Gibbs: The case for more shade trees in the West Valley

• Avondale has ambitious goal of 25 percent shade tree coverage

If you look at some of the recent general plan updates for West Valley communities, you will be struck by the almost universal emphasis on improving the area's livability. Virtually without exception, these plan updates call for a focus on such amenities as parks and recreation, community gateways, interconnected neighborhoods, complete streets for car-optional circulation and improved air quality, all of which support the goal of sustainability.

One feature that could support the accomplishment of these plan objectives is shade trees. Without shade in key general plan locations, many of the targeted activities would not be feasible year-round in our warm Arizona climate.

Now, shade can be provided in other ways such as man-made shelters, but shelters do not provide many of the environmental and aesthetic benefits provided by shade trees. Among these additional benefits are aesthetic beauty, CO2 absorption (i.e., air quality), reduced storm water runoff, street speed calming, absorption of street noise, increased privacy and a tendency to increase property values.

So how do we get from the widely encountered general plan objectives of improved livability to an action plan targeting an increase in shade trees in our communities?

Avondale has provided an important example for other communities to follow, the development of a Street Tree Master Plan.

Following the community's 2012 adoption of its 2030 Master Plan, Avondale got started creating a master plan outlining how its goals and objectives could be realized through significantly increasing the shade tree coverage in the community.

In its plan, which was adopted last year, the city establishes a goal of 25 percent shade tree coverage for the community during its 15-year planning horizon, with a focus on tree-lining designated collector streets and gateways over time as they are built out. (Think about it – 25 percent strikes me as an ambitious goal considering the amount of land reserved for buildings and other types of open space.) And Avondale is targeting the use of only the drought-tolerant varieties approved by the Arizona Department of Water Resources, but excluding palm trees, which generally do not provide appreciable shade.

So an interesting question is: With all these benefits, and with all our related general plan goals and objectives, why aren't shade trees a more common feature in the West Valley?

One explanation might be a concern about water use. This may reflect what I consider to be our current, general "knee jerk" focus on water conservation. Personally, I am not a big supporter of water conservation per se, especially given the very low pricing which prevails for our current supplies. Rather, as you may have detected, I'm a believer in the notion that our communities should establish their desired "water futures" and then ensure adequate supplies are available to support those lifestyle objectives. This is essentially what Avondale has done in its General Plan and accompanying Street Tree Master Plan.

With this in mind, I'm going to suggest that our other communities in the West Valley take a fresh look at their general plans to see where an increased focus on the deployment of shade trees could support the accomplishment of their objectives.

You can look over Avondale's impressive Street Tree Master Plan online at http://www.ci.avondale.az.us/DocumentCenter/View/35581.

Jeff Gibbs is a longtime West Valley resident and former Litchfield Park planning commissioner who has studied development issues.