What does the term “tree belt” mean, and why are streets typically constructed with tree belts? The city of Greenfield’s tree ordinance defines the tree belt as follows: “The portion of the public way available for tree planting. It is typically the area between the sidewalk and the edge of pavement.”
The ordinance opens with: “It is the purpose of these regulations to provide standards for the protection, preservation, resilience and improvement of Greenfield’s urban forest; provide for the health, safety and general welfare of the residents by allowing appropriate shade and ornamental trees to be planted within the public right-of-way; and to provide guidance to the City and its residents in planting, caring for, and removing trees.”
While property owners own their land and buildings, that ownership ends at the sidewalk and tree belt. In former decades these tree belts were routinely planted by the city with shade trees, at the same time the sidewalks were installed. The original trees have died and there is always a need to replace the missing trees. In fact, in many communities, the Forestry Department simply replaces aging or dying trees as a matter of course, and tree belts are always full of shade trees.
When tree belts are used for the purpose intended, we all benefit. Property values increase, commercial areas are more active, sidewalks are safe and comfortable, and temperatures are reduced by as much as 8-10 degrees. Trees support all kinds of wildlife, including birds, insects, and fungi, and their roots reduce runoff and increase water quality. But most of all, a street with healthy, vigorous trees is beautiful and calming to our psyches.
The Greenfield Tree Committee is a volunteer group of citizens who grow and plant shade trees throughout the city, primarily in the denser areas of the city, where trees are most needed. We work hand-in-hand with the city DPW’s forestry department and tree warden, who approves and supports our work, and is grateful that we help them.
We conduct a major planting effort every spring. You may have noticed young trees on Woodleigh Avenue (last year’s planting) and new trees on the west side of High Street, south of Silver Street, our 2026 effort. If an abutter to the tree belt is against new plantings in front of their property, we have in the past complied with owners’ preferences, despite the fact that the city has control and ownership of the tree belt. We are grateful for the business owners who support our effort; they share in the neighborhood and community benefit the trees provide. In fact, it has been proven that trees adjacent to commercial properties improve that business’s traffic.
We assisted the city in being awarded two state-funded Cooling Corridors grants, which are adding over 100 trees to the Federal, Beacon, Sanderson, and High Street areas.
The Tree Committee also provides trees to homeowner who request them. Please see our website — www.greenfieldtreecommittee.org, and our Facebook page —Greenfieldtreecommittee. While trees are free to homeowners, we do require that the owner (or tenant) take care of the tree: watering the tree weekly throughout the first growing season, and to avoid damaging the tree with a mower or weed-trimmer.
Please don’t park your vehicle on the tree belts. Cars and trucks compact the soil and make future plantings much more difficult and less likely to succeed.
Let’s put the trees back in tree belts! If you live on a street where the tree belt is “missing” trees, please let us know, and we’ll help bring shade and beauty to your street.
Margo Jones and John Bottomley, co-chairs, Greenfield Tree Committee. With thanks to Mary Cicione and Nancy Hazard, former Tree Committee chairs who spearheaded the city’s Tree Ordinance.