A San Francisco bakery owner trimmed trees by his business. Now he's being fined $4,500.

For months, Keith Truong had become increasingly frustrated by speedy drivers who kept whizzing by his San Francisco business, Ambrosia Bakery, with no regard for the stop sign near his storefront. After realizing the traffic sign, at the intersection of Ocean Avenue and Woodacre Drive, was camouflaged by excessive foliage from two trees in front of his shop, he started viewing them as a liability and decided to take measures into his own hands.

“I had a lot of complaints from the customers who said it was a hazard to cross the street,” Truong told SFGATE. “I told the gardener to trim the trees to make sure the stop sign was visible.”

Truong paid $550 out of pocket for the service, but the move would end up costing him more: He was fined $4,500 by San Francisco Public Works. Truong said that the unsupervised tree trimming occurred three months ago, but he didn’t realize it was unlawful at the time. He was shocked when he received a notice in the mail with no warning beforehand. The foliage had likewise obstructed his own business sign, but Troung said that his greatest motivation in cutting the trees was to protect neighborhood residents. Now, he’s concerned about the steep fee. ABC7 first reported the story.

“The pandemic was difficult already,” Troung said. “That’s a lot for a business that was struggling. They must consider that.”

Rachel Gordon, the spokesperson for San Francisco Public Works, told SFGATE that the agency evaluated the trees last year but “determined that urgent pruning was not warranted.”

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“Removing more than 25% of the canopy from a tree is extremely damaging,” Gordon said. “If trees are excessively pruned, the tree can run out of stored energy and die. If the trees do survive, they will require much more intensive pruning care going forward to ensure proper growth.”

https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/San-Francisco-bakery-fined-for-tree-trimming-17075901.php