James Bruggers

@jbruggers

Dan Tafel%2C commissioner of Rolling Fields%2C has been ordered to remove newly planted trees.

Tafel counters that there are countless utility poles and shade trees next to state-maintained roads

The city's tree advocates and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet are colliding head-on over rules for safer and easier-to-maintain state roadways.

As Metro Louisville, neighborhood and nonprofit organizations plant thousands of trees to fight a documented problem of urban heat, the cabinet's highway department is working to prevent new shade trees along streets it maintains, such as Brownsboro Road.

And it's coming to a head right now.

In a move that's angered the co-chairs of the Louisville Metro Tree Advisory Commission, the highway department's regional office has ordered 17 trees planted at public expense along Brownsboro Road this year near Country Lane to be removed before Christmas. If not, highways department chief district engineer Matt Bullock says the state will take the trees out and then charge its expenses to City of Rolling Fields Commissioner Dan Tafel, who spearheaded the tree-planting project.

The department also has rejected city tree-planting proposals within state rights of way on Taylor Boulevard and along the Watterson Expressway exit ramp at Poplar Level Road.

"I get the whole heat island and (concerns about) asphalt in the summer, but at the same time, we don't want our roads covered," Bullock said. "We are not anti-tree at the Transportation Cabinet. We are pro-safety."

He said trees are a threat to motorists who may drive off the road and make road maintenance more expensive.

Tafel called the Brownsboro Road threat "bordering on harassment" and said, "I am kind of at a loss."

He noted there's no shortage of large shade trees along numerous state-maintained roads in Louisville, such as Frankfort Avenue, as well as thousands of utility poles. "I feel like this is selective enforcement," he said, adding that he plans to appeal to the cabinet.

He has the support of Henry Heuser Jr. and Katy Schneider, co-chairs of the tree commission, which was created by Mayor Greg Fischer in 2012 to reverse years of declining tree cover.

The state policy may be appropriate for rural state highways where speed limits are faster, but "not for the largest urban areas in the state," Heuser said. "Our interest is in creating canopy cover for roads."

Schneider said the commission needs to do some research on ways to change the policy.

"If they are going to remove those trees, then they need to remove all the other trees that are too close to state highways," said outgoing Metro Councilman Dan Fleming, R-7th District, who covered the $17,000 in tree-planting costs out of his discretionary funding.

Fischer spokesman Chris Poynter declined to comment on whether the 17 trees should be taken out. But he said administration officials understand the reasoning for the state policy.

"We completely respect the safety issue, and we do abide by their (state) rules," he said. Poynter also said there are other places to plant shade trees.

Tree canopy losses

The dispute comes as Louisville has identified a problem with a depleted tree canopy and has encouraged the planting of thousands of trees to combat the effects of an urban heat island.

An urban heat island occurs when its warmer in a city's center compared to surrounding rural areas. The heat is exacerbated by downtown buildings, parking lots and other surfaces like roads that absorb heat.

Two years ago, research by Brian Stone Jr. at Georgia Institute of Technology found that the difference between urban and rural temperatures in the Louisville area was growing at one of the fastest rates in the country. He is now studying how to reduce urban heat in Louisville.

Louisville also commissioned a tree canopy study to assess the impact of storms, disease, drought and age on the city's trees. Preliminary findings showed a core part of the city, from Butchertown west to Parkland and south to South Louisville, lost 9 percent of its tree cover from 2004 to 2012.

Louisville allows trees to be planted along its public rights of way but limits them only on height, not trunk size. Mark White, Louisville's arborist, said city officials don't want trees to grow onto power lines or any other overhead obstructions.

Louisville is also crossed by numerous state-maintained highways that don't look so much like highways, such as Bardstown Road, part of Broadway, South Second and Third streets, and Taylor Boulevard.

Bullock said that any object placed in the right of way of a state road needs an encroachment permit and that Kentucky officials seek to preserve a "clear zone" to limit dangers to motorists.

No trees can be planted in a clear zone with trunks wider than four inches in diameter at maturity, he said.

But he acknowledged "that's so restrictive, hardly any trees would fit," adding that "we routinely relax that," though he conceded not by much. "If you go farther back off the roadway, we are a lot more comfortable with allowing larger trees," he said.

Bullock said shade causes roads to remain wet longer after rain, creating maintenance and safety concerns, and that roots too close to roads can also damage the surface.

Related: Core of Louisville lost 9 percent of tree cover

Interactive: Louisville's tree canopy and heat map

Uneven enforcement

The state's rules are the same for rural or urban highways, Bullock said, but on Brownsboro Road, where the speed limit is 35 mph, the clear zone would be 20 feet. For highways with a 55 mph limit, the clear zone is 30 feet, he said.

Tafel said the new trees on Brownsboro replaced shade trees taken out two years ago as part of a joint Louisville Metro and highway department road widening. The new trees are young willow oaks and zelkovia, both of which can grow 40 to 60 feet tall, with trunks larger than four inches.

If the trees had to be planted 20 feet from the Brownsboro Road curb, they would need to be rooted in a private parking lot, not the public landscaping strip that was part of the road construction there, he said.

Tafel said the highway department at first did not object to replacing shade trees with shade trees but later denied the permit. Months passed, and Tafel said he decided to get the trees in the ground anyway.

They were planted in May and October.

He said his appeal will be based on what he sees as unfair enforcement — that his project has been singled out.

Bullock acknowledging uneven enforcement but said that's because the state has limited staff and budget and there are just too many trees already wrongly planted in rights of ways.

"We realize there are trees up against (state) roadways everywhere," Bullock said. "We cannot address every tree bigger than

four inches within the clear zone, or we just couldn't do anything else."

He said it's not practical to have utility poles removed.

Tree advocates said they want a compromise that saves the trees and recognizes that urban state highways with slower speed limits and curbs can be treated differently from open country roadways — and that recognizes the full value of trees.

"Trees are infrastructure, just like utility poles," said arborist Michael Hayman, a volunteer with the tree commission.

He said the trees provide services, including cooling and cleaning the air. If utility poles are acceptable near roads because they are considered infrastructure, trees should be as well, he said.

"I feel we can come to a solution, but we need to get there," said Gina O'Brien, executive director of Brightside, the city's nonprofit partner that promotes beautification and tree planting. "I have a lot of (tree-planting) projects (pending), and a lot of them are on state roads."

Reach reporter James Bruggers at (502) 582-4645 or on Twitter @jbruggers.

TREE BENEFITS

• Economic: Well-placed trees help homeowners and businesses save on air-conditioning in the summer. Shoppers in tree-lined commercial districts report more frequent shopping, longer trips, and willingness to spend more on goods. Trees also increase property values.

• Environment: Trees improve air quality, absorb carbon dioxide to produce oxygen, and by saving energy, can reduce pollution from power plants. They reduce stormwater in sewers, meaning fewer overflows, and reduce urban heat.

Social: Trees help reduce crime rates and foster more sociable neighborhoods, creating a safer and closer-knit community through beautification and civic pride.

Source: Brightside