A tipster notified us recently that notices of removal were placed on two ficus trees in front of the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi at 610 Vallejo St. He wondered why they were being taken down if the Piazza Saint Francis, the Poets Plaza, which has been proposed for that block, was on hold—as promised in a community meeting on March 3rd.

We found out the tree removal permit application was indeed requested by Fred Warnecke, the landscape architect for the piazza, for "construction of Piazza St. Francis on all of Vallejo Street," according to the application. It also states the trees will be replaced by olive trees. SF Public Works' Bureau of Urban Forestry approved the permit, and scheduled the trees for removal.

Graphic: Courtesy of Piazza St. Francis, the Poets Plaza

But once the Archdiocese of San Francisco got word of it, they put a stop to it. "Very shortly after we posted the trees for removal, we heard from the Archidiocese that they were not sponsoring the application," according to an email from Rachel Gordon, spokesperson for SF Public Works. "We then immediately withdrew the application." The signs were then removed.

That surprised those spearheading the piazza, because they were "piggybacking" on a tree removal permit that had been filed by a representative for the Archdiocese. Public Works issued the permit for three trees at 610 Vallejo on December 17th, 2014, but it had expired.

Dennis Sullivan, the original architect for the piazza, told us that Public Works suggested that Warnecke use the same permit number as the original from 2014, probably to expedite it. As a result, Warnecke was not aware that Public Works required permission from the Archdiocese again, Sullivan said.

All through North Beach, falling ficus trees have been a huge safety issue, Sullivan told us. "I’m surprised they’re still there. I’m surprised the leadership of the shrine is opposed to removal."

Angela Alioto, who has been the main force behind getting the piazza built, said she recalled a tree falling and smashing a truck right in front of the church's garage. We've reported on several fallen trees in North Beach over the past year, including one in October 2015 in front of Caffe Puccini and another in January at 150 Pacific Ave.

A fallen tree in front of Caffe Puccini, 411 Columbus Ave. (Photo: Bryan J.)

Now that the piazza is a hot-button issue, however, it seemed odd for the architect to apply for tree removal, knowing the project is on hold for further community outreach. Sullivan said Warnecke filed for the tree removal permits "some weeks" before the most recent meeting; the application is dated February 11th, 2016. Sullivan also said this was the last item in Warnecke's scope of work for the project, so he was simply finishing his contract.

"He’s done the entire surface treatment, he’s done the paving pattern, he’s done some low landscaping that’s in containers, he’s provided construction drawings on benches, retaining walls, bollards, lighting," Sullivan said. Warnecke has been paid $60,000 to date in professional fees on the project, he added.

We asked a spokesperson for the Archdiocese to talk to us about the piazza issue and the tree removal flap, and received this statement via email:

We have not been responding to continuing bits of news or controversy around this matter, largely because our position remains very consistently the same and always focused on the bigger picture. Larry Jannuzzi’s letter to Supervisor Peskin makes all the key points that do remain our position. The tree removal application seems to be another example of something being done in our name without our approval, and so the department stopped that activity.