[Photo Credit: Curbed SF]
More drama in the battle between upslope Larry Ellison and downslope Jane and Bernard von Bothmer and their view-blocking trees. Yesterday the Urban Forestry Council's Landmark Tree Committee recommended that the von Bothmer's offending Acacia Melanoxylon be given landmark status. No mention of the von Bothmer's overly-enthusiastic redwoods, but the full Council will vote on the acacia on May 27th. Much back-and-forth, including dueling arborists, over the tree's provenance- was the garden designed by Thomas Church?- and habitat, with the acacia's being much loved by hummingbirds and red-tailed hawks, as well as humans. One arborist (Ellison's, of course) sniffed that the owners irreparably damaged the tree when they put in a swimming pool next to it. The huge tree is well over eighty years old; acacias were imported along with eucalyptus from Australia as ornamentals in the early 20th century. They're also classified as invasive, but that's a garden path we'll stay off for now, plus we know there's a "we all should have such problems" joke in here somewhere.
· Pacific Heights: Birds Gotta Fly... Rich People Fight [Curbed SF]
· Meeting Agenda, 5-10-11 [Urban Forestry Council]
· Woodman, Spare That Tree (full text) [Bartleby]
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