A large number of trees in West Lakeview are at risk for destruction in connection with City of Chicago Department of Water Management ("DWM") water main replacement work scheduled for early January 2022 (the “Project’).  In particular, approximately 20 mature trees on Paulina between Roscoe and Belmont—a leafy, four-block stretch—are scheduled to be cut down along with an unspecified number of trees on surrounding streets.  Many of these trees are over 100 years old, as evidenced by their impressive size and the expansive canopy they provide.

Extensive tree removal will impair the beauty and character of the neighborhood, diminish property values, destroy bird and animal habitats, and obliterate privacy and shade, among other losses.  It flies in the face of the City’s express priority to increase and preserve the City's tree canopy through its recently enacted Urban Forest Agenda, and makes a mockery of the City’s motto “Urbs in Horto” ("City in a Garden").  Planting young saplings in place of mature trees cannot come close to replicating the critical role that these mature trees play in our neighborhood and the environment.

We are a group of concerned members of the community who seek a thorough and systematic exploration of alternative approaches to DWM’s plans for the Project—approaches that other major cities have successfully deployed to spare trees near public works projects.  By this petition, we ask the City, the DWM, and any other municipal departments with a stake in this work to postpone the Project until all alternatives to the anticipated destruction of these important trees have been fully evaluated.