Designation would help protect trees
Green Corridor application for portion of Yale Street presented to committee
The first application to the city of Houston for a Green Corridor designation along a portion of Yale Street in the Heights was presented to the city’s Quality of Life Committee on April 27.
The Houston Heights Association and Urban Forestry Committee documented support from commercial property owners who hold 76 percent of the frontage along the proposed Green Corridor on a 1.6 mile stretch of Yale.
The committee strives to ed- ucate and build awareness on trees in the Heights area.
The HHA said of the 24 percent who did not give their support, it received no statements of opposition.
If granted, the designation would protect trees that have a diameter of at least 15 inches that are on commercial property setbacks.
Single-family residential properties are unaffected by the designation.
The corridor’s proposed location is along 14 city blocks of Yale from Sixth to 19th streets.
This includes the crossing section along the MKT hike-and-bike trail.
Seven of Houston’s 11 council members serve on the Quality of Life Committee, and
many expressed enthusiasm about the application — a historic first for the city
The code allowing for a Green Corridor dates to 1991 and is under Sec. 33104 of Houston’s ordinance code.
The committee will decide whether to recommend council support for the petition before June 23, which is the 90-day marker on the petition timeline laid out in the ordinance code.
On or before that date, City Council will make a final ruling on the corridor designation.
At the April 27 meeting, committee chair and Mayor Pro Tem Ellen Cohen commended the Houston Heights Association and the Urban Forestry Committee on efforts to keep Houston verdant.
She recalled the flight that first carried her to Houston when she and her family relocated from her husband’s native Canada in 1977.
“I remember seeing just how green it was down there,” she said.
“We need anything we cando to keep that going.”
Committee vice chair David Robinson, who serves in at-large Position 2 on City Council, said the petition effort was “Herculean” and could benefit other districts by publicizing a little-known designation available for 25 years.
“I amexcited in thinking of others who might catch wind of this,” he said.
Planning and Development Director Patrick Walsh and Assistant Director Mike Kramer said protections exist for trees that are 20 inches in diameter throughout the city but that a Green Corridor extends protection to trees with a diameter of at least 15 inches.
Turner said that viola- tion fines within a Green Corridor would remain at the same level as the current city tree protection ordinance.
Those fines start at $111 per inch cut, with no charge for trees deemed unhealthy by the Urban Forestry Committee.
For a Green Corridor, such fines would only apply to commercial properties.
Kramer said that a Green Corridor would not restrict capital improvement projects, as any city projects would override the designation.
The corridor would not result in additional administrative costs, he said.
An added benefit of the designation is that it places a Green Corridor location at the forefront of considerations for future city-funded tree plantings, which typically focus on areas with few trees, Kramer said.
HHA spokesman Jona- than Smulian, a 30-year resident of the Heights, said he hopes other districts will notice the Yale Street effort and petition for their own Green Cor. ridors.
“This is a demonstration project,” he said.
“We hope to locate potential corridors in other districts, creating openspace linkages between districts using the corridors, and creating a ‘cache’ for developers.”
Smulian said his background in urban planning includes working on projects in San Diego, California and London, England.
The HHA holds that the trees along Yale Street not only beautify and reflect the historic character of the area but provide a buffer against noise for nearby residents and aid water retention and storm drainage.