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SECTION K -- PARKS, RECREATION AND COMMUNITY RESOURCES
FORESTRY AND LANDSCAPING PROGRAM
PROGRAM MISSION: To promote a safe, attractive and environmentally sustainable
community by providing optimal tree canopy cover, landscaping, and control of
invasive plants.
The Forestry and Landscape
Section manages, maintains, enhances and protects the County's urban forests
and landscaped areas. This section
includes technical staff that provides expertise and support for the review of
site plans and County initiated projects as they relate to tree preservation,
tree planting and natural resource issues.
The Forestry and Landscape Section also manages a program to control
invasive plants in County parks and the County's gypsy moth suppression
program.
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The Forestry Unit performs tree maintenance, hazardous
tree removal and technical assessments of trees in County parks, street
rights-of-way and open spaces. They
also review development and right-of-way improvement plans to ensure compliance
with tree preservation and planting requirements, including compliance with the
Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance.
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The Landscape
Unit plants trees on County property and installs and maintains
landscaping in parks, street islands and on the grounds of community
centers. The majority of annual and
perennial flowers are grown in a staff operated greenhouse.
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The Invasive Plant Control Program combines volunteer
and staff resources to help control invasive plants on County property.
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Forestry and
Landscaping Program
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FY 2004
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FY 2005
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FY 2006
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% Change:
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Actual
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Adopted
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Proposed
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'05 to '06
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Personnel
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$1,660,242
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$1,792,068
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$1,801,739
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1%
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Non-Personnel
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909,310
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971,525
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1,016,074
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5%
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Total Expenditures
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2,569,552
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2,763,593
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2,817,813
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2%
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Fees
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0
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26,000
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26,000
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-
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Grants
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0
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500
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1,000
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100%
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Total Revenues
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0
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26,500
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27,000
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2%
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Net Tax Support
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$2,569,552
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$2,737,093
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$2,790,813
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2%
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Authorized FTEs
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33.2
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33.5
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33.5
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Funded FTEs
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33.2
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33.5
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33.5
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SIGNIFICANT BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS:
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Increase in non-personnel is primarily due to internal
vehicle charges ($39,950).
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The Gypsy Moth grant will increase $500.
PERFORMANCE MEASURES:
Forestry
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FY 2002 Actual
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FY 2003 Actual
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FY 2004 Actual
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FY 2005 Estimate
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FY 2006
Estimate
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FY 2006 Goal
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Mission Outcome Measures
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Percent
of County streets, trees, and potential street tree planting locations
covered by five-year planting and pruning plan
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N/A
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N/A
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98%
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98%
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98%
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100%
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Percent
of available planting spaces along streets and medians that contain trees
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N/A
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N/A
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93%
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95%
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97%
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97%
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Percent of
tree emergencies completed in 24 hrs.
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95%
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95%
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80%
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95%
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95%
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98%
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Net new
trees planted
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310
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714
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559
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730
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730
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730
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Customer Measures
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Percent of residents reporting good to
excellent satisfaction with emergency and non-emergency tree removal and
maintenance
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N/A
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N/A
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N/A
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88%
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88%
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90%
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Workload Measures
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Reactive
maintenance (percent of work)
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75%
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70%
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82%
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70%
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70%
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65%
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Preventive
maintenance (percent of work)
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25%
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30%
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18%
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30%
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30%
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35%
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Trees
removed / trees planted
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544/ 854
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573/ 1,287
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730/ 1,289
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550/ 1,280
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550/ 1,280
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550/ 1,280
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Trees
pruned
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2,340
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2,356
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2,220
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2,500
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2,500
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3,200
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Plans
reviewed
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195
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266
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720
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850
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850
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850
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Unusually stormy weather during FY 2004, including
hurricane Isabel, resulted in an increase in tree-related emergency responses
and removals. This impacted several performance
measures, including: completion time for emergency and non-emergency tree work,
the percentage of work dedicated to reactive (emergency) vs. preventive tree
maintenance, the number of trees removed, and the net number of new trees
(number of trees planted minus number removed).
