Citing ongoing threats to Vienna’s tree canopy from development, Vienna Town Council members on March 6 expressed support for key recommendations of a recent tree-canopy study.
The report, “Trees in Vienna: A Review of Programs to Help Vienna Preserve and Manage its Tree Canopy,” was produced by the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP and the town’s Conservation and Sustainability Commission and submitted to the town last October.
The report’s three main suggestions were that the town form a commission focused solely on trees; establish a tree-planting budget and track how many trees are planted; and adopt a tree-conservation ordinance.
Brian Land, an attorney at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, and Conservation and Sustainability Commission chairman Christina Caplan, summarized the report’s key findings for the Council.
The project began in 2019 when Land asked former Mayor Laurie DiRocco about interviewing people in other communities, plus tree experts, about methods Vienna could use to preserve and enhance its tree canopy.
The Council approved the initiative in September 2020 and work began early the following year. The report preparers interviewed more than 50 people by Zoom and reviewed tree reports prepared for other communities.
While localities used to consider trees as amenities, they now think of them as critical infrastructure that provide environmental, economic, health and safety benefits and reduce traffic and noise, Land said. Unlike human-made infrastructure, which tends to deteriorate with time, trees (at least until they eventually die) provide more shade and filter more air as they age, he said.
“The benefits trees provide are even greater than we expected,” said Land, adding that one study quantified that value at $4.3 million annually. “Trees are sort of the unsung heroes of our communities.”
Vienna for the past several years has had about 100 instances annually where a property owner tears down an existing house and replaces it with a new, and often far larger, home. While this improves the town aesthetically and bolsters its housing stock and property values, there are down sides.
Homebuilders told Land and Caplan that it’s difficult to retain mature trees while building houses. Homes nowadays typically are built to the maximum allowable footprint, have deeper basements and pumped-concrete foundations that require properties to be accessed by bigger vehicles, thus damaging root systems. Add in utility installation and sidewalk installation or reconstruction and the potential for tree damage is high.
Davey Resource Group recently conducted an urban-tree-canopy assessment, which found that between 2011 and 2021 Vienna’s tree canopy decreased from 44.5 percent to 38.7 percent. That loss equaled about 163 acres, from a total of 1,253 to 1,090 acres, with some areas of town experiencing decreases greater than 30 percent, Land said.
Vienna Mayor Linda Colbert complimented Caplan and Land for their work, calling the report a “gift to the town.” Vienna officials likely will take up the report’s recommendations in earnest sometime in May, she said.
Council member Ray Brill Jr. lauded the report and said preserving tree canopy was one of the town’s top four priorities for this year.
“You have set up a road map and vision,” Brill told Land and Caplan. “It’s up to us to get it done.”
Council member Charles Anderson also favored the report’s top priorities and said the town would need to budget for them.
“Under the current statutes, we cannot rely on the private sector to replace the trees at the rate they’re being lost,” he said.
The Council met back in its regular chambers at Town Hall for the first time in months, owing to an elevator replacement. Council member Howard Springsteen did not attend the meeting and colleague Ed Somers joined remotely because he was traveling for work.
