NEW INSTALLATION MARKS LOCATIONS OF KIRBY DR. WENDY’S OAKS WITH THICK YELLOW RIBBONS 
Spotted at the corner of North Blvd. and Kirby Dr., just north of Rice Village: 6 holes, 6 staked-off areas, and 6 fabric wraps around the Wendy’s drive-thru at 5003 Kirby. Is this another art installation in memory of the removed oaks? Naaah. Probably just the work of city crews, getting ready to plant their replacements. Expenditure of up to $300K for new live oaks — matching the amount paid by the franchise owner as part of a legal settlement for last year’s nighttime tree-hacking incident — was approved by city council back in February. Photo: Swamplot inbox
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And in case you could not tell, the marquis reads “now open.” Unsure that matters.
I will NEVER go there.
Right in front of the logo. Boom!
Shame they are putting oaks back in. I love live oaks, but they are so ill-suited as street trees, and I can’t believe the City is still using them. They tear up the infrastructure, and public works/Centerpoint rarely maintains them properly as they mature (kept too dense, and then hacked back to avoid power lines). It’s one thing to use them on boulevards with wide sidewalks and plenty of room in the right of way. Kirby has neither, and it never will.
Who wants to meet me for lunch?
$300k is a lot of money for trees. Sure hope the replacements are full size trees. If some spindly twigs end up in there, I’m going to be wondering who at City Hall kept the money.
Be sure to give us up to the minute updates on any tree related stories! Fascinating!
@sadz, I think that was how much they officially allocated to tree replacement (so the entire fine would be used for trees/beautification), but only a small portion will go to that site. I would love to know where the rest goes; hopefully some other areas get to benefit from the defendant’s contribution!
It’s too bad they couldn’t have just paid the $300k as the fine and that was it – as now, as a business owner, customers can now see the sign and the business – if I were them I would have cut them down slowly one at a time throughout a year in hopes no one would notice like they did for the other Wendys remodel throughout the city