But sometimes a tree can get a neighborhood into an unseemly wrangle.

Gundy DuVall of Swarthmore Drive wanted to remove a 40-year-old Coast redwood tree growing at the corner of her lawn. According to DuVall, the roots of the tree were damaging her driveway, curb and lawn.

Some of her neighbors did not like the idea of the tree being removed. Some did. It took two Saratoga Planning Commission and two Saratoga City Council meetings to sort the matter out.

On Aug. 4, the city council decided that the tree would have to go, overturning an earlier planning commission decision. The city council had been wrestling with this issue since last month, when it deferred making a decision, saying that it did not have enough information.

All that changed during a site visit by council members to Swarthmore Drive.

Parts of the driveway had to be dug up so that the roots of the tree could be inspected. Once the council members inspected the damage being caused by the roots of the redwood to DuVall's driveway and the nearby street, they made up their minds.

"We have to do what is reasonable here. If we were not concerned about this issue, we would not have had two planning commission meetings and two city council meetings about this tree," said Councilman Nick Streit. "I recommend taking the tree down because it has become a safety issue," he said.

Councilman Norman Kline added that the city has a tree ordinance in place so that property owners could continue to enjoy their property.

DuVall had originally applied for a permit to remove the tree last year. The permit was granted but the commission revoked its decision when a neighbor appealed the decision. DuVall then appealed the denial.

Vice Mayor Kathleen King said that it was one of the most difficult decisions that she has had to make in recent times.

She voted against removing the tree because she wanted a separate discussion of tree replacement, one that would have required DuVall to replace the redwood with another tree of comparable size.

Instead, the council folded into its motion instructions for DuVall to plant a 48-inch box tree in place of the redwood.