City of St. Louis Lacks Good Street Tree Requirement
One of the key ingredients, in my view, of making cities more walkable (ie: walker friendly) is the proper placement of street trees — trees placed between the sidewalk and curb. These add order to the street as well as create a sense of division between sidewalk and passing traffic. Sadly, the city doens’t have a street tree requirement for new projects.
Above is Hartford looking eastbound with the old Commerce Bank parking lot on the right. Planned housing for this parking area has hit a financing snafu but evntually we’ll see something built here. This post is about the great street trees that line both sides of Hartford.
Sadly, when Commerce Bank torn down the more urbna 2-story structure a few years ago and built a new branch they neglected to include urban street trees along the entire south side of Hartford.
Combined with mostly blank walls this treeless area gives off a much different feel than the surrounding area with its tree-lined streets and sidewalks. At most six trees could have been placed along the side length of this property for a total cost of maybe $3,000. The true value to the area would have been far greater.
In stark contrast to the side street, the Grand side of the Commerce does have urban street trees at nice intervals. I have to wonder if the city made Commerce include these? Was there a concious decision to not have trees on Hartford just around the corner?
The retail building just to the north of Commerce Bank, built in the early 1990s, includes street trees along Grand (above) and Hartford (below).
So often it is the little things that make a difference and when it comes to increasing pedestrian activity (and thus a reduced burden on car storage) little details such as street trees do make a difference.
The city does have some suburbanish landscaping requirements that basically require some token trees/shrubs between the sidewalk and parking lots to screen cars but when it comes to the public right of way — the public sidewalk — it is perfectly OK to allow it to be a wide expanse of blank concrete. Somebody in city government needs to wake up and work on improving our standards. They could start by reviewing the Great Streets initiative from the East-West Gateway Council of Governments.
Interesting, I’d bet the fact that the side of the building wasn’t expected to have as much foot traffic as Grand had a lot to do with it. After all, people have to drive there first and park on the street before they can walk around there… right! Oh wait, they have neighbors nearby that might want to walk… my bad.
I must admit, I do enjoy walking around my Southampton neighborhood. The tree lined, one-way streets really make it feel friendly to walk down to Macklind and patronize some of the businesses there. My only problem is lack of maintenance. I try to keep the trees in front of my house trimmed a bit so that branches aren’t in the way walking down the sidewalk or parking a car, but I’m not exactly in the majority there.
So, if some miracle were to happen and a street tree requirement was made, I hope they have some sort of plan for upkeep of said trees.
Although it is true that there is no mandatory requirement for trees on ALL projects run through the City, it should be noted that projects in Chapter 99 redevelopment areas and projects seeking tax abatement (both requiring review from Susan Taylor at SLDC), are required to include deciduous street trees at 25-30ft intervals along all frontages of that property.
I agree, street trees are important, much like ADA compliance. But, like ADA compliance, it gets back to attitude. Trees require maintenance – they need to be watered, trimmed and have their leaves raked up every year. They can also heave your sidewalk, creating a trip-and-fall hazard in addition to the cost of replacing the damaged sidewalk. They also have a tendency to block those all-important signs announcing retail activities. So, from many commercial property owners’ perspectives, the fewer trees the better. Do I agree? No. Trees, especially in urban areas, provide an important counterbalance to the built environment. And it really gets back to government to push the issue as a part of the development process – developers may whine, but if they all have to “play by the same rules”, they usually don’t whine too much.
And a side observation – Denver has a City Forester (and has had for many years) – does St. Louis? If not, then why not?http://www.denvergov.org/Forestry/TakingCareof/ProtectingyourTrees/TakingCareof/ProtectingyourTrees2/tabid/387533/Default.aspx
Apparently St Louis does:
Greg Hayes – Forestry Commissioner
City of St. Louis Department of Parks, Recreation & Forestry
http://stlouis.missouri.org/citygov/parks/forestry_div/
“The Tree Section of the Forestry Division is responsible for the planting, removal, and maintenance of all trees in city parks, median strips, and 150,000 street trees. Each year the Division plants and removes approximately 3,000 street trees. In an effort to maintain the city’s rich tree inventory, the Division has undertaken a comprehensive reforestation program to identify, design, and plant trees for the city parks as well as conduct an ongoing district trim program. The Forestry Division inspects approximately 20,000 trees per year.”
