Rallying around Rosie: Fate of 70-foot-tall redwood tree in Santa Rosa to be decided by Planning Commission

The fate of “Rosie,” a redwood tree roughly seven stories tall in Santa Rosa’s McDonald Avenue historic district, is headed to the Planning Commission after a dispute over a removal permit. On Thursday, Aug. 20, Tom Murphy and his wife noticed PG&E workers gathered around the tree, whose roots have pushed up the sidewalk on 13th Street. A month earlier PG&E marked the trunk with a red X for removal, but after review, utility experts concluded nearby wires were “heavily insulated” and the tree posed no electrical risk. The X was painted over, yet the city says the sidewalk still needs work and plans determined the tree must be cut. Rosie is estimated at 70 to 100 years old; neighbors, including Murphy and “Friends of Rosie,” appealed a June approval by planner Suzanne Hartman. They argue Santa Rosa’s 36-year-old tree ordinance protects the tree’s “aesthetic benefits,” shade, windbreaks, oxygen, and requires avoiding “unnecessary damage.”