Battle brews over plans to cut down 100-year-old cypress tree in Dillon Beach
DILLON BEACH, Marin County -- Storm damage and downed trees across the Bay Area have residents battling over which trees need to be removed and which ones can stay in their neighborhoods.
It gets even more complicated if a tree lies within multiple property lines. One San Francisco resident's fight to save a tree is hours away, but so close to home.
Cameron Martin's tiny cottage near Dillon Beach is called the "Treehouse" for good reason.
"It's been known as the Treehouse for 40 years. It has three mature trees on it and has a working treehouse," said Martin.
She's been running a San Francisco preschool for decades, working to pay off the mortgage and planning retirement in Dillon Beach where she gets away from all the noise in the city.
"It's just beautiful. You come up here and want to look at all the trees," said Martin.
But storm-damaged trees are brewing boisterous battles. A neighbor's complaint about a fallen limb near Martin's property prompted the county to hire an arborist to take a closer look.
"It's been identified as a known hazard and it would be our responsibility to mitigate that hazard," said Michael Frost of the Marin County Department of Public Works.
Public Works tagged the old cypress believed to be about 100 years old and told Martin it was coming down. The problem is the county hasn't determined if part of the tree lies on private property.
"It could become a legal issue if we weren't allowed to enter the property," said Frost.
"We would have to work with the resident to receive the right of entry to remove the tree if it's partially on their property, and determine if the owner will allow us," said Frost.
KPIX asked independent, certified arborists to inspect the tree.
"The coastal cypress can live up to 300 years but after the first 100-120 years they go into the declining stage," said arborist Forest Kirk of Forest Tree Services.
"Sometimes what you could do in this situation is cabling," said certified arborist Natalie Carey of The Small World Tree Company. "You can keep two of the stems and cable them."
As a compromise, Martin is asking the county to consider cutting it back for safety, instead of taking it down to the stump.
"I don't believe in my heart-of-hearts believe this tree needs to be cut down," said Martin.
Martin pulls out The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, a book she's been reading to her preschool kids for decades.
"At the end of the story, he's sitting there on the stump. There's nothing there. Everything's been cut down and all it says is 'unless,'" said Martin.
"If I have to cut my tree down, I'm just going to carve in 'unless,'" said Martin.
We reached out to the neighbor multiple times who complained about the tree but did not hear back.
The county says public works is dealing with a high number of downed trees because of recent storms and adds the tree near Martin's property is not coming down anytime soon as they look further into the matter.