Council delays decision on soil-cell requirement for downtown street trees after cost, maintenance questions

Sharon Hari, Department of Neighborhoods, asked the South Salt Lake City Council on April 23 to consider ordinance changes that would require larger soil volumes for street trees in new downtown development and to clarify where urban-forestry standards appear in the city code.

The proposal focuses on a requirement of approximately 1,000 cubic feet of soil per street tree and on allowing developers to meet that requirement either by providing uncovered soil area or by installing subsurface modular "soil cells." Sharon Hari told the council the modular system costs about $30,000 per tree when installed during site construction and that soil cells typically run about $60–$80 per square foot in the downtown context, versus about $1,500 for a conventional tree pit.

The issue attracted detailed questions about long-term maintenance, funding and whether the requirement would apply citywide or only to downtown. Hari said the city currently has limited ongoing urban-forestry operations — "we've been working off a $50,000 grant a year from the U.S. Forest Service" — and that…