Why won't Wayne replant its trees?
By: Linda Boutillier
Your Turn
Guest columnist
..... Shame on Wayne. Since 2003, our town has been systematically removing damaged street tress from our curbside and not replacing them.
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Take a look outside your front door. What do you see? you used to see beautiful, full trees. Now you see hot sidewalks, bare telephone poles and exposed wires. You do not see shade.
..... After 23 years of neglect, the town is finally offering to plant tress, but only if township residents place them on their private property. The current administration says that it is no longer replacing the trees it removes form "rights-of-way" areas (also called the road verge - the strip of grass between the curb and sidewalk) because the trees inevitably lift the sidewalks, forcing the town to pay for expensive concrete repairs. To avoid this cost, the administration chooses to leave our streets empty. Why the administration has taken this singular shortsighted solution escapes reason.
..... Other towns such as Verona and Little Falls adapted by simply choosing the right species. By selecting trees with deep, downward-growing root systems and limiting mature highlights, they enjoy green, shaded neighborhoods without damaging their sidewalks. Why doesn't Wayne follow their example?
..... This failed policy creates a broken landscape. We now have a random tree here and a random tree there because most homeowners do not want a tree taking up space on their private lawns. As a result, Wayne residents no longer have a continuous, shaded walking path for themselves, their children and their pets.
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It is time for our administration to stop repeating the same tired excuses. The "vicious cycle" can be broken with modern urban forestry practices. Our town deserves the same shade, beauty and environmental benefits that our neighbors enjoy.
..... We want the original policy followed. Wayne Ordinance 134-85.5A calls for a 5-foot wide easement specifically for sidewalk and shade tree easement. Another provision 134-85.5B(1), calls for the town to plant the trees along the right of way. A third 134.85.5B(2), calls for them to be planted every 50 feet. We need public street trees planted directly along the curbs as called for and as envisioned by the original township planers.
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Wayne is failing to support our neighborhoods and property values. Many of our neighboring towns actively maintain beautiful tree-lined streets. you have to ask yourself why our town doesn't. why are the comfort, safety and home values of taxpaying residents of Wayne being ignored?
..... Shame on Wayne for not including curbside trees in its prosed Master Plan. We understand that the administration says that the Master Plan is not finished yet. The full and practically completed version of this decade-long plan is currently printed and framed for public viewing right in the foyer of the Municipal Building.
..... As it stands on public display, the document contains absolute no provisions or budget for replacing our dying street tress over the next 10 years. while the administration may technically label t a work in progress, the reality on display to every resident entering town hall tells a very different story.
..... shame on Wayne for not supporting the very people who pay the taxes to live here. It is time to bring back our street trees and include these trees in the Master Plan for the future of the town.
..... Linda Boutillier has lived in Wayne for 47 years and worked in its school system for 22 years.