Contributed photo
No trees, more reckless driving? A flipped car last summer on tree-less spot of Dayton Street.
Neighbors of Dayton Street’s endangered maples are taking a final stand to save them.
The neighbors, Bruni and Daniel Pizarro, have filed an appeal in state court seeking to block a city decision to remove all five trees that buffer the western side of the narrow two-lane two-way two-block one-tenth-mile continually car-congested street connecting Fountain Street and Whalley Avenue.
New Haven officials reluctantly decided on Feb. 1 to remove all five trees — four red maples, one elm — so that the city can replace perilously buckling sidewalks.
The city usually tries to save trees when it puts in sidewalks. The four maples remain in good condition, according to an assessment by city Tree Warden Anastasia Shutts Mixsell. The roots of at least two of them would survive construction work.
But the state owns Dayton (part of Route 122). The state Department of Transportation (DOT) has refused to sign off on a permit for the sidewalk reconstruction without the trees’ removal, arguing that the work would “pose a safety concern” by further damaging “an already compromised root system.” The city has worked in recent years on finding ways to preserve trees when rebuilding or fixing sidewalks on property it controls. Read a previous story about that, and a city hearing on the subject, here.
Paul Bass Photo
Dayton death row.
Not a safe sidewalk for wheelchairs.
The Pizarros sought in their Superior Court appeal to reverse the decision and protect the trees that are in good condition.
“The residents of Dayton Street are primarily Black and Latinx working class families and the constant idling of cars and continuous passage of emergency vehicles and minimal treescapes exacerbate environmental justice concerns,” they wrote in the appeal.
“This is an issue of public safety. [T]rees slow down traffic, provide shade and cooling opportunities, and reduce energy burdens for those that are energy insecure. Given the inevitable trajectory of cities growing hotter, we implore City and State legislators to act now to mitigate worsened health and quality of life outcomes for the most vulnerable.”
Read the full appeal here.
Contributed Photo
Daniel and Bruni Pizarro on Dayton: This is about environmental justice.
The couple said they have been speaking with neighbors to build support for continuing the fight against the tree removal plan. Their organizing stems from years of environmental justice organizing, they said. Bruni Pizarro earned her master’s of environmental science in 2019 from the Yale School of the Environment; Daniel Pizarro is currently a Yale climate engagement fellow.
“Making sure we have a right to trees, quality and clean air, and green spaces — this is a big part of the impetus for us,” said Bruni Pizarro.
“We see the soot on the windowsill. We can smell the idling of the cars.”
They added that the trees on Dayton protect houses from the nonstop, often reckless drivers cutting to and from Whalley and Fountain. They saw that firsthand last summer: Their house does not have one of the trees in front of it. A car flipped over on the property (pictured at the top of this article).
The city has not yet submitted a legal response to the appeal, according to the state judicial database.
Separate from the legal appeal, the city is still trying to convince DOT to relent on the full-removal position. City Engineer Giovanni Zinn pointed out that sidewalk construction season has not yet begun.
“We’re not pouring sidewalk. We’re going to wait until the last minute” while rescue efforts continue, he said.
DOT spokesperson Josh Morgan said the agency “continues to be in communication with the city on the sidewalk installation project on Dayton Street. With the current design, the sidewalk installation project would damage several existing trees and root systems, creating a safety hazard. This safety hazard is the reason specific trees would have to be removed.”
Liam Brennan (pictured addressing the issue in the above video), a Westville resident seeking the Democratic mayoral nomination, urged the city to push harder with DOT to save the trees. He called the pending arboreal massacre “another example of how the [DOT] mistreats New Haven streets and our residents. And, while the state may have the legal authority to force the destruction of the trees, city leaders should use their moral authority to make it as uncomfortable as possible for the state to do so.”
“The destruction of the trees on Dayton street makes no sense,” Brennan stated. “Street trees beautify the neighborhood, slow traffic, cool the surrounding environment, and clean the air of pollutants. They are a key tool in combatting climate change, air pollution, and traffic violence.”