Board continues appeal over tree replacement at 1321 Mission Street to Jan. 13

The San Francisco Board of Appeals continued an appeal over tree removals and replacement requirements for 1321 Mission Street to Jan. 13, 2016, after city urban forestry staff and the project sponsor agreed more coordination was needed with multiple city departments.

Chris Buck of the Department of Public Works Bureau of Urban Forestry told the board crews had found utility lines and other conflicts that make installing the required 60‑inch box‑size replacement trees difficult on both the Mission and Ninth Street frontages. Buck said an SFMTA concern about a bulb‑out tree blocking traffic‑signal visibility and ADA access issues further complicated the required planting layout.

The project sponsor’s representative, Zach Shore, acknowledged that plan routing and sign‑off should have been handled differently and offered options including planting several 36‑inch boxes, adjusting spacing, or paying an in‑lieu fee to account for the difference between planted and required trees. ADA and accessibility staff (Kevin Jensen) told the board that current curb markings and passenger loading zones change the spacing assumptions found on project plans and advised re‑coordinating the curb and planting layout with SFMTA and DPW.

Because the record lacked a single agreed design that met Urban Forestry spacing, SFMTA visibility and ADA requirements, the board moved to continue the matter to allow the city departments and the applicant time to produce a coordinated plan. The motion to continue to Jan. 13, 2016 carried unanimously among voting commissioners present.