Urban Forest News – West End Tulip, Shaughnessy Tree Loss

A couple of items from this Thursday’s Vancouver Courier that will be of interest.  The first is a piece by Naoibh O’Commor about the removal of trees at a Granville and 16th development site.  The second is a piece by Allan Garr on the West End tulip tree that was referenced on this blog last week.

Here’s a few excerpts to whet your appetite…

Axes fell trees at controversial development; Residents oppose loss of green area
Vancouver Courier; June 18, 2010; Naoibh O’Connor

A mound of earth and debris is all that remains on what was a heavily-treed property at 16th and Granville slated for a controversial townhouse development.

Work to remove dozens of trees started last week. On Wednesday crews chopped up tree stumps at the now barren site by Granville Street and McRae Avenue. The pre-construction clearcut exposes to passersby Nichol House–a 1913 heritage building whose exterior is being preserved–and a white-coloured mansion on Granville Street.

Residents fought the development project for years. The property was rezoned under former mayor Sam Sullivan’s council. An effort to reverse that decision under Mayor Gregor Robertson’s council failed last fall.

Ruth Hamilton, president of Shaughnessy Heights Property Owners’ Association, which opposes the project, learned the trees had been axed when an association member emailed her with photos. “The appearance of the site is worse than we thought it would be–worse than we imagined,” she said Wednesday. “We think it is a huge waste of trees and that green area. We certainly still regret the fact these trees were sacrificed for an unwelcome townhouse development that alters the whole character of the neighbourhood…”

:: Read the complete story here

Stop the presses–council errs on side of caution
Vancouver Courier; June 18, 2010; Allen Garr

Two decisions at city council’s last planning and environment committee meeting are worth noting. For a council that has been accused of shooting before it aims, both exhibit a surprising level of caution.

One had to do with the house and West Side property that are part of the late venerable architect Abe Rogatnick’s estate.

The other, which I will deal with first, concerns a 107-year-old tulip tree at 1245 Harwood St. in the West End. It’s a common enough species in Eastern deciduous forests of North America. In Vancouver, where you can find a tree hugger behind every bush, Liriodendron tulipifera is a rare and cherished species, or so we have been led to believe.

Council was asked to consider allowing a developer–represented by Bing Thom’s firm of architects–an additional six storeys on a 12-storey building in exchange for not axing the tree. The value of the bonus was estimated at about $4 million. According to city planner Brent Toderian, that would be roughly equivalent to the additional cost the developer would incur to develop underground parking without taking out the tree…

:: Read the complete story here.

Ground support: a tentacle-like grip on the soil

This particular tree is located along the west sidewalk as you approach the Burrard Bridge coming from Cornwall. It is part of an impressive line of trees shielding the Chestnut Street, triple-winged apartment building from the busy street.

What makes this a Great Tree is the root system bulging from the earth, showing a long, tentacle-like grip on the soil. The amount of leaves this tree drops come autumn also makes it a contender as a Great Tree. Not sure what kind of tree this is, and there are certainly other larger, wider, leafier cousins nearby, but something about this one showing off it’s ground support stands out.

– David N.

Giant West End tulip tree threatened

We’re running an excerpt from the main VPSN blog that we know will be of interest to Great Tree enthusiasts. It concerns a spectacular specimen of tulip tree found in the West End – one which is currently threatened by development pressures.  You can find the main post here.

Over the years, density bonusing has acted as an important tool in Vancouver’s city-building methodology. It’s a tool with which planners, guided by Council, have used to support the development or enhancement of important public benefits – parks, community facilities, and public art to name a few. Under the process, extra allowable height (“density”) is permitted on a given project, and in exchange for this, developers provide a public good.

Heritage preservation, as a type of public good, has also been factored into this process — and through this scheme various aspects of Vancouver’s material culture have been supported. Important building fascades have been preserved, historic structured restored, and key architectural features have received protection.

But when it comes to our natural heritage — that great commonwealth of green and blue that one sees on all the postcards — the ability to use the density bonusing as a preservation tool begins to run into difficulty.

Earlier today City Council has voted against providing a heritage density bonus to a West End developer. The developer wanted to access the bonus in exchange for working around the largest known specimen of tulip tree in the city…. [more]

Vancouver to gain another tree street?

