Tree Management FAQs

A public tree is any tree located in the right-of-way (street trees) or on other public lands (city buildings, parks, etc.). These trees are managed by the City of Newport. Most street trees are located in the area between the sidewalk and the street, called a "tree lawn" or "tree well" as shown in the following images.

All street trees and trees in parks are controlled and managed by the City of Newport, specifically through the Community Services Division of the city. For this reason, no cutting, removal, or other alterations or damage to a public tree or its roots is allowed without prior permission from the city. Failure to obtain permission carries fines, as defined in the City Tree Ordinance - Chapter 94 Trees.

Fines include both a 1) fine for failure to obtain prior permission ($200 per instance), and 2) compensation for the loss of that city tree/asset (assessed at $250 per inch of trunk diameter). This can add up to substantial fines for illegal damage or removal of a public tree because they are so important to the health and vibrancy of our city, and once replaced, regrowth can take decades.

Example: A 10-inch DBH (trunk diameter at breast height) tree removed illegally (without prior permission) would incur a $200 fine plus a compensation payment for the loss of a city asset in the amount of $2,700 ($250 times 10-inch diameter).

What You Can Do

Occasionally, street trees require pruning to remove dead limbs, alleviate clearance issues for people or cars, and to keep branches from reaching nearby buildings. If you think your street tree needs to be pruned, you can email the City to have the tree looked at by our contract arborist. Once the City's contract arborist assesses the tree, a determination can be made on the hazard and safety situation. Then:

• If it is an immediate hazard or public safety issue, the City will take care of the problem in an appropriate short-term timeframe.
• If it is not an immediate hazard or public safety issue, there are two options available to the adjacent property owner.
  • Option 1: Wait for the city's zone management schedule (see the following) to have City staff take care of the pruning.
  • Option 2: If the City is not working in that zone within the next year or two, and the adjacent property owner does not want to wait for the work to be done, they can obtain a City permit to hire a private contractor at their own expense. Two important things to note on this option:
    • You must acquire a permit from the City before any work is scheduled or completed. Failure to do so will result in fines.
    • Any contractor hired to do the work must meet the following requirements: 1) All work must be done by a certified arborist, and 2) all work must be done to current arboriculture standards cited in American National Standards Institute (ANSI) A300 standards (all arborists are familiar with this, though a copy can be requested from the city).

Management Schedule

A quick primer on how we care for our trees: City tree pruning is implemented based on 1) a proactive cyclical care system recommended in national best management practices in urban forestry and 2) best and most efficient use of available funding. Here's how it works.

The City is divided into 10 management zones, shown in the following map. Each year, the trees in one zone are re-inventoried and then later each tree is proactively pruned. This proactive care system is a national standard which is proven to ensure healthier trees that last long term, as well as contribute to fewer tree failures in storms. The schedule/order of zone work follows, though is subject to changes based on available funding:

• Zone 2: Completed in 2019
• Zones 8 and 9: February/March 2022
• Zone 5
• Zone 6
• Zone 7
• Zone 10
• Zone 1
• Zone 3
• Zone 4

In addition to this annual cyclical care work, we are also pruning for safety hazards throughout the city throughout every year.

The City of Newport is currently using its available funds for management and proactive care of our existing trees. For this reason, there is not a public tree planting program run by the City. However, there are a couple options for those interested in having a street tree in front of their property:

• Option 1: Obtain City Permission and Plant One Yourself. Adjacent property owners can plant a street tree themselves, but only with prior permission from the City Arborist. This ensures the right trees are planted in the right places, ensuring longer lived trees that aren't severely pruned by utility companies. Any tree planted without prior permission of the City is subject to removal and fines.
• Option 2: Community Plantings. Additionally, the City often works with community groups that run tree planting programs. Approach your neighborhood association to see if plantings are scheduled in your area.

