Cape board extends branch of government to trees

Cape Girardeau's municipal government once viewed established trees near sidewalks and street curbs as little more than a public nuisance best solved by cutting them down.

But that was before the city council, sparked by public criticism over the city's wholesale destruction of some mature trees along city sidewalks and streets, established a tree board and adopted a tree ordinance in November 1998.

The ordinance regulates planting of trees along city easements and city property, and even how they can be trimmed. In some cases, the tree board gets involved in helping protect trees on private property when they are threatened by public works projects.

Tree board members say they aren't trying to prevent progress but rather protect some of the city's natural beauty. Board decisions can be appealed to the city council, but parks and recreation director and board member Dan Muser said so far that hasn't happened.

Board members said their actions have saved more than 50 established trees that otherwise would have been removed to make way for street, sewer and sidewalk construction in older neighborhoods.

Muser said individual trees have been saved along streets and sidewalks in neighborhoods extending from downtown to Caruthers Avenue on the west and from Normal Avenue on the north to south of Highway 74 on the south.

Board member John Layton, who has served since it first met in 1999, said some sidewalks have been rerouted around trees. In one case involving a utility relocation, the board negotiated with AmerenUE to plant trees in another area of the city in exchange for those destroyed by the relocation work, Layton said.

"I am not a tree hugger," Layton said. "But at the same time, I can't imagine living in a community that didn't have trees."

Board chairman Tom Harold said, "If there is no basic reason to cut a tree, we try to protect it."

He said he regularly reminds his family about the trees the board saved, such as a row of maples that line a street near Centenary United Methodist Church.

In some cases, trees have been removed because they were in poor shape, Harold said.

"We are pretty practical about what we are doing," he said. "It is not, you save a tree no matter what."

Board members acknowledge that their work often goes unnoticed by the general public. The tree board wasn't even listed on the city's Web site until Wednesday, when city officials learned of the oversight from a newspaper reporter.

"We have meetings every other month, not even often enough to get a lot of attention," said public works director and board member Tim Gramling.

The board meets on the second Monday of every month at noon at the Osage Community Centre.

Board members are the parks and recreation director, public works director, a representative of the parks board, and two members selected by the city council.

Eight years ago, city officials angered many residents by removing more than 40 trees from parkways -- the city-owned grassy areas between sidewalks and curbs -- in older neighborhoods.

City officials at the time said the trees' roots had caused sidewalks to buckle and posed a public hazard that could have sparked lawsuits. Residents argued that cutting down the trees damaged the ambience of their neighborhoods.

Tree ordinance regulations, subsequently adopted by the council, are designed to prevent future sidewalk-tree battles.

Depending on its size at maturation, trees must be planted no closer than two feet to four feet from a curb or sidewalk.

Trees can't be planted within 50 feet of a street corner or within 10 feet of a fire hydrant. No new tree can be planted on city land or city easements if its top growth would reach within 10 feet of overhead utility lines.

City regulations include a list of approved species of trees that can be planted in public areas, including along streets and in city parks.

The goal, Harold said, is to assure that only small trees with a narrow canopy of branches and a small root system are planted on city parkways.

The city's tree board can require removal of dead or diseased trees even on private property if they are a hazard.

As a result of the city law, trees on public property no longer can be "topped," the practice of cutting limbs back to stubs.

"It was a practice that came over from Europe." said Layton. "I think most folks locally think that's a bad approach."

It doesn't look good aesthetically and it's also hard on the trees, board members said.

The tree board doesn't go looking for violators. Any violations are handled on a complaint basis only.

As a practical matter, Muser said the city's focus is on controling the planting of trees next to sidewalks. In terms of tree regulations, there's little attention given to subdivisions that don't have sidewalks, he said.

The tree board counts its successes one tree at a time.

The board recently helped save an approximately 35-year-old white pine at 2566 Ranchito Drive. The tree, full of sweeping branches, stands nearly 50 feet to 60 feet tall. It was threatened by the city's plans to improve storm drainage on a creek a few feet away.

While the tree stands on private property, the city needed to secure an easement to reconstruct the nearby drainage channel.

Property owner Jane Gaffigan said she wouldn't agree to an easement if the tree was going to be removed.

"I stood my ground," she said.

The city engineer's office called in the tree board to investigate. The board decided the channel work could be done without endangering the tree, eliminating the need to cut it down and securing the necessary easement.

"There is a way to work around the tree," Gramling said, adding that the roots, if necessary, could be trimmed back on one side without hurting the tree. The drainage project is expected to get underway later this year.

Layton said the city has more control over trees than most residents realize. "Most people forget the fact that part of their front yards are street easements. If a tree is in a street easement, it comes under our ordinance," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123