Tree preservation a concern
By: Amber Davis
-Staff Writer-
The child care center at STLCC-Meramec has been postponed again for destruction due to the trees surrounding the building.
Kirkwood Zoning Administrator Jeremy Knapp said the option of which tree to save is left up to the owner of the property.
“Each tree has its own way of being preserved, each destruction company is required to follow the tree study book, that explains how to fence around the tree that the applicant has chosen to save,” Knapp said.
According to “Saving Trees and Making Money in Residential Development” written by Gary Menendez, an associate professor for plant sciences at the University of Tennessee, during construction of a building, trees in the surrounding area get destroyed and leave branches scattered all over the owners land. By saving a tree, it can save the owner money and time by picking up the left over pieces.
“Each tree has its own dollar value to it depending on which tree the applicant wants to preserve,” Knapp said.
Menendez explained that trees of a 10-inch diameter have an average base value of $1,729 and with a 30-inch diameter tree, it can cost $15,554 added on to the property’s value. Meramec horticulture professor Daniel Billman said preserving the trees can alter the chances of a mature tree to live longer. When the destruction companies destroy a building the chances of a tree to live the next three to five years are very slim. “Preserving the trees is a way to protect the root system. Half of any plant is the root. When a company comes in with heavy equipment, it can destroy the roots.”
Knapp said each company is provided with a tree study book, which gives a list of ways to preserve the tree on the land by fencing the surrounding area of the tree to save the roots.“When preserving a tree, any wrecking company must set up a fenced-in area that protects the roots and the tree itself, the fence blocks anything on or around the area of the tree.”
The majority of the trees next to the child care center are mature trees. “Some of the trees are 20 to 30 years old and you would hate to see them being killed for a building to be destroyed. I think it’s nice to save the oaks or any other type they choose to preserve,” Billman said.
