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. City staff said the 29 trees were examined in June–July 2025 in roughly 75 hours of field work and that many defects — including signs consistent with hypoxylon canker, fungal conks and root decay — made the trees likely to continue deteriorating.

Rick Hoppe of the mayor’s office framed the proposal as cautious and resource‑intensive. “The parks and recreation department does not go looking for trees to cut down,” Hoppe said, adding that staff had pursued neighborhood outreach and multiple technical reviews. Stuckey Ross said the replanting plan calls for 55 new trees on Goodhue proper and 76 on adjacent streets, selected for species diversity and climate resilience, with the city contracting four years of establishment care for all 131 trees.

Appellant Stacy Asher and several neighborhood residents urged a more gradual approach and raised concerns about neighborhood shade and energy costs. “The tree I am here to defend is very much alive and valuable,” Asher told the council, saying the mature canopy provided cooling, habitat and neighborhood character. A board‑certified master arborist who spoke during public comment, Graham Herbst, told the council he was “largely in favor of most of these trees coming out” but urged a mix of species and ages in the replanting plan.

City staff pointed to recent storm response and claims history to explain urgency: they reported 24 calls about failing trees and branches on Goodhue in the last 18 months, two paid claims and one pending claim that staff tied to the failing canopy. Staff emphasized that several affected trees showed internal decay, cavities and fungal indicators that increase the risk of sudden limb or whole‑tree failures in a dense, urban setting.

Council debate focused on balancing immediate public‑safety and liability risks against long‑term canopy and neighborhood impacts. Council members who supported the plan said replanting will ultimately restore a multi‑layered canopy, noting the city aims to plant a mix of sizes and species to avoid the single‑age cohort problem that led to concentrated decline. Councilman Jeff Carlson was the lone dissenting vote.

The council approved the appeal in favor of the certificate of appropriateness, allowing staff to proceed with removals and the replanting contract. Staff said their timeline, subject to contracting and procurement, aims to plant the 55 Goodhue trees this fall if approved work proceeds quickly, with the 76 side‑street plantings scheduled for spring. Minimum replacement size was described as 1.5 inches diameter at breast height (DBH) with a goal of a diverse range of sizes and species. The city also said the contract will include warranties and replacement of failed new trees during the four‑year establishment period.

Next steps described by staff include finalizing contractor selection for removal and planting, issuing public notices to directly affected properties, and implementing the four‑year maintenance contract. Staff also acknowledged continuing conversations with neighborhood groups about ongoing stewardship and longer‑term pruning cycles for the city’s broader urban canopy.