[CANUFNET] Boulevard Plantings

Thu Mar 27 12:25:40 EDT 2008

Those are good ideas Jeremy, except that we are also experiencing more
pressure to reduce the size of the boulevards and medians, to allow more
room for bike lanes and increased road widths for traffic flow.  We're
usually pretty limited in the amount of space on public right of ways,
and in many cases the only way we can get more is to acquire a larger
right-of-way from the adjacent private properties.  We have narrowed up
the road lanes in some instances, or taken out parking stalls and
planted trees in bulbs...

Ian Wilson

	-----Original Message-----
	From: canufnet-bounces at list.web.net
[mailto:canufnet-bounces at list.web.net] On Behalf Of Jeremy Gye
	Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2008 7:58 AM
	To: 'Canadian Urban Forest Network'
	Subject: Re: [CANUFNET] Boulevard Plantings

	Here is a related consideration from a broader landscape
perspective on the topic of tree planting on public property.  We are
experiencing a lot of in-fill development in our more developed areas
and greenfield development in the peri-urban areas with a significant
net-loss of urban forest.  As lot sizes diminish and house sizes
dramatically increase, the opportunies for adequate tree replacement on
private lots are falling.  This seems to me to point the way toward
increased emphasis on acquiring, perhaps reconfiguring boulevards and
meridians, in order to plant more on public lands.  Any thoughts on this
build-out trend?  Implications for future plantings? maintenance?
resources?

	Jeremy Gye
	Urban Forest Stewardship Initiative - Greater Victoria

________________________________

	From: canufnet-bounces at list.web.net
[mailto:canufnet-bounces at list.web.net] On Behalf Of Ian Wilson
	Sent: March-26-08 12:55 PM
	To: Canadian Urban Forest Network
	Subject: Re: [CANUFNET] Boulevard Plantings

	Hi Guy,

	sounds like you have a bit of a challenge ahead of you.  Here's
a few comments as to our practices in Kelowna, BC:

	- Do you only plant where residents are receptive and skip those
that are not?  Do you plant trees where residents request them not to
be? 

	In the past, we sometimes planted trees whether the resident
wanted them or not.  We no longer do that, because sometimes the tree
ends up getting vandalized or poorly cared for.  Now we send out a
letter and ask, and don't force them to accept a boulevard tree - this
approach seems to be appreciated by the residents.  Later on if they
change their minds or the the house is sold, we are open to going back
and doing additional in-fill planting if we have the necessary
resources.

	- Do you conduct a survey of an area and plant if a certain % of
affirmative is reached? 

	Our focus is planting on arterial and collector roads.  We only
plant on local / residential streets if a majority of the households on
the street can agree that they want street trees.  We leave it up to
them (a volunteer who lives there) to canvas the neighbourhood and show
that there is support for planting.  If this planting initiative comes
from the neighbourhood, then they seem to take a more active role in
caring for the trees.

	- What about planting on municipal property with no boulevard
strip directly in front of residents home?

	We do plant on the city right-of-way where there is no boulevard
strip, we have quite a few trees in these types of plantings.  In some
sense this creates even more of a sense of ownership and you have fewer
problems with infrastructure (sidewalks) and the trees do well because
of the expanded root volume.  Sometimes there is "too much" ownership
however as the resident may decide to improperly prune the tree
themselves, so we occasionally have to remind them that they can't prune
the trees on the right-of-way.

	Some cities have also successfully given away free (or
subsidized) trees to homeowners which must be planted behind the city
right of way on private property.  Sometimes the owner has to sign a
contract to water and care for the tree.  The advantage is that the city
has some control over what is planted and the citizens get the benefits
of the tree without having to pay for maintenance.  But you also lose
some control over long term maintenance.

	We are currently working to change our subdivision bylaw so that
in new subdivisions, the developer has to plant a certain number of
trees on private properties, so we again get the benefits without the
additional maintenance.

	Ian Wilson

	City of Kelowna

		-----Original Message-----
		From: canufnet-bounces at list.web.net
[mailto:canufnet-bounces at list.web.net] On Behalf Of Guy Martin
		Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2008 11:58 AM
		To: Canadian Urban Forest Network
		Cc: Len Walters
		Subject: [CANUFNET] Boulevard Plantings

		Hello all,

		We have currently been planting trees on city owned
boulevards. Basically a strip of turf 1-2 meters wide between the
sidewalk and the road...this is in residential areas.

		As you can imagine we have encountered both positive and
negative comments from various homeowners. In the past we have planted
our properties and boulevard strips without much of a problem and have
just gone ahead and done so.

		The road we are currently or rather I should say were
working on, also happens to be the Mayor's road (election year), and he
is getting heat from some neighbors. 

		We are now sending out a letter informing that we are
doing this albeit it is late and rather obvious that this is going on.

		This is not a new development but an established area
that has decent tree cover now, larger estate lots that will most likely
be zoned for a higher density in the next 10 or so years, with tree
removal occurring then, so it would be nice to have our street trees
established.

		I would like to inquire what other municipalities do or
have done for this type of scenario.

		Do you plant trees where residents request them not to
be? 

		Do you only plant where residents are receptive and skip
those that are not?

		Do you conduct a survey of an area and plant if a
certain % of affirmative is reached? 

		What about planting on municipal property with no
boulevard strip directly in front of residents home?

		Any insight on this problem is welcome!

		Thanks,

		Guy Martin

		City of Langley

		Parks Department

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