On Aug. 6, the Pagosa Springs Town Council voted to move forward with a new street tree plan for the 400 block of Pagosa Street.
The tree project will coincide with Colorado Department of Transportation’s (CDOT’s) main street reconstruction project, slated to take place in the spring/summer 2025 and 2026.
Part of CDOT’s project will be to widen the sidewalk on the north side of the 400 block by an additional 3 feet, an agenda document on the matter states.
The town is looking at replacing existing trees along this stretch with mature species with a planted caliper of 4” to 5” and a height of 20 feet, where the trees can be expected to grow as high as 36 feet, the document states.
Tree species being considered by the town are honey locust, maple, oak and linden, all of which have been determined by landscaping consultants to be suitable “for urban concrete areas for Colorado elevations similar to Pagosa Springs,” the document states.
The trees “will be installed in large concrete root boxes with 4x4’ flush-mounted cast iron grates and irrigation lines to ensure the trees thrive, not just survive,” the document states.
Projects Manager David Hillborn explained that town staff have met with downtown business owners to gauge their feelings about the planned improvements along this stretch of downtown to coincide with the CDOT project.
Hillborn noted that the business owners gave staff some “mixed feedback on whether they would like the trees or not,” adding that while a few owners opposed the idea, the majority were in favor of the tree plan.
The biggest concern among business owners had to do with signage — a worry that larger trees would hamper the visibility of business signs, he stated.
He explained that the Pagosa Springs Planning Commission previously voted 3-2 in favor of recommending that the tree plan move forward, but that, ultimately, it was up to the council to decide if the town should move forward with the plan.
The cost for planting 10 trees, which would also include flush-mounted tree boxes, an irrigation system and brand-new street light posts with hanging flower baskets, would run about $161,000, Hillborn said.
The town’s larger improvement project along U.S 160 that will coincide with CDOT’s project will cost the town about $2 million, and the $161,000 for the tree plan would be a part of this larger town project, he explained.
The town would be on the hook for improvements made along its public right of way that are outside the scope of CDOT’s reconstruction project, and the town would need to coordinate with contractor CDOT hires so that the same contractor could, hopefully, carry out the improvements the town is seeking during the project, he explained.
The agenda document states that the tree plan being considered had been “revised” since the original plan, and that the updated plan considers:
• “Avoiding building entrances, existing overhangs/awning encroaching over the sidewalk,
• “Placing trees in line with property lines,
• “Planting mature trees and species that will thrive in a concrete urban environment,
• “Spaced to avoid conflict with new streetlights,
• “Street Trees and streetlights will all be placed in-line with each other along the block, generally at the location of the existing curb.”
When opened to questions and comments, council member Brooks Lindner stated that he wanted to “strongly advocate for this,” saying that trees “enhance the aesthetic value” of a town, citing other communities where the presence of trees add shade, beauty and character.
To the suggestion by Mark Weiler, a member of the planning commission, “that [trees] don’t belong in a commercial area,” Lindner said, “I don’t think that’s really sound logic, so I would just like to express my view of being very much in favor of this.”
Council member Leonard Martinez questioned if the cost of the trees is included in the current budget.
Hillborn explained that the cost for the trees is part of the overall cost estimate of the town’s sidewalk improvement project to coincide with CDOT’s project.
Council member Matt DeGuise suggested that since CDOT has yet to hire a contractor for its project and the project is not slated to break ground until 2025, the cost estimates for the town’s sidewalk improvement project would be part of the 2025-2026 budget process.
“It’s really gonna depend on when CDOT chooses their contractor” and how it segments and plans its project, Hillborn added.
“We’re preferring to work with that contractor to do the sidewalk improvements on the town’s side. It will just make everything run a little bit smoother and easier,” he said.
Until all of this is known, he could not say if the tree project would begin in the 2025 or the 2026 construction season.
Mayor Shari Pierce expressed, “I’m not in favor of putting these trees over there.”
She indicated she thinks the planter boxes would be too restrictive for the trees to flourish, and for the amount of money being spent, the town could come up with “more creative” ideas for shade and planting the trees, suggesting they’d be better suited for town parks.
Council member Mat deGraaf pushed back on the idea that the trees couldn’t flourish in the tree boxes in a concrete urban environment, asking Hillborn to explain what the landscaping consultants have said about the issue.
Hillborn explained that the tree boxes are “open bottom, so they do allow for root growth down, and once the roots clear the bottom section of the box, the roots can also grow out.”
He added the concrete boxes “basically just help prevent the bulk of the roots from destroying the sidewalk right adjacent to the grates.”
He also explained that the town would be including an irrigation system and this would “greatly increase the chances of the trees prospering, rather than dying,” adding that the trees currently in place on the sidewalk do not have an irrigation system.
The currently proposed tree plan would allow the new trees to be healthier than any of the existing trees along the sidewalk, he said.
He added that the four species of trees listed in the plan have been approved for elevations and climates in Colorado to “prosper in urban, concrete environments.”
“It seems like, regarding the health issue, they’re doing this in a way where those trees are gonna be healthy … they’ve got an expert landscaper helping on this,” Lindner said.
Martinez suggested that he was uncomfortable spending the $161,000 at the moment, with other, more important items coming down the pike for the town.
However, it was clarified that this amount would be budgeted in future budgets as part of the town’s improvement project coinciding with CDOT’s U.S. 160 project.
Martinez questioned why it needed to be decided today, with Pierce explaining that the town’s improvement project needs to be ready by the time that CDOT chooses its contractor so that the two plans can be coordinated together.
Council member Gary Williams added, “We have one chance to get this right.”
Williams noted that the 400 block was the most important segment of the downtown business district, asking, “Why wouldn’t we want to make this area more beautiful?”
Williams then made a motion to include a plan for street trees in conjunction with CDOT’s U.S 160 reconstruction project, supporting the general tree locations and tree species as presented, which was seconded and passed by the council.
A roll call vote showed Williams, deGraaf, Lindner and DeGuise voted in favor of the street tree plan, with Pierce and Martinez voting against it.
derek@pagosasun.com