No matter which option, there are some parameters to ensure the right tree gets planted in the right space:

• Is there enough space? To plant a street tree, there needs to be a minimum of 3-4' of tree lawn (distance from street curb to sidewalk edge) to plant a tree. Aim to stay 5' away from water/electric lines which are marked on the curbs. Note that ADA requirements (American Disabilities Act) state that the sidewalk must be 4' in width. The City Arborist can help determine if you have enough space for a street tree.
• Which tree species to choose? There are many options that will work as street trees, and many more cultivars (variations of existing trees) that come on the market every year.
  • Are overhead utilities present? If there are no power lines overhead (communication lines are OK) all trees planted should be medium-large size (at maturity) trees to aid the community in growing our tree canopy to improve air and water quality and improve quality of life in Newport.
    • No Power Lines. If there are no power lines present, there are many many native and non-native choices of trees to plant, including (but not limited to) lindens, maples, tulip poplars, oaks, ginkgos, elms, zelkova, and more.
    • Under Power Lines. A tree that has a mature height of 25 feet or under, like a redbud, dogwood, Japanese tree lilac, single stem serviceberry, amur maple, etc. Any nursery can help you choose one if you tell them you are planting under utility lines.
  • Tree Species Prohibited:
    • Ash (Fraxinus species): All ash trees are currently dying off thanks to the Emerald ash borer pest.
    • Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana): Flowering pears have been identified now as an invasive species.
    • Crabapples (Malus species) and mulberries (Morus species): Fruit debris can be a nuisance on sidewalks depending on the variety.
    • Evergreens like pines, spruce, arborvitae, etc. are not ideal because of car and pedestrian clearance issues that are created.
  • Questions? Any nursery can help you choose one if you tell them whether you have overhead utility lines. Explore your options with tree nursery staff and present your choice to the City Arborist when you apply for permission to plant your tree. The City Arborist will help adjust the selection if it is deemed inappropriate for the location.

If you just got a new street tree, there are a few things you can do to give it its best chance to thrive and grow into an asset for your property and the neighborhood:

• Mulch. All public trees must be mulched after planting. This is important because it insulates the soil from extreme heat and cold, keeps roots moist, keeps weeds down, improves soil as the mulch decomposes, insulates the tree against temperature extremes, prevents soil compaction and reduces mower or weed trimmer damage. Important: Do not pile mulch up against the trunk itself to avoid trunk rot and girdling roots. So just say no to mulch volcanoes!
  
• Water. A new tree will need additional watering during the first 1 to 3 years, as it will have a difficult time dealing with the heat and drought of urban environments. Deep weekly watering in the summer months can help speed the root establishment.
• Prune. Young trees benefit from a structural pruning 3 to 5 years after it is planted. The City Arborist will take care of this at that time (which is also why it's important to get permission to plant a tree - otherwise we don't know about it to help care for it!

Learn more about new tree care on the Arbor Day Foundation's "Tree Planting and Care" page.

If you are concerned that there is something wrong with your street tree, email the City. Our City Arborist will check your tree and determine if any steps can be taken to address any problems.

In the City of Newport, sidewalk management and repair is the responsibility of the adjacent homeowner. The City also recognizes that there are some residents who lament the presence of urban trees, due to the potential for sidewalk damage. However, trees have been proven to be critical to our vibrant community because of the benefits in air quality, public health, and property value boost they provide. For these reasons, the City of Newport works diligently to balance the needs of the community across all these topics.

If you have a buckling sidewalk from tree roots, please note that cutting large roots to allow for sidewalk is not permitted, as it can reduce the stability (and thus safety) of a tree.

Consider replacing the sidewalk with a curved edge to make more room for the tree and all the benefits it provides.

If large roots are in place, the city arborist can work with your sidewalk contractor to ensure any construction will not cause the tree to become unstable (root cutting), while ensuring the sidewalk is replaced properly.

The following are curved alternatives to help address sidewalk/tree conflicts.

The following is an example of root cuts in a sidewalk repair. This is not permitted. This tree would be considered structurally unstable and unsafe.

