LASN is a photographically oriented, professional journal featuring topics of concern and state-of-the-art projects designed or influenced by registered Landscape Architects.
Issue link: https://landscapearchitect.epubxp.com/i/274582
16 Landscape Architect and Specifier News o rd i n a n c e s (Continued on page 110) Above The main goal of a street tree ordinance is to shade pedestrians, but shading park cars is a side benefit. However, these trees, variegated Pittosporum tenuifolium (witch hazel family), litter the sidewalk with seedpods (just cleaned by maintenance crew), so not a good choice. Here on a street with businesses on either side, trees have been planted as close to the street as possible. One can only guess at the intent, but a basic tenet of traffic calming is placing trees close to the street. Trees, plus parked cars on both sides of the street is a kind of double street-calming scenario, although some drivers still speed through. PHOTO: EdiTOr STEvE KElly Sidewalk Shading Ordinances Small Towns Many small communities, be they villages, hamlets or even designed new urbanist communities, often do not have traditional, detailed zoning ordinances, but they do have municipal code of ordinances. Take Pass Christian ("The Pass"), Mississippi (pop. 4,613), for example. Note: The name derives from French explorers dubbing the channel off the peninsula "Passe aux Huîtres" (oyster passage). This quaint, little community (15.3 sq. miles) on the shores of the Gulf Coast in Harrison County near New Orleans, adopted the SmartCode after Hurricane Katrina roared through. The city fathers implemented this New Urbanism zoning code as a means to rebuild from the storm's devastation. The Pass has a tree ordinance, but no landscape code. The landscape standards of the SmartCode are not adequate, but they do move in the right direction, in that it provides for street trees. However, the purpose of street tree plantings in the code is not clear. What is needed for a small community is a simple tree ordinance that provides not only tree planting standards for public streets, but design standards for street tree planting areas, and street yard buffers composed of yard trees. Shading the Sidewalk There is an answer to this small town quandary. It is a simple sidewalk shading ordinance that not only regulates sidewalks but provides shade trees. This is an ordinance not only needed in small towns, but larger cities as well. Street trees are not provided for drivers. Trees are not on drivers' minds when their goal is to get from point A to point B. Certainly trees provide visual relief for those driving, but the real purpose of street trees is to provide shade for sidewalks. Shading Sidewalks Street trees have been used for shade since their adoption in Roman times for pedestrians and horsemen. We know that Via Appia (the Appian Way) was built with sidewalks sometime after 312 B.C., so it is logical to assume that roadside trees were preserved or even planted to provide relief from the sun's rays. Community shade tree ordinances encourage people to get outside and walk, bike, jog or even socialize with neighbors. And well-shaded sidewalks better separate pedestrians from city traffic. It is shade on the sidewalk that is needed, not tree lined roadway edges. Editor's note: A basic tenet of traffic calming, however, is placing trees next to streets. Sidewalks Shading Ordinances The essential sections of any sidewalk shading ordinance include the policy, purpose and authority statement; definitions; use of right-of-way; sidewalk construction specifications; landscaping-street trees; and miscellaneous concerns such as violations, penalties, public liability, severability and adoption. Buck Abbey, ASlA, The Green laws Organization, New Orleans "We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow, And watch where the chalk-white arrows go, To the place where the sidewalk ends." 16-17.indd 16 2/27/14 9:10 AM