By: Diane Benjamin
Thanks to a reader, the tree the Bloomington City Council is fretting over is this one:
The property owner wants it cut down.
The Council spent over 15 minutes last Monday discussing changes to the “Shade Tree” ordinance. A vote on the changes will take place at a future meeting.
Un. Freaking. Believable. The Council is discussing sermons and trees. I guess that’s better than hotels and bike lanes, but still………LOL
And WHAT did Nero do while Rome was burning-see any connection??
Streets, taxes, infrastructure, sewers, planning, etc take WAY too much thinking on the part of our council (probably what has Tari in a tither).
Trees, hotels, sex, etc are MUCH easier diversions. ALWAYS pay attention to WHAT the OTHER hand is doing while they have you watching the one.
The other hand is MIA without explanation.
Simple solution: cut the tree down as per the property owner’s wishes, plant a new one behind the street sign shown above, and then ding the owner for the costs. Review all ensuing tree-in-the-parkway issues individually and solve in a like manner.
Hey, maybe I should run for a councilman’s seat…
common sense isn’t allowed.
Unreal. Do we know why he wants it cut down? I was amazed when he removed every tree on the lot line a few years ago and then replanted with the same or similiar trees. I can imagine the neighbors to the East miss their shade. I hate seeing any trees cut down but understand the necessity in some situations. I drive this area all the time and keep up on the progress.
Looks like it’s in the way of a new driveway. Don’t ask why the new driveway was put there. I have no idea.
Who issued the building permit? Did the owner not have a tape measure or did he not know how to use one? Or I’ll just build it and the City will have to deal with it! My suggestion is for the City to leave it and he can ether live with it or move is drive a little more to the left. Judging by the photo angle, he most probably has room to drive by it anyway.
It appears me that the house and gated entrance were at that location before the tree. The location is the N.W. Corner of Mercer and Washington. The home is historic. I believe the gate & pillars in the photo are original and were hidden behind vegetation, including this tree, for decades.
Extensive work has been done on the property, Google street view doesn’t show the entrance this close to a tree.
Then, the City should have addressed this issue before approving the site plan for the gate and driveway.
1960
Joan Crawford: Tear down that B**** of a bearing wall and put a window where it OUGHT to be.
Today in 2017 she would say
Joan Crawford: Tear down that B**** of a gate and put a gate where it OUGHT to be.
Looks like plenty of room to drive around the tree. Just put an angle on that driveway to the street. There the problem is solved.
Just curious, should there be a fire do the fire trucks park on the street and spray water from there? I don’t think a fire truck or ambulance could go threw that gate. Might be a tight fit or a modification to fit..
Fire trucks stay on the streets, they don’t pull into people’s driveways.
BTW – I came home to bike lanes on Grove. To quote Desi, “Wa Happen?”.
This will tell you: http://rideillinois.org/successful-advocacy-bloomington/
Before the present owner purchased the property from Mrs. Owens, there was no entrance (or gates) at that location. There is another entrance (original one) further to the west. The new entrance was designed to allow a circular drive. The tree should stay! If anyone else in town had turned a beautiful setting into the giant playpen that’s there now (even if temporary), they would have been in court long ago.
A few city council meetings ago the city denied a homeowner a remodel/addition to their home on Dawes Place because it would require removal of a tree on their own property.
yep.
It’s the city’s tree.