The Little Rock Planning Commission on Thursday voted to replace about 50 blazing autumn maple trees in the downtown River Market District with ginkgoes.
Only the trees along President Clinton Avenue are set to be replaced. The process will take about 10 days to complete, according to Little Rock Parks and Recreation Director John Eckart. A date for the maples' removal has not yet been set.
The change has been in discussion since at least April. Bald cypress trees also were considered. The maples were planted about 20 years ago, and though some are still in good, full-grown condition, most are ailing.
"If you take a walk down the street, you'll see that a lot of the trees are unhealthy, they're misshapen now," Brian Minyard, a member of the planning department's River Market Design Review Committee, said.
Ginkgoes, the leaves of which turn bright yellow in the fall, are better for an urban environment and have stronger trunks that can weather the city's temperature changes without sustaining structural damage the way the maples have, staff members of the Parks and Recreation Department said. The new trees will not be fully grown and stand 10 to 12 feet tall, said Ernest Moix, Little Rock's horticulturist.
Eckart noted that the trees' smell won't be an issue, as the department plans to plant certified male trees. The fruit of a female ginkgo has a strong, unpleasant smell.
Downtown property owner Jo Melton said at Thursday's meeting that she had tenants who might take issue with the aesthetic change.
"It's going to cause quite a stir, I think, when people see that we're removing nice, full-grown trees," she said. "If you go into the River Market, it looks really wonderful and shady now."
But she added that she wasn't necessarily opposed to the change.
"I'm not one to go hug these trees if they're diseased," she said.
The change comes as part of an approved update to the River Market Design Overlay District, a set of guidelines for the area that was updated Thursday.
Information for this article was contributed by Chelsea Boozer for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Metro on 07/13/2018