Look at this stump along Mesa Street by the Carl's Junior near UTEP
There are national standards for pruning trees. A good online source for how to properly prune trees can be found at the West Texas Urban Forestry Council web page on pruning.The City of El Paso has strict ordinances about the care of trees in parking lots and vehicular use areas. To my knowledge, the ordinance has never been enforced. Here is the applicable code with my emphases:
Chapter 18.46 LANDSCAPE
18.46.090 Required plants.
3. Parking Lots and Vehicular Use Areas.
a. Shading shall be required for parking lots and vehicular use areas that are located within the project, with more than fifteen parking spaces or an area greater than two thousand seven hundred square feet shall be provided with at least one parking lot tree for every fifteen parking spaces or two thousand seven hundred square feet of vehicular use area or portion thereof.
18.46.130 Maintenance standards.
A. Landscaping and irrigation shall be regularly and properly maintained to ensure healthy and vigorous plant material. The property owner is responsible for regular weeding, mowing of grass, irrigating, fertilizing, pest prevention, pruning, and other maintenance of all plantings as needed. Trees may not be trimmed beyond national nursery standards for any reason.
18.46.160 Enforcement.
A. Revocation of Permit. Permits may be revoked in accordance with the provisions in Section 18.02.102 of this code.
B. Citations. The director shall be authorized to issue citations for violations of this chapter, which shall be prosecuted in municipal court.(Ord. 16985 § 51, 2008: Ord. 16654 § 1 (part), 2007)
"Director" means the director of the development services department or his designee.
18.46.180 Violations--Penalty.
A. Civil and Criminal Penalties. The city shall have the power to administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter as may be required by governing law. Any person, firm, corporation or agent who shall violate a provision of this code, or fails to comply therewith, or with any of the requirements thereof, or who shall has erected, constructed, altered, installed, demolished or moved any landscaping or irrigation system, or has erected, constructed, altered, repaired, moved or demolished any landscaping or irrigation system, in violation of a detailed statement or drawing submitted and permitted under this chapter, is subject to suit for injunctive relief as
well as prosecution for criminal violations. Any violation of the ordinance codified in this chapter is declared to be a nuisance.
Title 9 HEALTH AND SAFETY
Chapter 9.11 TREE CARE
D. Definitions. The following definitions apply under this chapter:
2. "Damage" means and includes, but not be limited to, the uprooting of a tree, severance of the root or branch system, the compaction of soil around a tree, a substantial change in the natural grade above a root system or around a trunk, or excessive pruning of living tissue.
3. "Public property" means all grounds owned and controlled by the city of El Paso and where the city has the responsibility of maintenance.
4. "Public tree" means any tree with at least two-thirds of its trunk on public
property.
5. "Topping" means the severe reduction of the tree's size using heading cuts that shorten limbs or branches back to a predetermined crown size or limit with the result of reducing the natural canopy or disfigure the tree.
F. Trees Located on Public Property.
1. Destruction or Damage of Trees Prohibited. It is unlawful for any person to intentionally damage, cut, carve, abuse, poison or otherwise harm or injure any tree located on public property. This section does not apply to persons authorized by the city who are taking actions necessary for the preservation and safety of the public or the proper care or maintenance of any tree in accordance with the Arboricultural Specifications Manual. The city of El Paso and its authorized agents, employees, and contractors shall have the authority to trim or remove any trees within public
property.
2. Maintenance of Trees.
c. Tree Topping. No tree located on public property shall be topped. Trees severely damaged by storms or other causes, or certain trees under utility wires or other obstructions where other pruning practices are impractical may be crown reduced where necessary to protect the public health, safety and welfare.
e. Jurisdiction
Over Public Property. The directors of the street department and Parks
Department or his or her designee shall have the power to perform accepted tree care in accordance with the Arboricultural Specifications Manual. If any tree or any part thereof is in unsafe condition, or is injurious to the common good, or to the sewer pipes, pavements or improvements, or is infested by disease or insects which are dangerous to other trees, the city arborist may remove such trees or part thereof, or spray such tree, or order such tree, or part thereof removed.
H. Any person who shall cause, create, keep, or otherwise permit a nuisance declared under this chapter or any person who intentionally damages, cuts, carves, abuses poisons or otherwise harms or injures any tree located on public property shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined as provided in Sections 1.08.010, 1.08.020 and 1.08.030. Each day that such nuisance shall continue shall constitute a separate offense; provided, the imposition of a penalty hereunder shall not abrogate the right of the city to cause the abatement of any nuisance.
The sample tree butcheries in Fox Plaza and along Mesa beg some questions:
1) What contractor(s) were responsible? (People who top trees and who do not know correct pruning standards or who don't refuse to prune incorrectly cannot be called "arborists".)
2) If an "arborist" did do this why are they going against industry standards?
3) If not an "arborist" who did this? Do they consider or call themselves a professional?
4) If they are professionals and they are knowledgeable of industry standards why do they not educate the tree owner on the correct and healthy method of pruning?
5) Shouldn't the city landscape ordianance apply in the parking lot situations? Certainly it should be a concern when it comes to stormwater management.
6) The Public Tree ordinance should apply to the trees along Mesa as they are planted in a public right of way. So why has the city not fined the owner or person who topped the trees near Carl's Jr ? Or did City workers destroy these trees?
7) How can a City that says that it is environmentally-friendly allow the destruction of trees like this?
8) Where is the public outcry?
In this hot dry dusty environment, we cannot afford to destroy our shade. Why put the money, time and effort into growing a tree for several years just to destroy it in a few minutes?
Won't win me any friends, but trees don't belong in the street. There is no way to properly water the root zone. Branches overhanging the roadway or parking zone under 14 feet must be removed regardless of the size of the tree. They can obstruct the view of the roadway. I think median plantings should be kept under 3 feet and mulched with something less attractive to weeds than gravel.
ReplyDeleteWay to go Jim, with cities across the U.S. planting more street trees and parking lot trees as a way to combat several environmental concerns from storm pollution, runoff, VOC reduction, as well as many more beneifts. It is a shame to see this happening in El Paso.
ReplyDeleteAs a certified Arborist and Certifed Forester, with proper planning, design and maintenance,street trees fit very well as part of the green infrastructure. Concerned citizens as yourself and other out there, all I can say is, who has the phone number to code enforcement?
Thanks for this, Jim! How can we ameliorate a strip mall's degenerative effects on the environment with the trees shown here? (doesn't look like much CO2/O2 exchange is going on here!)
ReplyDeleteI actually did call the code enforcer on the Carl's Jr. trees a couple of years ago, but didn't follow up. For those interested, David Kania and Alfredo Reyes (Landscape Plan Examiners and Code Enforcers) for the City of El Paso are at 915.541.4797.
Also, Matthew will be glad to know that no plants over 3' are allowed in the first 5' of the parkway, nor in the (20') traffic line of site. Planting trees in allowable areas is a win-win for everyone