A former city planning director this week recommended that City Council revive the Altoona Shade Tree Commission, which has been dormant for years.

The city has been taking down damaged and unsafe trees in recent times, but no longer has the kind of replanting program that the commission oversaw when it was active, said Larry Carter, whose tenure as planning director ended about two decades ago.

If that pattern of removal without replanting continues, “the results will be obvious,” Carter said, implying that a city without a healthy population of street trees would be a less desirable place to live — a point of view supported by the city’s new comprehensive plan.

Many of the city’s current street trees are Norway maples, as a result of a local commercial organization’s distribution of seedlings in the 1950s, but those maples turned out not to be “good city trees,” because they broke up sidewalks and interfered with power lines, Carter said.

A revived Shade Tree Commission would have access to modern arborist expertise and would be able to conduct plantings of more appropriate species for urban settings, Carter said.

“(Such trees) grow to a moderate height, have (fewer) leaves, (and) don’t eat sidewalks or interfere with power lines,” Carter said.

The commission could solicit help from Penn State Altoona, especially when it undertakes complex projects, Carter said.

The commission could also identify trees that need to be removed, he said.

And it could coordinate with city departments and file an annual report, so that staff and residents could track its

activities, he said.

The commission could be staffed by volunteers, Carter suggested.

The city could solicit funding for the commission’s work from businesses and residents, he said.

“I agree with Larry,” said Mayor Matt Pacifico afterward.

The need for reviving the commission has become apparent within the last year, although “with everything else going on,” finding the time has proven difficult, Pacifico said.

The old commission still exists on paper, based on an ordinance that remains on the books, Pacifico said.

There’s wide agreement that street trees are important, said Councilman Bruce Kelley.

They improve air quality, reduce stormwater runoff, lower urban heat and enhance property values, according to online sources.

“We don’t want to deforest the city,” Kelley said.

But there are issues with the current stock in Altoona, Kelley said, seconding Carter.

The maples “look great when you’re going by at

35 mph,” Kelley said.

But closer inspection reveals that many are “in bad shape,” he said.

Last week’s windstorm and the resulting damage showed that many of those trees pose a risk to houses, cars and pedestrians, he said.

Ernie Wissinger of Wissinger’s One-Stop Shopping Village was the provider of the Norway maples that Carter referenced, according to City Councilman Dave Butterbaugh, who grew up near the village, which was located at Oak Avenue and 31st Street.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.