Missouri City and First Colony are announcing a new compromise to solve an old dispute: How to resolve sidewalk failures caused by “street trees.”

Under the compromise — described at Monday's City Council meeting — the city will make repairs once residents have removed or otherwise “mitigated” problem trees planted between the sidewalk and curb.

First Colony Community Association has agreed — on a pre-approved, case-by-case basis — to allow residents to remove, relocate or replace trees to fix the problem, while aiming to maintain the canopy that is a popular subdivision feature.

“People have been talking about sidewalks, sidewalks, sidewalks during every election,” said Councilman Robin Elackatt, whose District C includes part of First Colony. “This is the first time that the FCCA and the city have come up with a mutually agreeable compromise that is going to be good for the city as a whole and especially for District C.”

FCCA Executive Director Sherrie Knoepfel called the compromise “a reasonable outcome for everyone,” worked out between elected officials and staff from both sides. “The issue is finally put to bed and it’s been a long time coming.”

Cracked sidewalks are a problem with deep roots in First Colony, a three-decades-old subdivision that prides itself on its canopy of mature street trees.

Three-fourths of First Colony’s 10,000 residents live in the city of Sugar Land, which has more neighborhoods with sidewalks and more readily makes repairs, Knoepfel said.

The other 2,500 residents are inside the limits of Missouri City, which budgets about $150,000 a year to repair sidewalks, and has declined to make repairs when tree roots or other underlying problems could cause repeat damage.

In a citywide sidewalk repair update Jan. 4, Public Works Director Scott Elmer recommended that the city more than double the amount it budgets each year on sidewalk repairs, to about $350,000. Since May 2007, the city has spent nearly $390,000 on 300-plus work orders throughout the city, Elmer said.

Elmer also is recommending the city hire a sidewalk repair contractor, to allow for quicker response.

City Manager Frank Simpson said FCCA’s new acknowledgement that some street trees need to be removed if they cause infrastructure problems is “quite a big change.”

In Knoepfel’s view, the city of Missouri City also has come a long way in creating a more cooperative atmosphere.

“I think there’s just been a metamorphosis over time, philosophically, with Missouri City in some things related to development and how they interact with the homeowner associations,” she said. “I think there has been enlightenment on how important trees are to the community.”

Knoepfel said FCCA’s main area of compromise is in allowing homeowners more flexibility in addressing the problem — including the option in some cases of replacing street trees with yard trees that also canopy the street.

Language approved by both the city and FCCA states that property owners are basically responsible for sidewalk repairs and/or replacements due to damage caused by the property owner.

“For damage caused by street trees or other right-of-way landscaping, the homeowner must mitigate the tree or landscaping prior to the city making the sidewalk repair,” the new joint policy states.
“Mitigation” could include root pruning, root barriers, tree removal or relocation, irrigation systems and “alternative materials for sidewalk replacement.”

In the new policy, which will be posted on missouricitytx.gov, the city “reserves the right to take direct action if necessary,” although a mutually agreeable resolution is “preferred.”

“When willful neglect is involved or a homeowner refuses to address the tree issue, the city engineer may issue an order for the resident to take action within a certain time period. If there is no resolution, the city may construct improvements and assess expenses to the homeowner.”

FCCA has developed its own “street tree removal guidelines” for homeowners, which call street trees “an important and desirable part of First Colony.”

In some instances, the guidelines state, a tree may need to be removed “due to its proximity to infrastructure, utilities, lack of growing space, health of the tree or other significant issues.”

The guidelines direct residents to submit a modification application with the community association if they want to remove a tree, and state that all removals require prior approval.

Possible solutions could include removing the tree, replacing the tree with another specimen, or replacing the tree with a yard tree that eventually will canopy over the street.

Knoepfel said residents care deeply about trees, but must recognize that sometimes they need to be pruned, thinned or removed. She praised the willingness of city officials to see First Colony’s point of view.

“I think it’s been a very good exercise in cooperation and compromise on behalf of both entities.”