SF hits longtime house owner with insane $50K wonderful for trimming overgrown bushes touching energy traces

The town of San Francisco slapped a longtime property proprietor with a $50,000 wonderful for trimming the bushes proper outdoors his dwelling.

Paul Dennes, a resident of the town’s Panhandle neighborhood, pruned 5 overgrown bushes on the sidewalk in entrance of his dwelling that he mentioned had been touching the constructing and electrical traces stretching above the road.

Dennes broke out the shears to be able to get his dwelling insured.

“I acquired an e mail from my dealer saying so as so that you can qualify for insurance coverage, you’ll want to trim the bushes so many toes from the property,” he informed ABC 7.

“I needed to get them out of the ability traces. I didn’t wish to be accountable for that.”

Dennes mentioned his household has owned the house since 1988 and that he’s by no means seen the town trim the bushes, which he assumed had been on his property.

However the metropolis started fining him in December of final yr, leading to a whopping $50,000 in penalties.

San Francisco accused him of “topping” the bushes, a follow that may “severely” injury them and shorten their lifespan, in keeping with ABC 7.

The trimming in the end compelled 5 bushes to be eliminated, the town mentioned, leading to a wonderful of $10,000 every.

“I’m like, are you kidding me? It’s simply brutal, you understand?” he mentioned.

“It appears like bullying,” he added. “I don’t wish to begin a giant battle!”

Licensed arborist Christopher Campbell informed ABC 7 that fines appeared “fairly extreme.”

The town used to mandate that householders to trim bushes outdoors their property however took over that responsibility in 2017, allocating greater than $19 million yearly in the direction of tree upkeep.

Dennes mentioned he by no means knew concerning the modifications and accused the town of protecting him at midnight.

Campbell defined that even bushes on personal property want permits to be trimmed.

“If there’s a tree that’s over 12 inches in trunk diameter, 20 toes in top or 15 toes in unfold, that’s thought-about a ‘vital tree,’ and people are additionally protected,” he defined.

The town has since lowered Dennes fines, after they introduced in a extra senior inspector to have a look at the bushes. The fines might be lowered once more if the house owner follows by with a “pruning plan.”

“We’ll reduce the lowered wonderful in half, to $6,475, if the property proprietor follows by with a pruning plan, requiring that the property proprietor brings in an authorized arborist to correctly prune the impacted bushes over the subsequent 5 years,” SF Public Works informed ABC 7. “The aim is to enhance the situation of the bushes to increase their life,” SF Public Works informed ABC 7.

Nonetheless, Dennes believes the fines aren’t honest.

“I didn’t know. It doesn’t really feel honest in any respect,” he mentioned.

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