Providence • A group of neighbors in this Cache County city stood in a circle under an old-growth London plane tree wrapped with a green ribbon. A handmade sign to their right read: “Save the trees and keep kids safe.”
The group, whose members live on 100 East in Providence, just south of Logan, is doing everything in its power to fight for the nearly 100-year-old trees on their street, which are threatened by a proposed sidewalk project aimed at improving pedestrian safety.
“I didn’t realize I could feel this way about trees,” said Tasha Seaholzer, a Providence neighbor. “But it’s true — they add so much value.”
The dispute between the landowners and city leaders mirrors an ongoing conflict in Logan, where the city has proposed a waterline project that would uproot nearly 20 century-old ash trees on Canyon Road. Providence residents said they were inspired by the Logan petition, which has garnered more than 3,000 signatures, and decided to take their own efforts to Change.org. As of Friday, the group has nearly 1,000 signatures of their own.
Seaholzer said she joined her neighbors in the effort because she believes the trees are historic landmarks. When she chose to build her home in Providence, she said she could have broken ground anywhere, but ultimately chose 100 East because of the trees.
But Seaholzer said that in their group’s effort to compromise with the city over the beloved trees, they have been treated like a “mob.” She and other neighbors said they feel ignored and unheard.
“The feeling you get coming and looking at the sun coming through the trees is something you would rather enjoy than coming out and walking to just concrete everywhere,” Seaholzer said. “Nobody wants that.”
City Manager Ryan Snow said the project is part of a citywide goal to create a more walkable, safe community. About five years ago, the city surveyed all its sidewalks and identified trip hazards, broken sidewalks and areas without sidewalks. Snow said the city is focused on improving areas near schools first.
The proposed sidewalk, which could damage the health of the old-growth London plane and Norway maple trees lining the street, would run within 100 feet of Providence Elementary School. Snow said the city applied for a grant through the Utah Department of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School Program to fund the project, because this is the only block near the school intersection without a sidewalk.
The city’s plan to lay the sidewalk along the property line –– standard practice for the city –– could harm the trees by cutting their roots, which are also located along the property line.
After learning of the proposal, neighbors became concerned. They argue there is enough room between the property line and the road to place the sidewalk without harming the trees –– achieving both school safety and preservation.
“They’re my kids walking on the street,” said Nicole Nielsen, who identified herself as a mother of Providence Elementary students. “All the citizens of Providence want to keep the trees and they want the sidewalk to be adjusted. We are honestly trying to do what is best for our children, the community, the entire Providence city.”
(Clarissa Casper | The Salt Lake Tribune) Neighbors — from left: Stan Laughlin, Teri Davies, Tasha Seaholzer, Tallie Geddes and Nicole Nielson — pose with a sign they've posted on 100 East in Providence, part of a campaign to save 100-year-old London plane trees from a proposed sidewalk redevelopment project.
However, Mayor Kathleen Alder said she believes the safest place for the sidewalk is the property line, not closer to the road. She said the city has explored alternative engineering methods to save the trees, but moving the sidewalk farther from them has not been considered.
“Right next to the road is not a safe sidewalk,” she said, “and our priority is safety for our citizens.”
Despite the city council approving the project, Alder said there is no engineering plan yet to show how the city will preserve the trees.
“We were surprised when everybody came forward and were upset about the fact that we were going to build the sidewalk,” Alder said, “so it kind of caught us by surprise, and we’ve tried to give them as much information as we can, but we can’t always talk to everyone.”
Alder added she believes the dispute is more about property rights than tree preservation, since the sidewalks would be near residents’ homes.
“People start thinking that 10 feet or whatever it happens to belong to them,” she said. “It doesn’t.”
Neighbors, however, argue their only priority is saving the trees. They said they have repeatedly contacted city leaders and attended every meeting on the project, but have not heard any indication that the city plans to protect the trees.
“How can we speak to something they won’t share?” asked Teri Davies, who started the petition.
Located in downtown Providence, 100 East is part of the city’s historic district. Neighbors are also concerned that projects like this will destroy the area’s charm –– a worry echoed by those opposing the Canyon Road waterline project.
“I think they’ve got in their mind that we want it all to look this cookie-cutter way,” said Providence resident Tallie Geddes. “If you look around here, nothing about this historic downtown is cookie-cutter, and that’s what I like. We love this historic, old, kind of eclectic, hot, modge-podge look of this area.”
David Thunell, the master arborist who conducted an independent examination of the trees, said London plane trees can thrive in urban areas for hundreds of years under the right conditions. He said the city’s original proposal, which citizens haven’t seen revised, would significantly harm the trees because the sidewalk would encroach on their critical root areas.
“There would be a fair number of roots that would be considered critical to the health of the trees,” Thunell said, “that would need to be cut in order to facilitate the installation of that sidewalk.”
He said the city is considering “root bridging,” an engineering method that allows sidewalks to be built over roots instead of cutting through them. While this method could still cause damage, it is the best option when balancing infrastructure and tree health, he said.
With thousands of Logan and Providence residents fighting for trees, Thunell said he has been inspired and has a lot of respect for the neighbors and residents making efforts to speak for trees throughout the valley.
“We just understand that, as humans, we just have a draw to be near a large tree,” he said. “So, when it comes down to removing a large, mature specimen that doesn’t seem to be struggling in any way just for the installation of infrastructure, that can be a hard pill to swallow. But it’s really cool to live in an area where people will advocate for the trees as strongly as they’re doing right now. It’s really refreshing, because there are a lot of people that don’t have that kind of care for trees.”
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