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Safeguarding trees in the city
By Mary Madewell
Published November 10, 2009
Contractors removed two large Texas State Trees — the Pecan — on Monday at the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints, 3060 Pine Mill Rd. in the name of progress, but likely not without a fine from the City of Paris.
Both trees, in excess of 60 inches in circumference, were protected by a City of Paris tree ordinance, posted on the city’s Web site at www.paristexas.gov under Chapter 32 of the City of Paris Code of Ordinances. The ordinance has been in existence since 1984.
By the time city arborist Bill Loranger, head of the Paris Parks Department, arrived on the scene a little after 11 a.m., the two trees already had been severely damaged A caller notified The Paris News that tree destruction was in progress no more than 30 minutes earlier. The News in turn notified the city.
“That is how we normally get these type reports — from someone calling us, and by that time the damage has been done,” Loranger said. “A tree company can take down a tree in about 30 minutes time.”
When Loranger arrived on scene, he measured the trees, finding one to be in excess of 70 inches in circumference and the other a little less. Both trees were loaded with pecans. Loranger told workers with Preservation Tree Services of Dallas to cease work immediately until he could assess the situation.
After checking with the city’s Engineering, Planning and Development Department to determine if the removal of the trees had been approved in the new construction site plan — and learning they had not — Loranger called the Paris Police Department to enforce the ordinance.
Loranger said the church could be fined as much as $200 a tree, but that decision would be made by a city attorney.
“That’s part of the problem,” Loranger said. “The fines are not high enough to deter someone from just removing trees.”
Terry Hope, with Hunt’s Taylor Creek Contractor’s from Gore, Okla. in charge of the construction project, said the church planned to landscape the area in front of the church, planting more trees and shrubbery.
“We had to cut back at least 10 feet from that one tree just to build the church,” Hope said. “And then we trimmed it back more to keep it from damaging the building, but we were concerned that tree roots would damage the foundation.”
Church member Phillip Payne said the decision to remove the two pecan trees came after lengthy discussion.
“If at all possible we would have liked to have saved the trees; and the final decision came when concerns were raised about the foundation,” Payne said. “In fact, we wrapped all the trees on the property to keep any from being damaged during the work.”
Loranger said tree removal “is one of our bigger issues as far as ordinances.”
“I’ve received several complaints already this year, and the fall is the time of year most of this happens,” Loranger said. “We usually get a lot of complaints in the spring when trees are trimmed, but we don’t have an ordinance on tree trimming.”
The arborist said anyone planning to remove a tree for any reason should check with the city first, or go the city Web Site and read the ordinance.
Provisions are there for diseased trees or for those that constitute a hazard to the safety of persons or property. But tree removal first must be approved by the city arborist and in the case of new building construction should be included in site plans, which must gain approval from the Paris City Council.
From the City Code of Ordinances; Chapter 32 Trees
• A protected tree means any tree having a circumference of 60 inches or more, measured four and one-half feet above natural grade level
•No person or corporation shall remove or cause the removal of any protected tree without first securing approval from the Department of Parks and recreation except for exceptions found in the code.
•When site plan approval by the Planning and Zoning Commission and/or City Council is required by this Code for any development, the actual or schematic locations of such exiting trees as would be protected by this chapter shall be shown on all site plans and such site plans depicting any such trees shall be submitted to the arborist for evaluation and recommendation before submission to the planning commission and/or city council.
•Application for the removal of a protected tree located on privately owned property shall by made by the owner of the property on which such tree is located, except that any appropriate city official may make application to remove a tree that constitutes a hazard to the safety of persons or property.
www.paristexas.gov
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