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Board grants homeowner’s appeal to remove magnolia, conditions replacement trees
Summary
The Board granted Travis Murdoch’s appeal to remove a magnolia tree obstructing a driveway and garage project, conditioning approval on replacement plantings: one 24‑inch box tree required and a second tree if feasible under BUFF guidelines.
The San Francisco Board of Appeals on June 3 granted an appeal by homeowner Travis Murdoch to remove a magnolia tree in front of his property at 4363–6 Sixth Avenue that was damaging sidewalk and utilities and posed a persistent maintenance problem.
Murdoch described repeated sidewalk upheaval and a sewer pipe intrusion that he said the tree’s roots had caused. Bureau of Urban Forestry staff inspected the site and proposed a mitigation package that would require the applicant to plant two replacement trees (two 24‑inch box trees) or, at minimum, one 24‑inch box tree, with a second tree contingent on feasibility between utilities and driveways.
Commissioners discussed alternatives such as expanding the tree basin and other methods to save the tree, but BUFF staff and the homeowner agreed a removal with replacement was the practical solution given damage to the sidewalk, proximity to utilities and restrictions imposed by overhead low‑voltage lines that will limit future crown size.
Vice President Daryl Honda moved to grant the appeal on the condition that the homeowner plant one 24‑inch box tree in the location shown on BUFF’s diagram and plant a second if BUFF confirms it can be accommodated. The motion carried 5–0.
BUFF said it will document the replacement locations and confirm planting requirements and ongoing protection during construction.
