towards their house. -- limbs removed towards their house. they did do some limb removal. there was a large limb that failed recently, about 18 inches in diameter. >> you are going beyond my question. not to interrupt. thank you. president peterson: is there any public comment? please step forward. >> ok. can i use the overhead? ok.

my name is tim, and for 25 years my wife and i have lived alongside the tree we are talking about today. we support the decision. this tree is precisely the sort of significant tree that the urban forest ordinance protect. projects. it has the greatest stature of any tree in forest hill and is one of the biggest in san francisco. for the past 15 years, our neighbors repeatedly, in excess of become an unnecessarily printed this tree. this photograph showed the imbalance they created -- and excessively pruned this tree.

last october a limb, the first in 25 years, fell. after that happened, after 20 feet of our shrubberies all along our parkway were destroyed in damaged by this limb that fell, we wanted to find out about the safety of the tree. we did not hire an arborist to try to save the tree. we wanted to know whether it was safe. we consulted three. one of them said the tree could be saved. it included the roots, the crown, and the primary scaffold. president peterson: sir, you have run out of time, but there may be questions. commissioner fung: what did the

other two arborists sya? -- say? >> the second one recommended further testing. there was testing around the base of the tree, but he climbed into the tree and inspected it. he also determined and evaluated where the cuts were made. contrary to what he said, the big cut that you see, and i can show you on another overhead, were done by the o'connors. they were nowhere near a pg&e power lines. i personally witnessed these

large cuts, the eight or nine that are facing you, and that you see on this side of the tree. the o'connors pruned the tree not because of concerns. they did it so mildew would not form on their house and so they would not have to power washed their paint. commissioner fung: 8 you, sir. commissioner garcia: here is the problem. your time was pretty much up. it was up, so if somebody does not ask you a question -- commissioner hwang: is this the most recent picture? >> this is there a tree. so we would not be responsible for pruning it. the tree has been untouched since the limb failures, even

though the branches on our side, which have been neglected for years, continued to hang down. they hang solo in the street and moving them, you sometimes hit them. commissioner hwang: have you asked to have those limbs removed? the ones that are hanging in your property? >> they continue to maintain one side of the tree. we were particularly concerned about the area where the limb failures that occurred because it is so low. president peterson: thank you. commissioner garcia: you have some control over when they are pruned. are you saying otherwise? >> we are talking about areas that hang over the street. commissioner garcia: i

understand that. you feel you have the right to prune that? >> this is a very large tree, in pruning -- and pruning it would require us to hire someone. commissioner garcia: let me ask you a different question. and it seems as though i remember having read in the papers use a minute that you and your wife are willing to share in the expense of the annual inspections and prunings, is that right? >> we are willing to because we believe in the safety of this street after the investigation that we have taken under our expense, we are willing to do the annual inspections, splitting the cost with the

o'connors. we are willing to split the cost of the initial pruning, which our arborist saysç the largest, and it is also that the city arborist says it may be only one needs four years. commissioner garcia: thank you. president peterson: are there any more public comments? seeing none, we will move to rebuttal. >> department of forestry. i do not think i need to take a long time. one thing i want to comment on, i think the recommendation in the directors' findings has, perhaps because they were not written very clearly, the assumption was it was taking the recommendation from the report, but, in fact, it is standard recommendation if you are pruning a tree to remove any

dead, dying, or decaying wood. it is our standard recommendation that if there are limbs with the decay, we remove them, so i think that is the only thing, other than i do not believe all of the pruning was done by pg&e. pg&e has been pruning, but i would also disagree with that assessment. commissioner garcia: ms. short, on page 3, they are under the impression that the city will conduct the annual inspections, so i will assume that is at the city's expense? >> i think that is what we have indicated is that we would also try to do some routine inspections. i do not think that the annual inspections recommended were to be conducted by the city. it is my understanding from the

director's order that recommendation was the property owner should have the tree pruned and have been monitored for their own liability concerns and public safety concerns. in addition, city staff has an interest that if this tree is to be preserved, we saw some indication that there was a problem, so we will also undertake inspections, but i do not believe we are committed to annual inspections of this tree. commissioner garcia: last question. is dpw able to assess any fines to the o'connors as to how this tree was pruned? >> we have not efficient -- issued any fines to the o'connors.

