Welcome to the jungle

Portland is a beautiful city, due in part to the growing number of trees within its city limits, where there are literally thousands of them. No matter where you go in Portland, trees can be found across almost every block and the city—as some Portland residents are discovering— is very serious about taking care of them properly.

Over the years, the responsibility of taking care of trees growing within the city has fallen largely on residents. However, care should be taken before trying to prune or plant a tree.

Patsy McInnis Brioady and Marie D. Zeller learned the hard way that tree pruning is not something to be taken lightly in the city of Portland. According to The Oregonian, Brioady and Zeller hired a tree service to prune the trees on the sidewalk outside of their building.

The company chose to trim the trees using a method called “topping,” which involves cutting the tops of the trees flat, a method the city no longer approves of. The company that pruned the trees was fined $1,000–$7,000 per tree for pruning without a permit, while Brioady and Zeller wound up picking up the cost to remove and replace the trees. Ultimately, the ordeal was painful and costly for the parties involved.

In another case reported by The Oregonian last month, Martha Rutherford voiced her disapproval for some of Portland’s tree policies. Rutherford, 73, was approached by city officials to plant two Norway Maples between the sidewalk in front of her home and the street. Rutherford loves the trees and believes they are a fine addition to the city. However, 30 years later she isn’t happy with city policy involving maintenance of the trees.

Cost for maintaining the trees, as well as the immediate areas around them, has fallen on homeowners. Chaffed by rising water costs, Rutherford has had to pay for three sidewalk repairs and sewer maintenance when the maples outgrew their space. Now that one of the Norway Maples has died, she will be picking up the $900 bill to have it removed as well as the $35 inspection permit.

Permits to prune trees can be obtained for free from the city and come with an inspection from a city tree inspector. In addition to a free permit for pruning, a person must also obtain a free permit before planting a tree. The planting permit also comes with an inspection from the city to help choose the appropriate species to plant.

Both permits are mandatory for pruning or planting trees, and both are easy to get from the city. Yet for a city that promotes growing trees so heavily, it seems strange that they would not do more to support the residents that are responsible for maintaining the trees.

Holding residents accountable for the full cost to maintain sidewalks and sewers that have been damaged as a result of overgrown trees in the city seems unfair. The city should pick up at least some of the cost rather than leave it all to residents.

For someone like Rutherford, expensive tree removal may be hard on a senior’s income. Since the city originally prompted the planting of her two Norway Maples, it seems fitting that the city should help maintain them.

Other possible issues like power lines, street signs or fences are things the city should monitor and maintain so that residents don’t have to pay for them after they have become a problem. Although there is a hotline for residents to call if a tree is an immediate hazard, not all problems may warrant an inspection. If, say, a single small branch is a nuisance blocking a stop sign, does it really take an official inspection to label that a problem?

It seems like it would be helpful for the city to set up a patrol of sorts to keep trees growing in check before problems arise. Or perhaps the city should foot some of the bill for repairs that residents at times are required to pay.

One thing is for sure—if the city is going to promote residents growing trees, then the city should do more to help them take care of those trees.