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Planning commission hears Urban Forest Plan goals: 50,000 street trees, municipal maintenance program proposed
Summary
Planning Department staff outlined a draft Urban Forest Plan that inventories roughly 700,000 trees citywide and proposes planting 50,000 new street trees and a fully funded municipal street-tree maintenance program, with an open house Jan.15 and a four‑week comment period.
The San Francisco Planning Commission heard an informational presentation on the draft Urban Forest Plan on Jan. 9, 2014, as staff outlined goals to expand the city’s tree canopy and to secure stable funding for planting and maintenance. John Sway, the plan manager, said the plan combines a street-tree financing study, a citywide street-tree census and policy recommendations designed to protect and grow the urban forest.
"We have about 700,000 trees," Sway said, adding that approximately 105,000 of those are street trees and that replacing every tree in San Francisco would be an estimated $1.7 billion undertaking. He told commissioners the trees provide roughly $10 million a year in environmental benefits and that the plan would seek a municipal program to return maintenance responsibility for street trees to the city.
The plan’s headline goals include a 25 percent canopy target citywide by 2033 and planting about 50,000 new street trees. Staff said completing the street-tree census (27,000 trees counted so far in pilot neighborhoods) will inform where new plantings would provide the greatest benefits, such as stormwater retention and air-quality improvements.
Commissioners asked how to get trees planted in blocks that currently have few viable planting sites. Sway and other staff described a two-track approach: supporting private and nonprofit plantings led by groups such as Friends of the Urban Forest while pursuing a municipal street-tree program to remove homeowner liability as a barrier to planting. Staff estimated a fully funded citywide maintenance and planting program would be on the order of $20 million annually, a figure commissioners and staff framed as an investment that would reduce long-term maintenance and liability concerns for property owners.
Several members of the public urged stronger protections for existing trees and raised concerns about other city programs. Carolyn Johnston of the San Francisco Forest Alliance cautioned that natural-area management plans and some Recreation & Park policies have identified many park trees as "invasive," and she urged that removal not proceed without stronger, citywide safeguards. Other speakers raised concerns about heavy herbicide use in some Natural Areas Program projects and urged the commission and staff to coordinate policies across departments.
Staff noted a recent DPW practice of transferring roughly 22,000 privately maintained street trees to property owners because of reduced maintenance budgets, a change the plan seeks to reverse by developing stable funding and a municipal maintenance program.
Next steps: the Planning Department will hold an open house to release the draft plan on Jan. 15 (6–8 p.m., LGBT Center, 1800 Market St.). The draft will be posted online and staff expects a four-week public comment period after release; staff plans to return to the commission in February–March with revisions and may request formal endorsement or referral to environmental review.
