Carbondale tree board approves Chacos Park planting plan after debate over mature elm and species mix

The Carbondale Tree Board on April [date not specified] voted to approve the design-development planting plan for Chacos Park after a multi-hour presentation by Parks & Recreation staff and the project's landscape design team and an extended board discussion over species mix and a mature Siberian elm on the site.

Parks & Rec Director Eric Braninger and landscape architect Nicholas D. Frank presented the plan and said the concept converts Chacos Park into a year-round, pedestrian-first town square connected to the adjacent Fourth Street Plaza. "This is a really fun project. We're really excited about it," Braninger said as he introduced the design goals: a stacked canopy and understory planting scheme to frame the park, improve accessibility by removing curbs and creating a continuous surface to the plaza, and use drought-tolerant, Roaring Fork Valley'adapted species.

The planting plan calls for larger canopy trees (including honeylocust and Kentucky coffee tree), a line of service-berry trees to visually and physically connect the park to Fourth Street Plaza, and ornamental…