San Francisco Shifts Maintenance Burden for Street Trees Back to the City

Lizzie Johnson reports on the recent legislative efforts that will return the responsibility for the maintenance of San Francisco's street trees to the city. The measures would also return the responsibility for sidewalks damaged by street trees to the city.

Three pieces of legislation would return responsibility for trees to the city:

There’s a parcel tax, which would have to go to the ballot, that would dedicate more than $18 million annually to trees and sidewalk repairs beginning next July. It would also return tree maintenance to the city — it’s now the responsibility of homeowners and businesses. Then there’s a bundled charter amendment and carbon tax designed to bring in $18 million to take care of trees. The third is a proposed ordinance that would transfer the maintenance much sooner — but without any earmarked funding.

The legislative measures would reverse the city's actions transferring responsibility to homeowners in 2011 during the recession.