HomeMy WebLinkAboutBOSTON CHICKEN PUD FINAL - 79 93A - MEDIA - (3)Elms
to ashes
Need for new trees
stems from damage
By SUSAN BECKER
The Coloradoan
The buzzing of chain saws.
could be heard at the intersection
of South Lemay and Pennock
Place on Tuesday as two 60-year-
old Siberian elm trees were dis-
membered.
The two trees, measuring 38
and 58 inches in diameter, had to
be removed after sustaining se-
vere root damage during the con-
struction of the new Boston
Chicken on the east side of the in-
tersection.
"It was a preventable incident,"
said senior city planner Ted Shep-
ard.
The damage, caused by a
trenching machine used in exca-
vating, weakened the trees' root
systems to the point that leaving
the trees was deemed unsafe.
Shepard said a good gust of wind
could have toppled the trees in six
to 18 months.
"We decided it was better to
solve the problem now than cover
them up with dirt and deal with it
later," Shepard said.
Boston Chicken will compen-
sate the city for the loss in two
ways. The Siberian elms will be
replaced with two green ash trees
of approximately 4 inches in di-
ameter.
Boston Chicken also will fi-
nance the planting of more than
40 new trees in the immediate
area, as well as other commercial
corridors in Fort Collins, includ-
ing South College Avenue.
The additional trees will be
hearty species of burr oak, honey
locust, linden and hackberry.
They were chosen for their me-
dium- to fast -growth rate, adapt-
ability to the climate and lack of
low branches, thorns and fruit.
STATE
REGION
GOING OUT ON A LIMB: Joe Hand of Jordan's Tree Service pushes
the top of a tree over while removing two trees from the entrance of
Boston Chicken at Lemay Avenue and Pennock Place.