General Interest

Budget cuts have led San Francisco to foist responsibility for maintaining  thousands of street trees onto some perturbed homeowners, but there are still  dozens of San Franciscans willing to pay to have magnolias, arbutuses and sweet  michelias planted in front of their houses – and their upkeep.

More than 50 trees were planted Saturday in the city’s Excelsior district by  the San Francisco nonprofit Friends of the Urban Forest to help green a  neighborhood that legendary urban tree planter Charlie Starbuck described as  “way under-treed.” All were requested and paid for by the property owners.

“We thought it would make the house and the street prettier,” said Arminda  King, a high school teacher who owns a home in the Excelsior, as she worked with  a team of volunteers through a steady drizzle on Saturday, planting trees in  small square plots of cinnamon-colored dirt along the sidewalk where concrete  had recently reigned.

“We were definitely also thinking about our property value,” said King, who  paid $75 for a flowering cherry tree, one of 32 trees that were planted in front  of Excelsior homes Saturday. Twenty-two others were planted on the grounds of  Cleveland Elementary School or along the sidewalk in front of it.

Homes values shoot up

Dan Flanagan, executive director at the nonprofit Friends of the Urban  Forest, which plants about 1,200 trees a year in the city, said studies have  indicated home values increase by 7 to 10 percent on a tree-lined street.

The planting costs for King and others in Saturday’s effort were subsidized  by a $40,000 donation from Wells Fargo, which is working with the nonprofit to  plant 160 trees in the city’s least-shaded neighborhoods as part of the  company’s 160th anniversary celebration.

The direct cost for planting a street tree in San Francisco is actually about  $450, Flanagan said, and his nonprofit typically charges $135 for the first  tree.

Saturday’s price was certainly right for Craig Wong, the executive director  of Grace Urban Ministries, who has been going through a type of tree purgatory  with the city ever since a school bus driver accidentally took out the tree in  front of Wong’s Excelsior home over a year ago.

Wong said he promptly called the Department of Public Works to report the  downing and to get help removing the tree. He said he was rewarded with a $1,700  fine for illegally removing a tree.

$300 and a new tree

After battling the city for months, the ticket was voided after he agreed to  pay $300 and get a permit to plant a new tree, Wong said.

“I felt I was doing the responsible thing,” Wong said. “And they tried to  fine me. … This is not the way to treat your citizens, to shock them with a  $1,700 bill.”

Other homeowners got a surprise in January when the city sent out notices it  was starting to transfer responsibility for 23,000 street trees – and their  upkeep costs – to residents.

The move is expected to save the city about $300,000 this year. It will take  about seven years for all 23,000 trees to be transferred off the city’s rolls.

About two-thirds of the city’s more than 100,000 street trees already are  privately maintained. Many were transferred to private property owners several  years ago, and trees planted in recent years have automatically been placed in  property owners’ care.

Gloria Chan, a Department of Public Works spokeswoman, said she couldn’t  address the specifics of Wong’s situation but noted: “Everyone has to follow the  same process.”

Despite the rain, Wong and a volunteer corps of fellow tree planters were in  an upbeat mood Saturday, taking directions from Starbuck, who has been planting  trees for 30 years, as they moved from block to block.

“One in back, two in front to protect from car doors,” Starbuck directed as  they placed stakes to protect a new cherry tree on a block of Excelsior Avenue  near Paris Street, where it was the lone piece of greenery to pierce the  sidewalk.

“Goodbye, tree,” King said kindly as they moved on to the next spot. “Good  luck.”

John Coté is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. jcote@sfchronicle.com

This article appeared on page C – 2 of the  San Francisco Chronicle

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/03/24/BAPE1NPQVK.DTL#ixzz1q9BGUk5o

This is a fun article that ran in the Chonicle lately.  How many of these local landmarks do you recognize?   Here’s the link for all the 20 the author lists:

http://blog.sfgate.com/thebigevent/2012/02/28/underrated-landmarks-of-the-bay-area/

Explore the new spots in Hayes Valley!

Many great housing options and great central location with easy access to downtown.  Let us know if  you would like to see what’s available today!

We love Dolores Park (aka ‘the beach’ , it’s sunny!)

Friends of Dolores Park Playground is very pleased to announce that they are 50% complete in the construction of the new Helen Diller Playground at Dolores Park. Now comes the good stuff! For more information, read detailed information at this link!

http://www.friendsofdolorespark.org/renovation.shtml