CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A petition to protect a heritage tree in East Charlotte is circulating online.
Homeowners on Margaret Wallace Road said the City of Charlotte notified them they would need to cut down a heritage tree in their front year to make room for a $3.6 million sidewalk expansion.
The city said it's a part of their Sidewalk and Pedestrian Safety Program. The tree in question is deemed a heritage tree. The tree is a North Carolina native tree that is at least 30 inches in diameter. It's protected under Charlotte's Unified Development Ordinance, or so the homeowners thought.
Just across the flowing river of cars is a piece of calm. It's the home where Ryan O'Daniel and his girlfriend Amanda Davis make their memories.
"We just love this property," O'Daniel said. "It’s its own little private space. A typical Saturday starts at Lowes.”
The couple ends their days in their front year and in the backdrop is a 100-foot-old willow oak tree. It was a selling point for Amanda Davis three years ago.
"It’s a staple of the property, it’s a large portion of the front yard," Davis said. "The big heritage trees [are] all around the property.”
But the chapter of their lives spent underneath the canopy might be changing since city leaders said the roots of the tree are in the way of the construction.
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"The city is trying to put a sidewalk along Margaret Wallace Road," O'Daniel said.
O'Daniel and Davis have spent time nailing down signs and spreading the word about the tree removal. They thought the City's UDO protected the removal, but if a permit is filed and approved, it's allowed.
"They’ve offered to plant mitigation trees which is required by the ordinance," Davis said. "Charlotte cares about their trees, they care about their canopy I was really surprised when I was working with his team for months and they didn’t seem enthusiastic about saving it.”
The City of Charlotte sent WCNC Charlotte the following statement:
The new heritage tree regulation, adopted in 2022, within the revised Charlotte Tree Ordinance protects trees native to North Carolina that are 30 inches or greater in diameter located on private property in Charlotte’s city limits. The protection level associated with this regulation is moderate and allows property owners to remove trees when obtaining a permit, planting at least one mitigation tree, and paying a mitigation fee. Development customers must comply with a stricter version of the heritage tree regulation found in the Unified Development Ordinance.
Public entities such as the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County and utilities also must comply with the heritage regulation when undertaking public projects. Per the 2040 Comprehensive Plan policy and UDO guidance, city departments are required to finalize compliance agreements with Urban Forestry outlining how the department will comply with the core objective and intent of the heritage tree regulation.
Urban Forestry issued a permit to the city’s General Services Department for this project related to heritage tree removal. The project team is evaluating possible design alternatives that accomplish the goal of constructing a new sidewalk while also attempting to preserve the existing tree. The city is committed to continuing efforts to work with the property owner and other city departments and stakeholders to ensure a fair and reasonable outcome.
The City is required to mitigate for the removal of heritage trees. Public entities are required to enter into formal mitigation agreements with the City's Urban Forestry Group stating how the entity will mitigate for the removal of heritage trees. Mitigation agreements are required to meet the intent and spirit of the heritage tree requirement and may include alternate mitigation requirements in addition to the standard mitigation requirements in the Charlotte Tree Ordinance. City staff is currently working on finalizing agreements with the General Services Department. For this specific project, one or more mitigation trees shall be planted within the project footprint when feasible to mitigate for the removal of each heritage tree. If planting within the project footprint isn't feasible, then the mitigation planting shall occur off-site. This project may also submit a mitigation fee if feasible but isn't required to. If no mitigation payment is submitted by the project, then a minimum of three mitigation trees shall be planted by the project for each heritage tree removed.
Contact Austin Walker at awalker@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.