Happy 2007 to everyone. I’m back at work after some much-needed time off, and some not-so-much-needed holiday feasting. Sorry to have left you readers with nothing new to read.
This one’s for tree-lovers. I had a plaintive e-mail on Dec. 27 from Sherry Williams, a longtime Observer reader and letter writer. It was Sherry and her husband, Sam, who were forced by the city a few years back to whack off the blossoms of some daylilies they had planted in a median near their home, because the city feared the flowers were a traffic hazard.
Here’s an excerpt:
Today at 9:20 AM I called the Observer about the trees in Charlotte, being felled for no apparent reason near Midtown Square. I am afraid, during the course of trying to state my point of view, I cried. The idea that all of the hawks and owls whose homes have been removed (six large oaks and one magnolia) just this week, from Kings Drive, causes me to cry. ... I feel that large oaks have souls and cutting them without cause is the worst kind of evil.
I wasn’t “venting,” I was brainstorming. I want to save what is left of the trees and some of the open space. However, clearly, I don’t know how to do it. Happy New Year. Sherry Williams
I drove past the site later that day. The oaks cut were apparently near the Kings-Independence intersection. It was cordwood by the time I saw it. Here’s how I responded to Sherry:
Like you, I hate it when trees are cut down. But in the Kings Drive case, I have to conclude the overall project will result in a lot more trees living a lot longer, as what are now a bunch of concrete parking lots that cover Little Sugar Creek are dismantled and turned into greenway – for posterity.
In our neighborhood, a half-acre lot of woods and wetlands was recently all but clear cut. All fully legal, of course. If you really want to have an effect, keep beating up on City Council members and the mayor to enact stronger protections for our natural landscape. They think because we have a tree ordinance (a relatively weak one) and a county creek buffer ordinance – which has grandfather-clause exemptions big enough to accommodate the Biltmore House – that we don’t need stronger ordinances. We do.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
A tree-lover weeps
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16 comments:
I agree that it's likely that the Kings Drive trees needed to go for the sake of the greenway. But Charlotte's only unique marker is its treescape. Save, don't cut, lest there really becomes "no there there."
I sometimes think we make more of the "unique" aspect of Charlotte's trees than they merit. Lovely as they are, heavily wooded city neighborhoods are hardly a Charlotte exclusive.
It is not a concern for trees which drives this city, it is a concern for profit. Recently, on Beatties Ford Road, near Lakeview, a developer, in clearing land for Lakeview Meadows or some such, cut at least 10 oaks which were at least 100 years old or better. They were near houses which were demolished to make room for the "meadows". It is certainly a meadow now, and it wouldn't have been difficult to keep the large oaks, but better (more profitably), one must suppose, to keep a patch of trees in one place, in compliance with the set aside laws of Charlotte.
when it gets hot ya ll miss them their trees; Trees help cool the earth and keep erosion down too.
just wait for 95 degree day and wlk under an old tree ya'll see what im talkin' bout'. by the way I am from OHIO and wanted to tell y all that we live on flat ground with no trees and it still gets hot up there, no trees like y'all have .
The trees are unique in the sense that they the only thing that is memorable about Charlotte's streetscape. I agree that heavily wooded in-town neighborhoods are not unique to Charlotte. Those can be found in many cities along the eastern seabord. But without them, Charlotte would be ugly and not worth nearly as much.
If that woman was a real tree-lover, she'd have chained herself to them. She should be ashamed of herself.
The idea that the Kings Drive trees needed to be removed for the "greenway" reminds me of the wonderful line from Dr. Strangelove: "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!"
One thing about living here, it will keep the word "ersatz" in your vocabulary.
I would like to suggest something that people can do to increase our canopy. The Mecklenburg Soil and Water Conservation District is holding our 36th annual tree seedling sale on January 20th at the Hal Marshall Center on North Tryon (that is the old Sears Building for people who have lived here a while). You can buy seedlings for a $1 plus we will have information on rain barrels, ways to reduce waste and many other conservation programs that you can partcipate in. For more information see: www.mecklenburgconservation.com
>>keep beating up on City Council members and the mayor to enact stronger protections for our natural landscape.>>
'Our' natural landscape?
If you own it, then do whatever you like.
Oh, what's that you say? You DONT own it?
Well, the just purchase it and it will be yours then you can do whatever you like.
Oh, what's that you say? You don't want to purchase it, you just want to tell someone else what to do with it?
I personally hate when I am driving down Queens and all those old sticks and leaves keep fallinng on my Range Rover.
I think we should cut them all down and replace them with flourescent lamps.
To the last poster, those trees on Queens Road West are mostly in the public Right of Way (ROW) and are "our" trees. By being placed in the ROW they have stood the test of time and that road is often cited as one of Charlotte residents' favorite streets. I am not sure what you have against tree-lined and majestic roadways like Queens Road West but fortunately your prefences are not consistent with the majority of residents who want to see more tree-lined streets and neighborhoods.
Don't be an idiot. He is complaining that about one person controlling the property of another, not the trees on Queens.
(That's not specifically an issue in the weeping tree lover's lament, since that too was city property.)
These posts amaze me. Every once in awhile someone has something good to say. For the most time it's just bickering crap. Grow up you pathetic juveniles.
Nanny-nanny boo-boo, stick your head in doo-doo.
Are you sure they were cut down? They might have been stolen by the same band of thieves ransacking Dilworth.
Those who wantonly destroy trees should be punished by being tied up and forced to listen to a recording of the collected works of Joyce Kilmer.
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