www.urban-forestry.com 31
The original plans have all of
the trees plotted incorrectly (green).
They are simply CAD symbols plot-
ted without any sense of the actual
trunk or canopy size. Subsequent
design used the incorrect data to
design a sidewalk, parking stalls,
and rainwater garden areas. The field
inspection reveals trees with much
larger canopies (red circles), and by
extension, much larger critical root
zones. The implication is that the
proposed design will almost certainly
have a very undesirable impact on all
of the trees.
In this case the baseline evidence
is totally wrong. It misleads all other
design work and, in the absence
of verification, provides a plan that
would fail to protect the trees. Note
the inclusion of a North arrow and
scale bar—both items should always
be required in any plan submissions.
This photo (right) depicts one of
the trees affected by the CAD plan
(above). Will it be feasible to install a
standard sidewalk between the exist-
ing fence and the tree trunk? Is the
raingarden setback from the trunk
large enough? Will the parking stalls
adversely affect the tree roots? The
original plans and tree symbols bear
no relation to reality and provide false
evidence about the site and design
implications.
CAD Plan
