THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 1, 1995 TAG: 9509290210
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY XIAOHONG ZHANG SWAIN, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Long : 154 lines
IT HAS BECOME a familiar scenario in Chesapeake: Another stand of lush, green trees falls before bulldozers, casualties of the city's fast-growing economy.
Soon there's a flood of calls to City Hall from upset citizens worried about the rapid loss of greenery in this once-pastoral community.
``We're growing too fast,'' said Betty Campen, who once took walks through the woods near her Great Bridge home. ``To me, we don't even have a natural park nearby. To go to Northwest River Park, you have to get in the car and travel.''
City officials say they do not know how much wooded land has been cleared.
But Mark Shea of the Planning Department said his rough estimate, based on aerial photos, is that 40 percent - or about 141 square miles - of Chesapeake's 353 square miles is uninterrupted wooded land.
While citizens bemoan the loss of green spaces, city officials say they are trying their best to preserve trees.
Chesapeake's landscape ordinance, originally adopted in 1990, is being reviewed by a committee of inspection officials, economic planners, builders and engineers.
Before issuing a building permit for new developments, the city inspections department requires that developers abide by the landscape ordinance, which spells out standards and guidelines for planting, preserving and maintaining trees.
Commercial properties, for example, must have some type of buffer between them and residential neighborhoods, a certain amount of ``tree canopy'' or coverage by trees and islands for plants in parking lots.
Residential neighborhoods must have buffers and a certain amount of tree coverage.
But the city has no control over property owners who cut down trees for agricultural purposes, said John King, an environmental coordinator with the inspections department.
``We have some concerns over it,'' he said. ``But we have to stay within our authority.''
City Arborist Kris Dameron reviews developers' preliminary and final landscape plans.
``I make sure the percentage of tree canopy meets the ordinance's requirement, that trees left on the site will be protected and that the plant species chosen are appropriate,'' Dameron said.
Enforcement of the landscape ordinance has saved a number of important trees, King said.
The largest elm in Chesapeake, for example, looms over Deep Creek Amoco Service Station at 200 N. George Washington Highway.
Though the tree is actually rooted on the property of neighboring Deep Creek Intermediate School, the owner of the service station was required by the inspections department to build a fence around the tree while the station was being renovated last year.
``While we were doing construction, the city arborist visited us,'' said Jay Monroe, general manager of Moss Oil Co., which owns the service station. ``She didn't want us to disturb any of the trees.''
According to Monroe, the giant elm is quite a local curiosity. ``Over the years, people have come to see the tree,'' he said.
Forests and wooded areas also are preserved through a park system.
Portions of wooded land and wetlands along the Intracoastal Waterway and the Northwest River are protected through The Nature Conservancy, a Charlottesville-based private environmental group.
Rob Riordan, the group's spokesperson, said the organization was given 42 acres of land in 1990 and purchased another 416 acres in 1993 along the Northwest River. In 1991, the agency was given 2,200 acres along the Intracoastal Waterway for preservation, he said.
City Council also this week approved plans for a 43-acre arboretum on Oak Grove Road, where examples of native trees and plants would be preserved. King, a member of the board of the Arboretum Corp., the non-profit group that will run the attraction, said portions of the arboretum could be open to visitors by next spring.
To educate citizens about the importance of trees, the city, in cooperation with local organizations, has sponsored special programs such as Arbor Day, the Business Beautification Awards for good landscaping and a ``Building Among Trees'' workshop and luncheon featuring national urban forest expert Don Willeke.
Gail Bradshaw, special programs coordinator for the city's Parks and Recreation department and a liaison with the Chesapeake Environmental Improvement Council, said the events are aimed at encouraging people to plant more trees.
At the annual Arbor Day event, the city gives away 20,000 seedlings to schools and shopping centers.
``We've been trying to put emphasis on trees before it's too late,'' Bradshaw said.
In recent years, Campen has confined her walks to a short nature trail behind the Great Bridge Community Center on Holt Drive.
The trail winds through a patch of natural forest that is covered with tall, mature oak, ash and maple trees and other species, including sourwood, dwarf sumac, black gum, Solomon's seal, dogwood, black haw and Addler's fern.
Then earlier this year, Campen learned that even the nature trail might fall prey to blacktop.
To make way for more parking at the expanding municipal center on Cedar Road, the city planned to turn the trail and a nearby ball field into parking lots.
Campen decided she had to fight to save the little patch of woods. She and a friend, Dean Bohon, gathered more than 700 citizens' signatures on a petition they presented to the city.
``City Manager James Rein said that because of the petition, several council members are looking for the possibility to put up a high-rise parking garage,'' which would spare some trees, said Bohon.
But, considering that a multilevel parking garage would cost four times what a ground-level parking lot would cost, Bohon is skeptical about changing the city's plans.
``What we have done may end up nothing,'' said Bohon.
As things stand now, Thomas H. Westbrook, assistant public works director, said the city has funding only for ground-level parking.
``How to accommodate all the interests, the nature trail, the community center and the ball field, won't be determined until it comes down to the actual design,'' he said.
Westbrook said the design of parking lots probably will be completed this winter, and construction will begin next spring.
Campen shares Bohon's skepticism.
``I'm afraid the trail will be gone one of these days,'' she said. MEMO: Source: Donald Willeke, president of American Forests and Chair of the
National Urban Forest Council.
ILLUSTRATION: [Color cover photo, unidentified, of trees]
Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
Betty Campen and some 700 residents are petitioning the city to
preserve the wooded area and trails behind the Great Bridge
Community Center.
Staff photo by MORT FRYMAN
This elm tree at Deep Creek Intermediate School is believed to be
the largest of its kind in Chesapeake.
Trees continue to be sacrificed when land is cleared for building.
This home on George Washington Highway won the 1994 business and
beautification award.
Graphic
WHY PLANT TREES
They conserve energy by cutting down cost of heating and cooling
buildings.
They control pollutants and improve air quality.
They function as water retention and detention structures.
They reduce noise.
They reduce stress and improve physical and mental health.
They increase the value of property.
They improve neighborhood environment and promote environmental
responsibility and ethics.
by CNB