Colby city council approves tree ordinance
The Colby city council approved a tree planting ordinance at their monthly meeting on Tuesday. The ordinance provides guidelines for trees planted on the boulevards between the sidewalks and roads, as well as for trees planted on private property a certain distance from described public works.
Before the regular council meeting began, the city planning committee met to discuss the details of the ordinance. The document was drafted after looking at similar ordinances of several nearby communities and taking parts from each that it was believed would best fit the city of Colby.
The ordinance will require residents to get a permit before they can plant a tree in the space between sidewalks and streets. This permit will be completely free, but will allow the city to better manage what types of trees will be placed and where. Once the trees are planted and established, the city can prune or remove them as the city needs, but maintenance will be on the owners of the trees. In addition to regulating trees planted in boulevard spaces, some rules will apply to trees planted on private property, depending on their proximity to public utilities. These also will not require a permit.
The ordinance states that, if the distance between the street curb and the sidewalk is less than five feet, no trees can be planted in that space. Small and medium sized trees, which were described as reaching a height of 30 to 40 feet at maturity, would be allowed in boulevard spaces between five and eight feet. Large trees, described as reaching 50 feet at maturity, would be allowed on spaces where the boulevard space between curb and sidewalk reaches eight feet and beyond. In addition to size regulation, tree branches that hang over sidewalks shall be kept no lower than seven feet high and will need to be pruned by the owners accordingly.
Specific types of trees that were mentioned at the meeting to be prohibited included silver maple, elm, and fruit trees. Other prohibitions mentioned included not allowing trees to be planted within eight feet of a driveway or alley, fire hydrant, water stop box, or gas shutoff or within 25 feet of an intersection of city streets. Additionally, trees would need to be planted at least two feet away from sidewalks or curbs for small trees, three feet for medium trees, and four feet for large trees. Spacing between the trees themselves requires that there be 20 feet between small trees, 30 feet between medium trees, and 35 feet between large trees.
When questions were taken from the community, the topic of whether the city would help sponsor trees to be planted in these spaces was brought up. The ordinance itself came into being partially because of the construction on Second Street, and the subsequent removal of trees along that road due to that construction, which highlighted a gray area that surrounded the trees located in the boulevard.
“I’ve got a tough time paying for trees in boulevards,” Harland Higley, director of public works stated. “In the parks themselves we have a program set up that if you donate ‘X’ amount, we’ll plant a tree. The streets themselves, though, my opinion is that I don’t think that the city should get involved in sponsoring trees. Because it’ll be tough to find out if you want a tree and we pay for yours, but can’t pay for someone else’s because we don’t have the money this year. It just makes it more complicated.”
When pressed about what the city’s plans were to keep the city beautified, it was suggested by the council committee that this was being done through the parks. Committee member Todd Schmidt also pointed to another part of the ordinance that could keep the door open to such projects.
“‘The common council shall so encourage the planting, care and protection of trees and shrubs on private property within the city of Colby,’” Schmidt quoted from the ordinance document. “So depending on whatever ‘encouragement’ means, there could be some sort of program to plant some more trees and try to raise some money to fund it.”
Schmidt also said that further discussion on the matter could be taken up in a parks department meeting.
_ There was discussion on and approval of a motion to add stop signs to create a three-way stop at the intersection of Community Drive and Hornet Drive. There is concern over traffic speeds once the construction on Community Drive is completed, so the hope is that the stop signs will make the intersection safer to use.
_ The council approved an amount not to exceed $8,000 to purchase speed display signs for Second Street. These signs would have solar powered radar feedback displays that would indicate to drivers if they are going over the 25 mile per hour speed limit. While there is no specific place picked out for these signs at this time, they likely would be placed somewhere midway between Adams and Spence Streets.