Vancouver has a lovely tradition of streets named after trees.  Maple, Larch, Ash, Arbutus and others cross a number of neighbourhoods in their north-south journey across the city.  Tomorrow, this grove of tree streets may just find themselves joined by a brand-new arboreal colleague.

The City’s Street Name Committee will be presenting a report to City Council that would see a one-block component of MacDonald between West 16th and 17th renamed Bonsai Street.  The particular segment is adjacent to a brief jog and split in MacDonald that has created some confusion over the years (both the jog and this one block split are both called “MacDonald” even though they run parallel).

The solution: a new name for this tiny branch of a road… and a nice nod to the Japanese art of ornamental dwarf trees.

Mme. Nature did all the design work

I chose this tree  – an Ash – among a few others because it is so perfectly formed–without any help from us. Mme Nature did all the design work. There are so many wonderful trees in Vancouver, all of which I’d like to adopt… Personally? I’m pretty sure I have a tree gene so I’d marry one if the law allowed.

This Great Tree is on the west of Fir on the North side of West 12th. In front of the first bldg on that corner.

– Janet H.

Pigeon Park’s Giant

She stands so tall, and so stands so long.  Literally and virtually and actually unclimbable.

She stands there launching at the buildings around her.

I’m sure you’ve seen her.  You can’t help but see her.  She’s impossible not to notice.

The Pigeon Park Giant.  Never has a tree been decorated and seen so much as the Giant.  The downtown, the trials and triumphs… she has seen them.  Where we all give up, she cries a little and grows some more.

– Joe C.

Kits Beach: Weeping willows, sweeping majesty

Trees are my most favourite Beings on the planet next to whales and dolphins. People take some getting used to.

The first time I became aware I was in love with a tree I was seven years old.  My family had recently moved to Vancouver from Port Hardy.  This was 1963 and we moved into Kitsilano.  I was used to being surrounded by old evergreen forests and large cedars that creaked when the breeze blew through their tops.  It was a deeply southing sound and comforts me still.

We moved here in late summer and the first time I went to Kits each I saw the Weeping Willows that stand between the change rooms and the basketball court.  Branches swept the ground and tickled my skin as I played with them.  I was completely enchanted by these gentle giants that swept down with such majesty, instead of reaching up to the sky I was used to.

– Maureen M.

A plum perfect welcome to Vancouver

I used to live in the house at the corner of 19th and Balsam when I first moved to Vancouver.  After a few weeks I was happy to find out there was a plum tree right outside my window.  Everyday when I left the house I would pluck a few plums and have a delicious snack for the day.  It was a perfect way to welcome me to Vancouver and added some sweet-tartness to my first months in the city.

– Rebecca H.

The tiny magnolia

There is a small magnolia tree right on the corner of Haro and Bidwell.  There is about 4 magnolia trees lining the street.  This one stands out because it is struggling to get bigger.  It has huge flowers on it.  It is my favourite tree in Van.

– Shawn B.

Metro: Vancouver losing its tree canopies: Group

An article in today’s Metro about the loss of mature street trees in the city.  For the first time, Heritage Vancouver is listing Vancouver’s historic street trees on their annual “Top Ten Endangered Sites” list.  You can read the rationale on the Heritage Vancouver webpage.

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

Metro: Vancouver losing its tree canopies: Group

 Jeff Hodson, Metro Vancouver

The majestic tree canopies that shade Vancouver’s streets are being frittered away, warns a local heritage group.

For the first time, the city’s historic street trees have been included in Heritage Vancouver’s annual list of endangered heritage sites.

“If you look at the great cities around the world,” said Donald Luxton, president of Heritage Vancouver, “one of the things that helps define them are boulevards and canopies — and we’re losing ours.”

The issue, Luxton said, is that when trees get old and need to be replaced, they’re cut down and replaced with smaller, ornamental trees — “stunted dwarfs” that lack the size and character of the original. He points to Victory Square, where several of the city’s oldest and largest bigleaf maples were cut down and were not replaced.

The Park Board, he said, needs a one-to-one replacement strategy so that when trees are taken down they are replaced by one of the same species.

:: Read the rest of the article