The Latest: San Francisco protects disputed tree in backyard

SAN FRANCISCO – The Latest on the landmark status of a tree in a San Francisco backyard (all times local):

2:30 p.m.

San Francisco city leaders unanimously granted landmark status to a tall, slender pine tree that a San Francisco property owner wants to cut down but that neighbours rallied to save.

Tuesday’s vote protects a Norfolk pine hybrid in a private backyard. One expert says the tree isn’t rare in California but not abundant in San Francisco.

Neighbours and others have been trying to save the tree for a year, saying the pine is an important part of the street’s landscape. A biology professor says the tall tree probably provides a resting spot for raptors and other birds making their way to Golden Gate Park.

An attorney for the homeowner said it’s an ordinary pine that poses problems for the home’s infrastructure. She says granting it landmark status would be a severe infringement on private property rights.

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1 a.m.

The fate of a tall and slender pine tree in the backyard of a San Francisco house at the centre of a dispute among neighbours is now in the hands of the Board of Supervisors.

Supervisors will decide Tuesday whether to grant landmark status to a Norfolk pine hybrid even though it’s on a small parcel of private property and the owner wants to cut it down.

Neighbours have been rallying for a year to save the tree, saying the pine is an important part of the street’s landscape and the single-story Italianate house’s history.

The lawyer for the owner of house says the tree it’s an ordinary pine that poses problems for the home’s infrastructure.

Eighteen trees and tree groves in the city have landmark status, because they are old, historic, or especially important to the environment. Six are on private property.