Brookhaven plan gives back to the land, instead of the landfill

City partners with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta to save trees

Brookhaven, GA, Jan. 28, 2020 - Many kids grow up roleplaying cowboy scenarios, where the heroes always wear white hats. That imagery still holds true today, so it’s time to pass out the 10-gallon Stetsons to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and the City of Brookhaven.

A fortunate meeting of the minds between these two entities has given rise to a unique sustainable development project that is destined to enhance Brookhaven’s tree canopy today and for generations to come.

Last year, Eric Long, Brookhaven’s interim development services manager and a certified arborist, was inspecting the location for the Children’s new North Druid Hills campus expansion project along I-85, a prerequisite step before building permits could be issued. As he walked throughout the 50-acre site, he was disheartened at the number of trees that were going to have to be taken down.

“I noticed that many of the landscape trees in the area appeared in good health and thought it would be a shame to just put them in a woodchipper and sent to a landfill,” he recalled. “I approached Children’s and asked them if they would consider letting us come in and save some of these trees. They expressed an interest, so I ran the idea by Brookhaven City Manager Christian Sigman, who thoroughly endorsed the idea.”

Sigman immediately saw the project as a definite win-win for all involved. “We are extremely pleased that one of our outstanding corporate citizens, Children’s, stepped up to the plate and helped make this project a reality,” he noted. “They are, in essence, donating mature trees and this is of great value to our City. It preserves tree canopy. Where else can you achieve 100 percent immediate recycling than moving a tree from one location to another?

“This is a unique example of sustainable development, very much in line with the City’s focus on achieving overall sustainability, whether it’s through encouraging the use of electric cars or ensuring we use energy-efficient materials and practices and are mindful of the environment,” Sigman continued. “I am so proud of Eric’s initiative in proactively running with this tree transplant concept.”

Officials at Children’s agree. “We were excited to join with Brookhaven in the effort to save and relocate these viable trees,” said Chris Chelette, Vice President of Planning Design and Construction for Children’s. “We are continuing to work hard to make smart decisions about the resources we use, and about our environmental impact. Our Center for Advanced Pediatrics building is LEED Gold-certified and we’re tracking toward LEED Silver at our newly-opened Support Building as well as the future hospital. So, any step we can take to further our environmental commitment is a good one.”

Once complete, the North Druid Hills Children’s campus will include a new hospital, the Center for Advanced Pediatrics, two support buildings, a medical office building and associated parking decks. The campus will include more than 20 acres of greenspace and walking and biking paths to allow physicians, staff and patients to easily walk between the new structures.

The entire purpose of the Children’s tree transplant project was to move select trees from the construction site (predominately native deciduous trees like oak, elm, maple, etc.) out of harm’s way. “We knew we couldn’t take all of the trees, but we identified approximately 50 of them that were viable for a successful relocation,” Long continued. “We determined that we would start with seven healthy trees, placing them in designated areas along the new Peachtree Creek Greenway.” These first seven trees include three red oaks, three large dogwoods and one redbud tree.

The City had made a similar move last summer, but on a much smaller scale. Two fruit bearing trees, a pear tree and a loquat, were in the way in a developer’s construction area. The trees  were moved at City expense to Blackburn Park with a 50 percent success rate. Timing was the primary culprit, since they had to be moved in the heat of summer to accommodate the developer.

With this new project, the timing is more appropriate for transplanting the trees. Bids were procured from Native Tree, LLC (the same company that had coordinated the Blackburn Park effort) and construction timetables established with Children’s. February 2020 was set as the target date to move all of the earmarked trees. The remaining 43 trees will be kept in a specially-prepared area in Osborne Park, that will serve as a holding nursery, and later transplanted in other City parks or future city developments such as landscaping for new city buildings.

Funding for the tree relocation project comes from Brookhaven’s tree fund. These monies are assessed from builders and developers who have no logistical way to achieve compliance with Brookhaven’s tree ordinance. “A portion of the fund will be used to accommodate this first round of transplants,” said Long. There are two basic root ball sizes that Native Tree LLC will be moving. The 90” spade will dig trees ranging from 10-20+ feet tall, depending on the canopy spread. The 60’’ spade will be used for trees from six feet to10 feet tall. A 90” root ball and tree can weigh up to approximately 9,000 pounds.

Long hopes this undertaking will acknowledge to residents that the City treats its tree ordinance with much respect and will continue to find ways, within reason and the confines of City code ordinances, to enhance Brookhaven’s tree canopy.

“Our goal is not to walk away from something that could flourish a few miles down the road from a construction site,” Long concluded.  “Actually, what people fail to realize sometimes when they see trees being cut here and there is that canopy surveys show the City’s tree canopy is larger today than when we became a city in 2012. I think it’s great that we are in a position to contribute something back to the land, rather than into a landfill.”

Beyond the Children’s venture, Long hopes to work with future developers to make similar arrangements, when feasible, throughout the city … after all, even trees deserve a second chance.