Norwalk completes half of public tree inventory; consultant identified 2,500 potential planting sites

City staff and the committee updated the Tree Advisory Committee on the public tree inventory work and plans to integrate inventory data into the city GIS.

Sarah, a city staff member, said the consultant Planet Geo is using the TreePlotter system and is “a little over 50% complete doing that, on their own through a through a public contract.” She said the consultant’s work assumes about 25,000 public trees citywide and that the inventory currently contains roughly 12,000 existing trees and about 2,500 potential planting sites.

Why it matters: A consolidated, accurate inventory is the foundation for targeted planting, watering and canopy-priority overlays. Staff said the inventory points include species and size, and they aim to integrate the consultant TreePlotter data with the city’s GIS so the public can view a live map showing street trees and potential planting locations.

Private plantings and volunteer data: Jeff Sherry, president of the Norwalk Tree Alliance, said his group maintains a separate inventory of volunteer and private plantings and is exploring ways to share address-level data without publishing private-property specifics. Staff said publicly owned trees will remain in the city database; private plantings could be kept in a separate database accessible to partners for coordination.

Discussion vs. decision: This was an informational discussion about contractor progress and data-integration plans; no formal policy changes were voted. Staff expects the consultant contract to complete the inventory by the end of the year.