Chris Smith: There are huggable trees, and then there’s this Bunya Bunya

No one would care to be labeled a tree killer.

And I do believe that Sharon King wishes there were a reasonable alternative to her prolonged quest to have a historic Santa Rosa tree, possibly planted by Luther Burbank, chopped down and hauled off before it hurts somebody.

“There is no question that it is a significant tree,” King says of the Bunya Bunya pine that stands 120 feet tall near the Salvation Army's high-rise Silvercrest apartments off Montgomery Drive, just west of Memorial Hospital.

But King, a Salvation Army property manager, and the arborist she uses contend the Bunya Bunya poses a significant threat to Silvercrest residents and to others who might walk near it at the wrong time.

Bunya Bunyas are infamous for dropping seed pods as large or larger than pineapples. “They are missiles. They are bombs coming down,” King said.

The Australian evergreen also sheds branches and twigs bearing serrated, knife-edged needles. King recalls the day that a man living at Silvercrest was struck on the back by a falling branch.

The city of Santa Rosa knows well the danger presented by Bunya Bunyas because it regularly sends workers up to de-pod two trees, one in Old Courthouse Square and one at Depot Park in Railroad Square.

King hoped City Hall might be understanding when she announced, not for the first time, that she wants to cut down the tree on Salvation Army property across Second Street from the Silvercrest towers.

But, once again, the city said no.

A Nov. 19 letter from Planning and Economic Development advises King that she cannot remove the Bunya Bunya because a consulting arborist found it to be in good condition, though it appears to need treatments for bark beetles.

The arborist hired by the city advised also that the general health of the tree be enhanced through watering “with a deep-root irrigation rig.”

In short, the city is telling King that the Salvation Army must keep and should spend more money on the Bunya Bunya, the last pruning of which, in May, cost $3,920. King notes that the Salvation Army also must pay to replace sections of sidewalk damaged by the roots.

Exasperated, she said, “I have been dealing with the tree since 2004.”

She prepares now to appeal the city's denial of her mission to remove a tree that she asserts would be just fine in a forest but poses peril on Second Street.

_____

HARRY'S ABOUT HAD IT: At age 73 a bit weary and ever more aware of the detriments of his exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam war, Harry Kniffin prepares to close up shop.

Truth is, he expected to close his landmark Harry's Second Hand near Railroad Square well before now. But his landlord's sale of the Ripley Street warehouse took longer than expected, and Harry took advantage of the reprieve.

Today a new owner yearns to get started on what will be a major, top-to-bottom reconstruction of the building (more on the coming enterprise later). Harry has until the end of December to sell off all that he can of his epic collection of used stuff.

He says he won't give it away, but he hankers to haggle. And then, to have weekends off.

You can reach Staff Writer Chris Smith at 707 521-5211 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com.