it could potentially be a situation where a fine could be issued, but we did not do that. commissioner garcia: thank you. commissioner fung: let me put you on the spot. did i detect a certain level of passion or lack of passion in your brief? >> i do not believe, in my effort to be impartial, posted "new york times" scathing review about saving the trees, i am trying to stick to the past -- facts. with proper pruning, the tree could be preserved. that is our position. it is a large tree that certainly consider it -- contributes significantly to the neighborhood and to the city as a whole.

president peterson: you have some concern, and we do not normally hear that from you, so maybe this is not like the ones we have seen in the past? >> i think there are valid concerns about the structural integrity of the tree. i still disagree with mr. rapada -- mr. leggett. we believe the most likely failure is a large limb failures, and these are large limbs. we thought with these very large limbs, which could be prone to failure, that was a reasonable decision. however, we did not have all of the recommendations from the other arborists, and we did not notekno notw -- we did not know what was a reasonable -- what

was reasonable to us the homeowner to do. -- to ask the homeowner to do. president peterson: thank you. mr. leggett, do you have rebuttal? >> hi, my name is ms. gail o'connor, and i am the owner of the large tree. we had a total of two artists come out in the city, and they said, "ok, take it down." one neighbor protested too distant area people -- to distant area people, who said, "forget is, you are not going to take it down."

-- "forget et." -- it." if you can do it with a rubber mallet, what about doing that with the rest of the decay that can be there? we are concerned about our neighbors. there was a church across the street. unlike the city said, there is high traffic. it has a church across the street, lots of dog walkers, kids going up to school, and it is a major shortcut for people going back and forth. it is an accident waiting to happen. we do not want to be responsible for it. the reason we got the arborist in the beginning was after that large limb fell down was to even it out, like the whole side. i am not saying that all of this arborists are wrong, but i do

not think it can be made into a beautiful tree. i think it is going to be, contrary to what they say, sometimes what the city does to a tree is may get a broccoli stick, where there is just a green top. thank you. commissioner garcia: ms. o'connor, was that not you did that to the tree? >> no, the tree had never been touched. it has got to be 80 years old, and when we bought the property, "t never been touched in its entire being. it was just growing wild, and when we first bought the property, the person you came out to look at it said the first thing you should do is cut it away from the tree, because more stuff is going to fall on the

house, and the house was not in that great of shape. >> i would just like to read a comment as part of the rebuttal if we have the time here. the larger limbs that were referred to, you might call the scaffold limbs, from 18 inches in diameter to over two feet in diameter each, so they are local trees in their own right. -- they are like whole trees in their own right. commissioner garcia: i have no idea which way the sport is going to go, but ms. short, in her opening statement, requested that if we did overturn and allow you to remove this street that you would be required to replace it with a very large tree.

have you contemplated replacement? >> we could replace it with any large tree but would have to be careful because we have high- voltage wires that go through our property, so it could not be in the same spot. it would have to be a little bit over to the side. >> i would have some concerns about what we call a very large type of tree, such as a monterey cypress, pine, or eucalyptus. those types of trees are just too big. commissioner garcia: i think ms. short normally means the size that is planted there and not necessarily the height to which it will grow, and that would really be a decision between you and dpw. they would be the one to determine ultimately what kind of tree they would approve. commissioner fung: i think ms.

short was talking about a tree that grows to that size, versus what we talk about. commissioner garcia: she is saying both. she meant both. president peterson: commissioners. commissioner garcia: i hated to ward someone, whether consciously or unconsciously, this tree was not cared for, but even if it had been, i do not know what effect it would have had on the decay at the base, and it is a significantly large tree, and were it to fail, the damage would be extreme. i do not want to success we got -- suggest we got a wink and a nod from ms. short, but i am leaning towards allowing them to

replace the tree. commissioner fung: i think it is ok to banter with ms. short. i think i have been fairly consistent in supporting the rights of the property owners to replace trees and to replace trees that are appropriate for an urban setting. this one gives me pause because of the significance of the size of this tree and the fact that it represents something that is not very common in san francisco, and that is a little bit different than the way i have supported a lot of permits.