Maintenance of space in the tree lawns or tree wells (space between the sidewalk and the street) beyond the tree itself is the responsibility of the adjacent property owner. Per the Tree Ordinance, plantings are allowed in this area as long as they are below 12 inches in height (grass, groundcover, mulch, etc.). Any plantings beyond trees in this space that is above 12 inches in height or that will cause trip hazards. (i.e. boulders, signs) is prohibited per the ordinance. The main reason for this restriction is to ensure easy access to and from parked cars as well as ensure safety for the public.

The short answer is that tree pruning is a necessary maintenance task Duke performs to keep lines safe and power outages to our homes and businesses to a minimum. If a large tree is planted under a utility line, it must be pruned to protect the utilities and prevent local outages. This is why it is so important to plant the right tree in the right place (as described in FAQ 4). Read more about Tree Pruning by Duke Energy (PDF).

As already stated above, street trees are owned by the City and cannot be removed without a permit. The City's overarching policy regarding tree removal is that no healthy tree is to be removed in effort to reach our goals described above. This is one of the reasons we have such heavily tree lined streets in some of our neighborhoods currently. For this reason, in most cases, permission will not be granted to remove a healthy tree as we work toward our goals stated above. We ask that you consider your request carefully and weigh the cost of removal and replacement, the time it will take to regrow (decades) and the loss of services that tree provides to the community (clean air, temperature reduction in the summer, better public health, interception of stormwater that reduces instances of flooding and water pollution and more.

That being said, the City receives requests for removal and or replacement for multiple reasons. Examples of these reasons, and the City's policy in each case are as follows:

• "My tree is damaging the sidewalk." See FAQ Number 7.
• "The roots are too high". This was likely caused by years of over-mulching (see mulch volcanoes above) and roots cannot be cut or lowered. This is something we adjust to in city life to ensure we have trees and shade on our streets.
• "The tree is touching my house." Street trees will eventually spread and branches can reach buildings over time. Simple pruning work will remedy this issue. See FAQ Number 3.
• "Wildlife can reach my roof." Urban wildlife has adapted to city life and will find ways into and onto our buildings whether street trees are present or not, often utilizing utility poles and lines, private trees, and climbing the buildings themselves. Removing a healthy tree to avoid wildlife on our buildings will not deter the critters, and could encourage more intrusion if their natural homes are gone.
• "I don't like all the debris (nuts, fruit, leaves) that the street tree drops." Trees are living things constantly evolving. Leaves, seeds, and other bits and pieces of them may drop to the ground throughout the year (and is indeed how we have forests that naturally regrow in wild areas). While debris from trees can seem to be a nuisance, the City recognizes that the greater benefits of the tree to the community often far outweigh any temporary inconvenience. The City is committed to keeping streets safe and performs regular street sweeping and leaf collection to aid in this effort.
• "My street tree species is a nuisance and causing problems."
  • Ash. The City is removing ash trees only as they decline. No healthy ash will be proactively removed.
  • Callery Pears. This species is now considered invasive, and have shown to have structural issues as they age. While the City is not proactively removing pear trees, we are willing to provide a permit for a homeowner to remove AND REPLACE a pear with a better-suited tree.
  • Fruiting Gingkos (females). Gingkos have been around for millions of years - even during the time of the dinosaurs! They are also somewhat unique because there is a male and female version of this tree. Nurseries only sell male trees, as the female trees produce fruit that is often proliferous and has a strong unpleasant odor once crushed on the ground. However, there are a number of gingkos in the city that have either reverted back to females (this is possible believe it or not) or were actually female at the time of planting in error (sex can't be determined by just looking at the tree). If you have a female Gingko that is fruiting, please contact the city to discuss options.
• "My tree is dead/dying/hazardous." A dead, dying or hazardous public tree will be removed by the City to ensure public safety. Please contact us to have the tree evaluated.
• "Tree in front of my business is hiding my sign / business." Trees in our business districts are critical to creating an inviting space to entice consumers to visit frequently. In fact, it has been shown that people will shop longer and spend 11% more in business districts with tree canopy than those without. However, the City will work with you to prune tree limbs away from a building or signage as much as possible without harming the tree.

No. Trees on your private property are yours to maintain as you choose. If you have questions about any trees on your private property, please contact a local Certified Arborist for a consultation.