the continued hearing.

Appellants and the Bureau of Urban Forestry presented competing accounts of whether 10 mature street trees should be removed to allow a monolithic waterproofing membrane under sidewalk tree wells at 100 Mission and 60 Spear. The property owner’s counsel said structural engineers recommend removing trees to access and permanently waterproof the structure that forms the basement roof beneath the sidewalk; the owner proposed replacing eight trees on-site (two tree wells constrained by Muni signal equipment cannot accept replacements) and increasing tree-box sizes from 24 to 36 inches where possible.

Nicholas Crawford, acting superintendent…

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