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Early in FY 2005 the Arlington County Board adopted the
Urban Forest Master Plan as an element of the Open Space Master Plan. The approved plan establishes long-range
goals and objectives and provides recommendations to improve the tree canopy of
Arlington County.
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The number of plans reviewed for potential tree
impacts, tree preservation and planting requirements increased dramatically,
from 266 in FY 2003, to 720 in FY 2004, to an estimated 850 in FY 2005. This increase is due to newly established
plan submittal and review requirements associated with the FY 2003 revision of
the County's Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance, and with the more active
involvement of PRCR staff in review of all Right-of-Way permits (processed
through DES) for potential tree impacts.
Landscaping
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FY 2002 Actual
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FY 2003 Actual
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FY 2004 Actual
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FY 2005 Estimate
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FY 2006
Estimate
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FY 2006 Goal
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Mission Outcome Measures
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Percent of
newly planted trees surviving after one year
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85%
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90%
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90%
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90%
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90%
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95%
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Percent of
landscaping maintained according to standard
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90%
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90%
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90%
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90%
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90%
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95%
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Customer Measures
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Percent of residents that rate County
landscape areas as "good to excellent"
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N/A
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N/A
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N/A
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80%
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80%
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80%
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Workload Measures
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Landscape
locations maintained
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176
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178
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183
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187
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192
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192
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Annual
flower beds maintained
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39
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39
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39
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33
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33
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33
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Perennial
flower beds maintained
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31
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31
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36
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46
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51
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51
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Greenhouse
production of bedding plants
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62,000
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63,000
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64,000
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65,000
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66,000
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66,000
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Park renovations and beautification projects along street
rights-of-way have resulted in additional landscape areas that must be
maintained. This trend is expected to
continue in future years as park master planning efforts and neighborhood
improvement projects are implemented.
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Growing the majority of annual and perennial flowers in
the County's greenhouse results in average annual savings of $14,000 compared
to the cost of purchasing plants.
Invasive Plant Control
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FY 2002 Actual
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FY 2003 Actual
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FY 2004 Actual
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FY 2005 Estimate
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FY 2006
Estimate
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FY 2006 Goal
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Mission Outcome Measures
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Number of
acres where invasive plants were permanently removed (through chemical or
mechanical methods)
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N/A
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17.3
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20.3
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20.0
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20.0
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20.0
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Percent of
program participants reporting increase in knowledge of invasive plant
impacts and control techniques.
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N/A
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N/A
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N/A
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90%
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90%
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95%
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Customer Measures
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Percent of participants reporting that program
met or exceeded their expectations
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N/A
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N/A
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N/A
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80%
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80%
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90%
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Workload Measures
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Number of
volunteer projects
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13
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21
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26
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20
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20
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20
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Yearly
number of volunteer hours
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654
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1346
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2,150
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2,000
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2,000
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2,000
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- The Invasive Plant Control Program continues
to exceed all performance measure goals that were originally set for the
program. The number of volunteer hours,
projects and acres of control increased in FY 2004 and are expected to remain
high in future years.
FUTURE BUDGET CONSIDERATIONS:
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The large increase in plan review requirements (as
noted under "Forestry") requires significant staff time. Additional resources are needed in order to
perform timely reviews and conduct inspections for compliance with the
Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance necessary to preserve trees during
construction and development projects.
DES is submitting a Revenue Budget Worksheet that proposes to raise plan
review and inspection fees in order to hire a part-time arborist to provide
review/inspection services necessary to fully implement Landscape Conservation
Plan requirements of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance.
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Implementation of current and future park master
planning processes (such as Greenbriar Park and North Tract) as well as street
right-of-way beautification projects include additional landscaping but do not
typically provide resources required for ongoing maintenance. As maintenance requirements continue to
increase additional resources will be necessary to meet expected standards.
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Arlington County is currently conducting a study to
determine the implications of taking over maintenance and construction of the State's
primary system roadways in Arlington (currently the responsibility of
VDOT). If a decision is made for
Arlington to assume responsibilities for all or some of these primary routes,
additional resources will be required to address workloads associated with
maintenance and planting of trees, landscaping and clearing of undesirable
vegetation/obstructions.
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