The Willow Glen Resident

'Landmark' willow tree gets stumped

Willow Street Pizza manager gets earful of complaints from unhappy residents

By Cecily Barnes

When a customer approached the manager of Willow Glen's trendy downtown pizza restaurant, warning that its willow tree was so sick it could keel over any time, Willow Street Wood-Fired Pizza manager Tim Littlefield took immediate action to assure the safety of his customers and employees.

"An arborist customer of ours said the tree was dying, and it needed to be chopped down before it fell down," Littlefield said. "I called the city, and the city arborist came out. We wanted to remove it before it fell over and hurt anybody or did any damage."

On Thursday, Jan. 22, the same day the city arborist faxed Littlefield a letter approving the tree's removal, Davey Tree Company sawed down the willow before the restaurant opened for lunch. When customers showed up and noticed the tree was missing, Littlefield got an earful.

"I've had so many calls with people wanting to know what happened to the tree," Littlefield said. "People want to know what happened and why it came down. It was a landmark here in Willow Glen. It was very sad to see the tree go, but we decided to take it down before it did any potential damage."

But some residents disagree with the city arborist's conclusion that the tree was a hazard. They argue there should have been more discussion before the tree was cut down. Perhaps it could have been trimmed or propped up, they said.

"Willow trees have incredibly invasive roots, so for this tree to uproot itself, it would have had to take the entire parking lot with it," said Joe Guerra, a Willow Glen resident and chief aide to District 6 Councilmember Frank Fiscalini. "I'm not an arborist, but I still disagree that this thing was falling down."

Other residents say they wish the city arborist had considered other options before approving the tree's removal.

"That tree was part of the character of this community, and it seems a shame that we didn't get an opportunity to have some debate about this." Willow Glen resident Scott Billets said. "We're talking about Willow Glen, on Willow Street. Maybe we could have tried to put in some funds to make sure this thing was saved by bracing it up."

But city arborist Mark Beaudoin insists the tree was unsafe and needed to come down. "It was leaning against the corner of the building, and there was a lot of decay in the root system and at the top of the tree. I couldn't really declare it a safe tree, and we were put on notice that it might be a hazardous tree," Beaudoin said. "You could have put a really elaborate framework around it, but you'd essentially be holding up a dying tree."

Typically residents must obtain permission at a city planning director's hearing before removing a tree. However, when the tree appears to pose an immediate danger, as with the willow tree, city ordinances allow that process to be circumvented.

"The Planning Department referred it here because of the potential immediate danger," Beaudoin said. "We utilized that section of the ordinance."

But willow trees are not scarce in San Jose, Beaudoin assures. They still grow naturally along the Los Gatos Creek, Guadalupe River and Coyote Creek, and several thousand were recently planted along the Guadalupe River, he said.

Willow Street Wood-Fired Pizza will soon be planting a replacement willow tree of the same species--salix eabylonica.

[ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ]