A San Francisco community is rallying around a local bakery that has been hit with a hefty fine for cutting the branches off a couple of trees.
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Ambrosia Bakery in Lakeside has been fined $4,460 by San Francisco Public Works, according to reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle, for pruning two karo trees on Ocean Ave.
But the neighborhood is grateful to the bakery's owner, Keith Truong, who has operated the bakery since 1988, for taking action. The two trees had long blocked a stop sign from view, endangering pedestrians trying to cross the street.
"Many community meetings since the neighborhood watch started in 2009 during which the trees outside Ambrosia were a particular safety concern," said a change.org petition started in support of the bakery. "These trees require regular pruning for pedestrian safety – not once every 5 to 7 years."
According to the petition, business owners and residents of the neighborhood tried many times to get Public Works to trim the trees, to no avail.
"Ambrosia hired an arborist in 2021 to prune the trees in response to customer concerns about public safety," said the petition. "Their intent was to help."
"San Francisco Public Works is entrusted in the care of the City’s 125,000-plus street trees It is unlawful for people to 'intentionally, maliciously or through gross negligence injure or destroy a street tree' in San Francisco," said Rachel Gordon, Director of Communications for Public Works, in an emailed statement to KCBS Radio.
According to Gordon, a tree inspector looked at the trees and the stop sign last year and determined that pruning was unnecessary. They told the neighborhood that the trees were scheduled for pruning this year.
"We schedule routine pruning based on a grid map for efficiency but can and do pivot for emergency tree work," said Gordon.
The two trees were pruned without permission, with the entire living canopy removed and other cuts damaging the trees. "If the trees do survive, they will require much more intensive pruning care going forward to ensure proper growth," she said.
The fine is $2,230 per tree and will be used by the city to help pay for future plantings. "The fine can be appealed, which it has been, and the amount can be reduced if the violator agrees to take a tree-care class," said Gordon. "The class goes over proper and improper pruning techniques and the importance of the urban forest."
The petition is asking Public Works not to fine the bakery, and instead look for other solutions, like issuing a warning letter to Truong or asking him to donate plants to a nearby park.
So far the petition has earned more than 2,800 signatures. A hearing will take place on the issue on May 18, according to the paper.
Keith Truong did not respond to KCBS Radio's request for comment at the time of publication.
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