I agree with the need for street-tree requirements 100%.
Not only do the trees make an area feel more pedestrian friendly and walkable, there have been numerous studies which confirm health benefits of greenery such as street trees in uban environments, AND the street trees help fight pollution, AND alleviate some of the “heat island” effects of heavily built areas.
Once upon a time I thought that I had seen somewhere that you could request a street tree on your property in the city – is this true or still an ongoing practice? I’d like to get one in my very bare front yard if I could…
I live on Kingshighway & my house is the only house with trees. I don’t know why my neighbors haven’t planted trees but there are several blocks with trees, then blocks with no trees, then my two little trees.
STL has more street trees than almost anywhere. Need proof? Google earth the City.
Steve,
I think the tree issue is very important, however I think you have only scratched the surface. As you suggested the Great Streets Initiative is a good place to start. We need more than just a tree requirement. We need a complete streetscape requirement. The formula exists. There are ample examples. So why does the city seem to ignore something like this? I am not asking for complete streets over night, but simple things like more bike racks, street furniture, treewells, etc could be retrofitted to areas making them much more appealing.
We are visiting another state right now, a magnet for those seeking a creative life. Here, in this 100,000-something person town at the base of the mountains, they have closed off their historic main street for a ’70s era urban mall, housing costs are a fortune, and out of work hippies roam the streets. In STL, the glass is definitely half full, and we can’t wait to get home.
One of the issues I’ve seen with urban landscaping, especially downtown, relates to the narrowing of the walkway along outdoor restaurants. I would have liked to have seen the Road To Freedom tour try to walk along 9th and Pine where Baladas Bistro has its outdoor seating, or around Masterpiece BBQ at 7th and Pine. Or, for that matter, have a bunch of young mothers try to push their strollers through the area. Thanks to the large size of the tables and the placement of trees lining the streets, there are parts of the sidewalk that appear to provide three or less feet for clearance. I don’t mind having the trees there, but it’s easier for a restaurant to change its furniture to fit into its surroundings than it is for a city crew to dig up those trees to “expand” the sidewalk by filling in the dirt enclaves that held them.
One cool thing is that you can call the city and have a tree planted free in front of your house (or whatever address you call in) if the tree slot is vacant.
I called the city regarding an open tree slot in front of my neighbor’s house and they had a tree planted in like two weeks.
^ So much for a lack of a street tree plan…
I have been more than aware of this issue for a long time! Trees are vital to the health of a neighborhood by providing shade and softening of the streetscape. One large tree shades most of our house until about 11 am, keeping the front yard cool. At 3pm the backyard tree takes over and shades the back of the house reducing my cooling load and stress on my AC unit during the summer months. Many of my neighbors however hate street trees. They do not like to park under them due to the bird droppings and such. These of course are the same neighbors who have 3 cars and keep all of them in front of their house while their garage off the alley is filled with junk. One other concern was that they contributed to car break-ins and crime by shading at night so street lights are ineffective. This again is another issue since we should do less to light the street and more to light the sidewalks where people walk. Shorter, more numerous street lights (with full cut off to reduce light pollution) would go a long way to make pedestrians, and cars safer at night.
The city about a year ago came down our street and the adjacent streets and bulk planted trees! It was great! We now have one tree that is 3 years old that we called and had planted, and now another that is about 25 feet from it. Of course there are always issues with sewer since ours goes out the front yard to the street instead of the alley.
What we need is ANY development that exceeds a certain percentage of the existing structure should be required to upgrade the landscaping. Many municipalities have online municipal codes we could borrow from. There should also be tree mitigation rules stating if you remove a larger tree you must replace it with the same number of caliper inches in new growth (caliper is the diameter of the tree trunk- Maryland Heights requires new trees to be 2.5 caliper inches minimum. Trees in their municipality that are not in the developed footprint that are removed must be replaced with twice the caliper of the tree being removed. As you could see, at some point its possible the site could be a forest after you plant all of these small trees.
