"Granny" watch: Should SFPUC pay to move Granny oak for line upgrades? Menlo Park, CA

Almanac Online : Neighbors and SFPUC: Move oak tree?

Granny might have to move. Tree advocates and San Francisco Public Utilities Commission officials met Tuesday to discuss how to save the 65-foot-tall heritage oak tree standing in the way of the Hetch Hetchy pipeline. 

The centuries-old oak sits in the middle of a site at 827 15th Avenue in North Fair Oaks that's designated for a pipeline meant to carry water from the Hetch Hetchy as part of a $4.6 billion seismic improvement project.

Granny almost came down earlier this month on short notice. But after the neighborhood organized a protest, the SFPUC ensconced the tree within an "avoidance area" and directed its contractor, Mountain Cascade, to stop work within that boundary for now.

Mediated by a liaison from Supervisor Rose Jacobs-Gibson's staff, the May 24 meeting proceeded after a squabble over whether the press, which had been invited by the tree's advocates, would be allowed to attend what was ostensibly a public meeting.