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Traffic Engineering assigned this issue to Mike Elliott

Hi Jan, I’m a fellow neighbor and support this. I believe there should also be a 3 way stop at Thistlewood Lane and Northgate Trail. People cutting through the neighborhood to avoid the round about are speeding excessively in the afternoon and morning and making it difficult to back out or walk in the neighborhood since we don’t have side walks.

We agree that the trees are an issue and we are preparing to work with the homeowner.

Thank you, Mike Elliot, I will contact you after I see improvement and let you know whether or not It resolves the issue.

Mike Elliott, I know it takes time but I still have not seen any changes. The huge cypress trees are still obstructing my view which continues to be a safety problem at the intersection of Hardscrabble Trail and Thistlewood Lane.

Mike Elliott assigned this issue to Scott Brunner

We have a process that we are proceeding with to formally notice property owners of right-of-way encroachments. Since the evergreen tree issue is the result of something that has been slowly progressing over a significant period of time, without any prior notifications of an adverse condition, we will give property owners an opportunity to self comply with the City Code. There may be other properties in the area that may require being served notice as well. We will advise further when that process is complete.

Scott Brunner, PE, City Traffic Engineer
sbrunner@roswellgov.com

Thank you, Scott! I appreciate your reply. My husband was almost hit there a week ago. He was turning left onto Thistlewood Lane from Hardscrabble Trail and did not see the approaching car from Thistlewood Lane who was going straight until he was in the middle of the intersection. Thank goodness the driver of the other car saw him and stopped.

Just a follow-up, we are continuing to follow the steps in the process, but we expect to have some initial tree trimming performed sometime next week one way or the other.

Thanks.
Scott Brunner

I can’t help but feel sorry for the homeowner since all they wanted was privacy. I do believe a stop sign on Thistlewood Lane would have solved the problem. The cedar trees are fast growing and will need trimming again.
I do appreciate your help in making sure the intersection is safe for everyone.

The family that lives there is very nice. They are also outside all the time. Has anyone bothered to politely ask them if they wouldn’t mind trimming the trees back?

Yes, we have already been in direct contact with the property owner.

Please keep in mind that pretty much anything other than grass and groundcover requires a permit to be installed in the public right-of-way. For those of you following this, anything installed in the right-of-way without a permit can be immediately removed by the City, which is the case here. Unfortunately many things are installed by our residents, often inadvertently or without knowledge that they are actually being placed in the right-of-way and not on their own private property. Whenever a neighbor or other resident advises the City of a right-of-way encroachment in their neighborhood, it automatically becomes a legal issue for us and we have to follow a process that involves documentation and notifying the property owner in writing -- we can't just simply knock on their door. That is to ensure they are properly apprised of what the exact issue is and what code violations may be involved. (Please be aware that notification of any issue through SeeClickFix is considered legal notification to the City, and all correspondence and attachments are saved and archived, tagged to the registered user and incident#, and becomes a public record attached to the subject issue.)

The City also has policies that promote landscaping and streetscaping, as well as tree preservation, so when we receive reports of landscaping that has grown to the point of creating safety issues for motorists, pedestrians, or cyclists, it puts us in a very difficult position because we have to always take action on the side of safety, and the landscaping may be sacrificed. When its planted in the public ROW and not on private property, it is even more unfortunate because the problem was likely created because the landscaping was simply installed too close to the road, whereas had it been installed further back on private property, it may never have become an issue.

In any event, our crews are currently assessing how to best trim the cypress trees without resulting in their ultimate removal, and will continue to coordinate with the owner.

Thanks
S. Brunner, City Traffic Engineer
sbrunner@roswellgov.com

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