Volunteers Plant Trees in Carney; Neighbors Call Police

More than 70 environmentalists from Carney, Parkville and Perry Hall reported to a former storm water management area near Deltom Court in Carney on Saturday morning. But they never suspected they might upset local residents.

The mission of the Gunpowder Valley Conservancy's Jennifer Branch Project was simple: to plant more than 140 swamp white oak, pin oak, red oak, red maple and sycamore trees in a field to help prevent runoff into a nearby tributary stream of Jennifer Branch, which feeds into the Gunpowder River.

Despite rain the day before, which left the ground saturated, volunteers planted the trees in about three hours, cleaning up trash along a nearby stream at the same time.

"I think the planting went great. We did an excellent job working in the mud," said Peggy Perry, the Jennifer Branch Project's manager.

But some residents of the Carney neighborhood weren't as pleased. Neighbors on Deltom Court were upset that trees had been planted in a field where their children play.

"The community's not real happy with this," said Lori Brown, 45, who lives near the site.

"We're OK with conservation, just not to this extent. We have 10 to 12 kids on this street," Brown said. "The kids use this field for anything—if you look out front, there's no place for the kids to play. Do you really need to plant over 100 trees?"

Brown said the community didn't have a chance to give input before the project began. 

Diane Brazil, the outreach coordinator for the Jennifer Branch project, said that information about the planting had been distributed well in advance. About 2,800 newsletters and 30 fliers were placed in the doors of nearby residents, Brazil said.

Saturday morning, residents of Deltom Court called police to put a temporary stop to the planting. Shortly after police arrived and volunteers stopped working, organizers presented a permit and the planting resumed.

"This is the first time we've ever planted in a residential area—I was surprised with the amount of resistance. We do have families from the neighborhood here as volunteers," Perry said.

Martin Pfaff, who lives on Deltom Court, served as an advocate for his neighborhood. He spoke to leadership in the group with the hope of negotiating a compromise.

"My honest opinion is that when you come into a community and you're doing something of major impact, there should be a public hearing," Pfaff said.

Like some of his neighbors, Pfaff was concerned about the preservation of open space in the neighborhood where children could play.

"Regarding this situation, I asked the community to give me time to go to our board [of directors] and the county supervisor to get permission to move the two or three rows of trees closest to the homes as a compromise," Perry said.  "That's reasonable in my opinion."

Pfaff agreed to the compromise, but said he could not speak for his neighbors. 

"For right now we're in a good place and a cooperative mode," Perry said.

Jennifer Branch is a waterway that feeds into the Gunpowder River, and ultimately into the Chesapeake Bay. Its watershed spans much of Carney and Cub Hill.

The Jennifer Branch Project will host another tree-planting event May 28 on nearby Golden Rod Lane. Perry said she would have fliers distributed a month in advance and planned to post better signage.

"Mr. Pfaff suggested we post signs with general contact information on street corners to let the residents know. I thought it was a good suggestion," Perry said.