DAY 40 – I THINK THAT I SHALL NEVER SEE A STREET AS LOVELY AS A TREE

April 18, 2013
40 of 65

I Think That I Shall Never See a Street as Lovely as a Tree

The huge blue spruce in front of our home in Wheat Ridge had been there longer than anyone could remember. The brick house had been built in the 1920s and was the home of Catherine Coulehan and her family. In the 1950s it was sold to Hubert and Margaret Cosby, a bus driver and his wife, who lived there and raised a family until Cathy and I bought it in 1980. The Cosbys wanted a smaller place with a smaller yard, something easier to care for as they aged. I guess Mr. Cosby was having health problems. He died just a year later.

The tree was at least 30 feet tall, so it must have been planted at about the time the Cosbys moved in, or maybe a little earlier.

All the land around ours had once been owned by the Coulehan family and was originally subdivided in 1901. Over the years, most parts were re-subdivided and most of the neighboring homes had been built in the 1950s and 1960s. The description of our land was still based on the 1901 plat.

One day a City of Wheat Ridge truck parked across the street. Two workers got out and craned their necks to see the top of the tree. They were making notes on a legal pad when I came out and asked what they were doing. “You have a beautiful tree here,” said one. “It’s too bad it has to come down.”

When I asked why he thought it was going to come down, he told me the tree was in the road right of way. I didn’t think that was true. The next day I went to County Clerk’s office to do serious title research. I found, as I had believed, that when the lots around ours had been re-subdivided, they had all given the city a right of way of a certain width for the streets and curbs and gutters. Since our property had not gone through that process, the street in front of the house had never been officially dedicated to public use, and we had no curb or gutter. The public, and the City, had the right to use the portion of the land that had been the travelled roadway over the years, but no right to touch the tree.

I reported my findings to the Public Works Department and the City Attorney, and then waited for the City to do its own research. Eventually, they had to agree with me. I thought I could clap the dirt from my hands and move on with life next to a large tree. It was not to be.

The City Attorney called and said, “We have decided to condemn a right of way by your property so we can widen the street. The tree is still going to have to come down.” I told him that for condemnation the City was required to show a need for the property, and there was none. The street and the traffic flow had been fine for decades just as it was. I said too that condemnation required the City to compensate a property owner for the taking, as well as any decrease to the value of the rest of the property. Since the tree added substantially to the property value, it could get expensive.

The next day the City set up traffic counting devices in the street both North and South of our house. A couple of weeks after that the City Attorney called back to tell me that engineering studies had been completed to prove that the street did indeed need to be widened. He offered some money to purchase the necessary strip to “save us both” the cost and trouble of a condemnation. I declined the offer.

A few days later, he called and offered a little more money. I told him it wasn’t about the money. The tree provided a barrier against traffic noise, it had aesthetic value and it was a living thing that had been there longer than any of us.

A few days later, he called again and offered that, in addition to the purchase money, the City would re-landscape the area.

It was apparent that the government was committed to this project, so Cathy and I agreed to meet with the landscapers. We arrived at a compromise we could live with, including the landscaping and even more money. The tree was cut down one day when we weren’t at home. The new foliage was planted shortly thereafter. It wasn’t the same, but we would get used to it.

When our son Michael was in First Grade, each child in his class was given a seedling tree to plant somewhere to celebrate Earth Day. There was a spot on the other corner of our front yard that needed something, so we planted his tree there. We watered it and cared for it for a time, but we sold the house and moved only a year later.

I suppose the new owners must have continued to nurture the seedling. Michael is going to be 30 years old this year, and whenever I pass the old house, I marvel to see his First Grade seedling 20 feet tall, shading the yard and the street.

2 thoughts on “DAY 40 – I THINK THAT I SHALL NEVER SEE A STREET AS LOVELY AS A TREE

  1. Aww. What a sweet story! We have a tree like that in our yard. I will have to send you a photo of it. It’s hilarious. It is still very small, much like my extremely petite daughter. It never grows much, but it stays alive. I think it’s about 5 years old now or so. She brought it home from school one day in elementary school, but I can’t recall which grade. She’s turning 15 this week.

    • The tree Michael planted is still growing. We have another blue spruce where we live now. It is still unfortunate that the old one had to be replaced by a street.

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