The roots of an 80-foot American Basswood in the 2300 block of Electric Avenue, causes the adjacent sidewalk and driveway sections to buckle, which poses a trip hazard to pedestrians, including a nearby disabled senior who uses a walker.
The roots of the tree, an 80-foot American Basswood in the 2300 block of Electric Avenue, cause the adjacent sidewalk and driveway sections to buckle, which, along with the profusion of pellet-like seeds, poses a trip hazard to pedestrians.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
WYANDOTTE – The City Council voted 4-2 to preserve an 80-foot tree which a resident said poses a serious trip hazard for his elderly disabled wife.
The request to remove the tree was denied by Council members Chris Calvin, Megan Maiani, Donald Schultz and Mayor Pro Tem Robert DeSana, with Councilmen Leonard Sabuda and Robert Alderman voting to remove the tree.
Don Herubin, 84, who lives in the 2300 block of Electric Avenue, said his 85-year-old disabled wife, who relies on a walker, is at risk of tripping on the driveway and sidewalk sections, which the roots from the 80-foot tree continue to buckle, despite past replacement of the concrete slabs and root grinding.
Herubin said the copious quantity of pellet-like seeds also pose a slip risk to pedestrians.
Department of Public Works Superintendent Brian Martin, a certified arborist, said in a memo to the city council that the 80-foot American Basswood, with a 25-foot diameter leaf canopy, is healthy, with no sign of disease, rot, insect damage or major branch die off.
“It is a valuable old growth street tree, providing oxygen, carbon dioxide processing and shade,” Martin said in an Aug. 31 memo. “To provide the same environmental benefit, it is estimated that it would require the planting of 11 trees of a 2.5-inch caliper (diameter).”
Herubin offered to pay for a replacement tree, to be placed elsewhere, if the tree were removed, but was told that any replacement tree would be planted in the same spot.
His neighbor, Jennifer Jezak, also sent a letter to the city, requesting the removal of the tree.
The city’s tree cutting policy states that trees on public property will only be removed if they are dying, damaged, diseased or in the way of an approved construction project.
Following the Sept. 14 council meeting, City Engineer Greg Mayhew and Mayor Pro Tem Robert DeSana declined to comment on the decision.
Herubin, who has lived in the house for 57 years, is frustrated, and worried about his wife’s safety.
Jezak, also a long-time resident, said she is concerned by the buckling sidewalk slabs, which are pushed upward by the tree roots. She said the slabs, which have been replaced multiple times, continue to pose a tripping hazard.