Joe Burgess, left, senior forester for the Georgia Forestry Commission's sustainable community forestry program, and Jim Morris, secretary of the board of Marietta Tree Keepers Inc., take surface temperatures with an electronic thermometer of the Shillings on the Square building that faces Church Street.
Photo by Jon-Michael Sullivan
Photo by Jon-Michael Sullivan
Jim Morris, a retired Cobb Juvenile Court chief judge who serves as secretary of Marietta Treekeepers, Inc., a nonprofit group that plants trees in the city’s public spaces, has urged the Council to plant a tree canopy along the sun-baked section of Church Street from Shillings Restaurant several blocks north to Lemon Street.
“The literature says people who are shopping in bright, hot, sunlit, treeless areas think that the store that they’re going into has people less knowledgeable about their product, they’re less willing to pay a higher price for a product, they think the quality is going to be worse in an un-shady area,” Morris said. “They’re just unhappy consumers.”
City Manager Bill Bruton said because the sidewalk is not wide enough to plant trees there, their options are limited. The city could buy above-ground planters, although those would limit the size of the trees. Otherwise, the city would have to carve out portions of the sidewalk and street while
avoiding underground utility lines to make room for tree beds, he said.
“It’s not as easy as just saying like on Roswell Street or Powder Springs, ‘let’s put a tree every so many feet,’” Bruton said.
Morris said Church Street isn’t the only shop-lined road in need of shade.
“If you stand at any corner on the Square, and you look toward the Square, you’ve got trees,” he said. “You look away from the Square, and you don’t have trees. It’s just remarkable.”
Mill Street and Powder Springs Street near the Square could also use trees, Bruton said.
Bruton said some of the costs of planting the trees could be paid out of the city’s tree fund, which currently holds $193,000.
During its series of committee meetings Thursday, the City Council asked staff to bring back a report on the matter in the next 60 days.
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Of course you would have to get the building owners permission and the historic preservation people might have a problem with awnings.
Otherwise I think it is a good idea.
If there is on street parking along that section (which I think there is) you could put trees in some of the parking areas, but then you potentially eliminate the some of the on street parking which is also a valuable asset to the merchants on the Square.
Also if Church Street is controlled by the GDOT as a part of Ga. Hwy. 5 you are going to have to deal with them.
Good luck on coming up with a feasible solution.
There you go.
An easy, affordable step in the right direction, but don't forget the possible jurisdiction of the Georgia DOT along Church Street aka Ga Hwy. 5.
They (GDOT) have some ridiculous rules about how close to travel lanes trees can be located and how large
(trunk caliper) those trees can be.
Hopefully it won't be an issue.
And why would the TreeKEPPERS(your spelling) want to pick anyone's pocket? Jeez...
They need to hire and arborist before they do anything.
Next year they will be cutting down the trees because they are making the sidewalk buckle.
Get Golddigger to fix his hole in the ground before you do anything else.
While the City is in the mood to do good works, how about fixing some of the cattle tracks around the town, better known as streets. They are tearing up our cars!