City Council approves removal of 29 Goodhue Boulevard trees and a 131-tree replanting plan after appeal

Lincoln City Council voted 4–1 on Aug. 25 to approve a Capital Environs certificate of appropriateness authorizing removal of 29 street trees along Goodhue Boulevard and on adjacent side streets and to plant 131 replacement trees under a city-managed replanting and four‑year maintenance program.

Council action came after a lengthy public hearing and an appeal filed by Stacy Asher, a Goodhue Boulevard resident, who asked the council to overturn the Capital Environs Commission decision. The council’s majority concluded city forestry staff had documented an accelerated decline and safety risk among the identified trees and that removal plus replanting was the appropriate response.

Parks and Recreation staff described the decision as driven by repeated inspections and standardized tree‑risk evaluations. “These trees are failing and pruning is not going to stop that process,” Parks and Recreation Director Maggie Stuckey Ross told the council, summarizing the department’s written TRAC (Tree Risk Assessment Qualification) assessments.…