NEWBERRY – Newberry City Council, along with members of the community gathered Tuesday to discuss the City of Newberry’s Urban Forest Master Plan.
The master plan has been created in partnership by the City of Newberry, Dudek, the South Carolina Forestry Commission and U.S. Forestry Service.
Tuesday’s meeting was informational in nature, with a presentation given by Kanami Otani, an urban forester planner and certified arborist with Dudek.
City Manager Jason Taylor said this was an $82,500 grant with an 80% match that was split – $66,000 coming from the federal government and $16,500 being local cash.
Otani shared that an Urban Forest Master Plan (UFMP) was an actionable, long-term strategy to maintain tree canopy cover so that community members could share in the benefits of trees today and for generations to come.
“For Newberry’s plan we took a deep dive into their policies and ordinances as well as their current urban forestry program, budget and staffing, management practices, and also included a robust community engagement process,” Otani said. “We made sure to engage community members that live in Newberry today to develop this plan.”
Otani said they then gathered all of the above information to provide recommendations to reach Newberry’s urban forestry goals.
Why does Newberry need an UFMP? Otani shared that the urban forest exists among people and therefore the trees growing on public land need long-term management and care to ensure safety and to make sure future community members have trees too.
“The city’s comprehensive plan of 2030 prioritizes air and water quality and natural resources as a main driver in tourism,” Otani said. “The UFMP is a tool to ensure the comprehensive plan vision is supported.”
Additionally, a big driver of development for creating this plan, Otani said, is that the city is growing in population and has a built environment.
“When trees are removed to make space for homes, buildings and roads, the urban tree canopy is lost from tree removal, and those impermeable surfaces will increase temperature and stormwater concerns, if trees are not planned for,” she said. “The city recognized this concern and pursued a UFMP to create a plan to be protective of this natural resource.
Otani shared Newberry’s urban forestry goals:
Secure resources for a proactive urban forestry program
Preserve urban tree canopy through rapid development
Provide community members with resources and opportunities to engage in urban forestry
The City of Newberry is already invested in preserving the urban forest, Otani said, which is shown through receiving a Tree City USA designation for the last six years, their annual plantings (i.e. Arbor Day), and spending roughly $11 per capita annually on tree maintenance. A $2 per capita annually is required by the Arbor Day Foundation to receive a Tree City USA designation.
Through their community engagement, Otani shared that Newberry’s community values efforts to enhance the urban forestry program, with residents interested in volunteer tree planting, fruit tree orchards, educational workshops and private tree ownership – with resources.
While funding is already being pursued for fruit tree orchards and volunteer tree planting does occur with each Arbor Day, additional funding, Otani said would establish programs for additional volunteer tree planting, educational workshops and private tree ownership.
Challenges Otani heard from community members on private tree ownership included not being sure what species were appropriate, the physical labor of planting trees in clay soil, initial planting and establishing care costs as well as tree trimming costs.
As part of the UFMP, Otani shared that community education materials were developed to address a few of these challenges and would be on the city’s website. Part of these educational materials include information on how to plant/water a tree as well as spacing requirements needed.
Feedback
Speaking to goal number two of preserving urban tree canopy through rapid development, Taylor said that while developers like to come in at times at the path of least resistance, he felt that the city needed to look at their ordinances to make sure that rather than many trees being cut down throughout the development process, that some trees are encouraged to be preserved, especially certain specimen trees. Taylor mentioned also asking developers to plant a variety of trees, especially along the roadway, making it more attractive.
Mayor Foster Senn shared that he liked Otani’s ideas and that while the city did a nice job with Arbor Day tree plantings, he liked the idea of doing something more regularly. This aligns with goal number one in the plan of a proactive urban forestry program.
Taylor shared that the city had applied for a climate pollution reduction grant, that would allow the city to plant 500 trees over a 5-year period. However, the city had not yet received confirmation that that grant was going to be awarded.
“A budget is a physical expression of what your priorities are,” he said. “The surest way to keep us on track is to put a line item in our budget to accomplish this.”
Community resident, Leslie Orr shared feedback with Otani and council on the possibility of city and private ownership. For example, trees within larger, stark parking lots.
The UFMP is currently out for public comment until August 10 and can be viewed on the City of Newberry’s website by clicking on the Government drop down menu, followed by Urban Forest Master Plan. Feedback can be emailed to [email protected].
Otani said they’d received an email comment already that was very positive and supportive of the plan and large, mature trees in Newberry.
A vote will be taken by council to approve or disapprove of the plan at their August 12 meeting. This meeting will take place at 7 p.m. in the council chambers of City Hall.