BALTIMORE — A Baltimore homeowner concerned with an overgrown tree in front of her home requested City forestry services in August. In April, she contacted WMAR-2 News Mallory Sofastaii when she was fed up with the wait and few answers.
The sprawling tree, which at ground level fits between neighboring walkways, spans the width of five homes with branches extending over the road and multiple yards.
"The roots are coming out the ground," said Carolyn Townsend, a homeowner in the Stonewood-Pentwood-Winston community.
The City repaired the sidewalk in front of Townsend's home in 2019 but didn't prune the tree. When she contacted the Mayor's Office last August about the tree, she was told there was a significant backlog.
"We won't be able to get to you for 16 months," Townsend recalled. "I said, Well, how far is the backlog? If you've never been here, is it like 30 years? 40 years?"
In April, Townsend followed up by calling her Councilman Ryan Dorsey's office multiple times.
"Seven times on the 14th?" Sofastaii asked Townsend who held up a call log.
"Yeah, I'm a little persistent," Townsend said.
She finally received an email response stating the backlog is 8 to 9 months but her request would be prioritized in the next batch of work orders. WMAR-2 News contacted Councilman Dorsey via email, but hasn't yet received a response.
"We pay taxes. That's what I pay taxes for, for you to do the things that you're supposed to do," Townsend said.
Townsend, who has Multiple Sclerosis, worries about the tree tilting her sidewalk again. Her neighbor, Cordelia Richard, also has mobility concerns.
"We don't ask for much, but when we do, we need them to respond, to say something," Richard said.
According to Craig Sult, senior estimator at A-AAA Tree Service, whom Townsend hired to remove a tree in her backyard, the City tree poses hazards.
"There's a lot of dead branches that are kind of scattered throughout the tree. It hasn't really been maintained over the years," Sult said. "Stuff can fall unexpectedly. It doesn't need a storm. It doesn't need high wind. Dead branches can literally fall on a nice, sunny, calm day."
WMAR-2 News reached out to the Department of Recreation and Parks, which oversees the Forestry Division. A spokeswoman said wait times for routine and non-urgent service requests are around 8 months, while urgent requests are responded to within a day.
The spokeswoman compared Baltimore's backlog to other cities: Washington D.C. has a 6-8 month delay, New York City around 12 months, and Pittsburgh at one point had a 2-year backlog.
Meanwhile, Baltimore City is looking to expand its tree canopy by 40 percent by 2037. WMAR-2 News asked the Department of Recreation and Parks how they plan to maintain new trees with the current backlog, we're waiting for a response.
Several days after our initial interview, the City pruned the tree in front of Townsend's home.
"So am I happy? Yes, I'm happy. It's sad that I had to go this route to get it done, but I'm happy about it," Townsend said. "I want our neighborhood to be beautiful. I want it to go back to the way it's supposed to be. I'm an advocate for doing what's right, and if we don't fight for our own communities. Who's going to fight for us?"
Townsend's next focus is a park across the street where vegetation is weighing down power lines. The City said they'll coordinate with BGE and other city agencies to schedule this work as soon as possible.
To report a City tree that needs pruning, residents can contact 311. The resolution estimate online is 304 days.
According to the City's website, the Forestry Division consists of four in-house crews and nine contract crews responsible for maintaining approximately 200,000 street trees in Baltimore.
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