Finally- we need a grassroots campaign to assist property owners. The city gets money for street improvements all the time in the form of grants that business owners can apply for to upgrade their streetscape. Gravois just went thorugh a big push along the Bevo, Holly Hills region.
Jason
Steve,
I forgot to mention, for what its worth they started planting trees along Loughborough yesterday along with other shrubs and ornamentals in front of the Schnucks entrance.
Jason
oldnorth – sounds like you’re in beautiful Boulder, Colorado . . .
Redding, CA, actually. But the bums are pretty much all over the Golden State. It must be the weather.
As Jason said, street trees are a mixed lot. I count them as a blessing, cooling the dark interiors of my cars and shielding my pale-skinned family as we walk in the neighborhood. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t curse the flocks of crows that sit in them in the winter and pity my neighbors who have to rake leaves and tend to fallen branches.
So far as stannate’s comment–it’s not the trees, but the restaurants who insist on monopolizing every inch of the sidewalk. Take a look at Culpepper’s, the Majestic, and Wildflower in the CWE for more examples. It’s just another case of the City not enforcing the regulations ….
LisaS- the restaurant seating area is another missed opportunity. Steve has approached this subject before as well as traffic calming devices. This is a perfect opportunity to combine the two and bring the curb out at intersections (where restaurants also typically occur) to widen the area for outdoor seating. OR- if the restaurant cannot get a sidewalk permit (which is what these places would have had to do to have tables out here in the first place which includes a hearing for permit which provides opportunity for public input) they can modify the storefront to open up and allow alfresco dining inside. Kona Grill in KC on the Plaza has done this and its awesome. The bar area which happens to also be the smoking area, opens up to the outside, while they have seating further back for those who dont want to brave the elements.
jason
(now done using the term which)
Unfortunately, opening up the front of a restaurant can be a challenge with some health departments – something about flys and food preparation not being a great combination. The other challenge with sidewalk dining is defining and enforcing limits. Unless an area is fenced in or otherwise corralled, there’s a natural tendency for the private use to ooze over onto the public space, intentionally or not. Much like the assumption that the street in front of my home is presumed to be my private parking spot (in many neighborhoods), the sidewalk in front of many businesses is viewed to be an extension of the retail use inside UNLESS there’s consistent enforcement on the part of the city. Yes, sidewalk dining is a nice amenity that can enhance the vitality of a city. The bottom line remains, however, that the sidewalk is PUBLIC property, for the use of ALL of a city’s citizens. Unimpeded pedestrian access must be maintained at all times. Reduced in width? To a point, fine. But to assume that pedestrians must detour into the street to avoid diners, no way!
Jim Zavist…..I was visitng Denver about a year ago and read in a local newspaper that the mayor wanted to plant 100,000 new trees in the next 20 years, or some plan of that type. Do you know if that is actually happening?
I think the city has a lot of good old trees but I would like to see more. I have friends from other cities that visit STL and always remark on the natural beauty of the areas with the most trees.
I think they’re trying hard to make it happen. Both Denver and St. Louis subsidize the planting of street trees. The big difference between the two cities is that Denver is naturally prairie while St. Louis is naturally forested. If you plant a tree here, you have a reasonable expectation that it will grow and thrive. In Denver, if you plant a tree, you pretty much have to make a conscious effort to keep it watered or it will die. Combine that with metered water rates that increase as consumption goes up (to encourage much-needed conservation), and you need to convince a lot of people to make a long-term commitment to keeping trees alive, even if they’re available for only $35 or $40.
Surprisingly, in many parts of both cities, the tree cover is not that much different – older, wealthier, residential areas have (and use) the resources to create and maintain a significant tree canopy. Newer, poorer, residential areas have far fewer trees, likely a direct result of the cost of planting and maintenance. (Age of neighborhood also has a direct relationship to tree size – South City was mostly farmland 80 years ago, and the early pictures look a lot like our current suburban areas when it comes to trees.) And when it comes to retail, downtown urban renewal areas, old streetcar retail strips and trendy areas are the ones where you find the street trees. The suburban retail strips get their token efforts to appease their local officials, but more often then not, the trees mysteriously start to “disappear” as they mature and start to block signs . . .
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