Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Trees Brotherhood Way topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board upholds DPW tree-removal permit for Brotherhood Way but orders 12 extra 48-inch replacements
Summary
The San Francisco Board of Appeals on April 4 upheld a Department of Public Works permit to remove 32 trees along Brotherhood Way near Park Merced, but conditioned approval on planting 12 additional 48-inch box replacement trees (in addition to the 65 required by DPW).
The San Francisco Board of Appeals on Wednesday voted to uphold a Department of Public Works (DPW) order allowing the removal of 32 trees and relocation of two along Brotherhood Way related to the 800 Brotherhood Way development, but imposed an additional mitigation condition requiring 12 more 48-inch box replacement trees, to be selected in consultation with DPW/Bureau of Urban Forestry (BUF).
The appeal was brought by Julian Lagos, who asked the board to reverse DPW order No. 176333 and preserve what he called the neighborhood’s "Peace Park" and its mature trees. "DPW's ruling to permit these 32 mature trees to be cut down and 2 trees to be relocated is flat out wrong," Lagos said during his testimony, urging the board to deny the developer’s permit.
Carla Short, the Bureau of Urban Forestry’s arborist, described DPW’s process and the negotiated mitigation. She said the developer originally proposed removing 40 trees; after hearings the number was reduced to 32 and the hearing officer required the sponsor to plant 65 replacement trees, all at 48-inch box size. "We concluded that those trees were worth about $139,500 based on evaluating each one using the Council on Landscape Appraisal's formula," Short told the board and explained why DPW recommended replacement planting rather than removal without mitigation.
Developer representatives told the board the project has undergone extensive review. On behalf of Mission Development Group, Steve Bridal said the Planning Commission unanimously approved the project in February 2005, the Board of Supervisors and courts had upheld the planning determination, and DPW's mitigation exceeds the original environmental conditions. "The project provides 182 family-size units in the Southwest part of town," Bridal said, arguing the displaced trees are mostly small specimens and that the mitigation plan adds substantial new planting and maintenance.
After public comment from scores of neighborhood residents and groups — who described the trees as historic, ecologically valuable and central to neighborhood character — commissioners debated trade-offs between long-term canopy loss and a mitigation plan that increases both replacement size and maintenance over time. During deliberations commissioners proposed increasing replacement ratios for the largest trees; one commissioner moved to uphold DPW's permit "with the condition that 12 additional trees be planted," all 48-inch box specimens, in consultation with DPW/BUF. The motion passed on a roll call vote recorded as 4–0.
The board’s action preserves the DPW hearing officer’s core decision while adding a board-level condition intended to strengthen replanting onsite and long-term maintenance. The board directed DPW and the parties to consult on species and exact placement of the extra 12 trees.
What happens next: The DPW permit remains in effect as modified by the board’s condition. The developer is responsible for implementing the replacement and landscape plan and for coordinating long-term maintenance as required by DPW and the conditional-use approvals.