i am not sure yet how i am going to go with this. vice president>z1é goh: i do not know either. i am normally be save the tree person, but this tree is a significant tree, and some of the pictures included in the brief are really just spectacular. i can imagine they can see this tree from far away, and it is just a grand old tree. that said, the pictures of the trunk with the huge area of decay does give me pause, and the notion that the limbs could fail, those failing limbs are

extremely heavy, as we have heard, so that concerns me. on the other hand, perhaps the danger could be mitigated by requiring the owners to do the significant preening and monitoring the treat -- itpruning -- pruning and monitoring the tree. i am torn. president peterson: i am most persuaded by the department in attempting to save this tree. it is unique in its size, and the fear here is significant limb damage, not the tree itself collapse in, so i think if we can follow the department's recommendations and monitor it,

i would feel comfortable with trying to save this particular, unique -- it is really a symbol in that area, and these trees are fairly remarkable for all of our residents, so that is how i am inclined. commissioner fung: commissioner, can i suggest one thing? part of what makes this tree significant is not only its size but that these types of trees live a very long time. but the counterpoint to that that is significant to the size is that then it can create a lot of problems and dangers, not only property. i am not so much concerned -- well, i would be concerned about property damage, but ibm concerned about health and life safety. -- i am concerned about health and life safety. can we ask the department to

participate and go beyond just looking at it but to look at the established it, the basis upon which the annual review takes so that if there is any change in the health, i think we need to revisit the ability of the o'connors to take this tree down. president peterson: annual reviews -- commissioner fung: to establish a certain criteria upon which they will review at the annual review. at some point to have the tree taken down. commissioner garcia: if we a

poll, which looks as though this board will do, uphold the department, is there some assurance that it will be pruned and properly pruned? how do we control that? >> i do not know that we can require it. it is the recommendation upon which this is based, but i do not know that we can require the property owners to prune the tree. the assumption is they would bear liability if something happens, so it is in their interest, but i do not know that we can require it. commissioner garcia: let's assume there is some decay at the base. if it is not pruned, does that affect the rate of the decay? >> no, the pruning would not

have any effect on the decay at the base. what the pruning would do is to reduce the end weight if they were to come down from the height of the tree. we are saying we would like to limited risk of liver failure -- limb failure. what would be attempting to do is mitigate those limbs rather than the whole tree. commissioner garcia: i do not think that the dpw would be interested in note in threatening, but there is the possibility of a fine. would that, perhaps, motivate them to get it pruned? that was not really a question.

president peterson: dpw can force -- can enforce pruning? >> i would have to look at that. i do not know that you can put that into the permit, requiring the applicant to -- commissioner garcia: it was just to urge the o'connors to take better care of the tree. president peterson: after hearing that, i might change my vote. in may not change the decision up here, but if there is significant limb failure, and we cannot affect and when it is -- affect when it is pruned, that

is a difference. vice president goh: actually, that pushes me the other way, that the notice is on them. commissioner garcia: perhaps it will be motivated by the fact that their neighbors have agreed to bear the cost of the initial pruning, half, so that might encourage them to have it pruned. president peterson: ok, i also move to uphold the department. commissioner fung: with they annually review the report for degradation.

>> i thing that would require four votes. it is technically a modification. president peterson: i will modify. >> of course, the permit can be applied for any year. commissioner garcia: or the department, if they decide, can move it up to next week if the inspected again, and there is a problem. vice president goh: they do not need to wait one year. >> i am sorry. i missp0ke. >> i believe the motion then is from the president to uphold the denial on condition that dpw conduct annual inspections.

on that motion, with that condition, commissioner fung, vice president goh, commissioner garcia, commissioner hwang is absent, and the boat is 4-0, and it is upheld with that condition -- the vote is 4-0. president peterson: if you can call our last item, please, which is item number nine. secretary pacheco: item number nine, p.o. number 10-098, -- appeal number 10-098, diane rosen, the appellants, protesting the issuance on

august 25, 2010, a permit to alter a building, remodeling the existing structure, second-floor addition, two-story front edition with new bath, one-story rear addition, new front office structure, remodeled kitchen and bath, and more. president peterson: we need to wait until a commissioner returns. just one minute, please.