Charlottetown woman with roots rippling her driveway wants city to chip in for repairs
Claudia Perez Vega looks down at her driveway with frustration. The pavement is cracked and crumbling. Roots from a row of nearby trees have popped up in places where the pavement has eroded.
Those evergreens belong to the City of Charlottetown, so Perez Vega thinks the city should pay at least half the cost of getting the driveway repaved. For about a year now, she's been asking the city to do something about it.
"It makes sense, if something … which doesn't belong to you causes problems," she said. "I talked to them and I said,'Can you just put it in another perspective? What would happen if these tree [root]s would have been in your property? What would you do?'"
The city has told Perez Vega it is not obligated to do anything. In an email viewed by CBC News, the city told her there are times when the city has a responsibility to help residents who experience damage to their driveways — but the intrusion of roots into a driveway where the asphalt has come to the end of its life is not one of them.
Tree roots can be seen popping up where parts of Claudia Perez Vega's driveway used to be. The trees border her property, but belong to the City of Charlottetown. (Laura Meader/CBC)
"In general, when we review damage claims from residents, we have qualified staff involved to determine the cause of the issue and extent of our liability," a spokesperson said in a followup email to CBC News.
"The city also works closely with our legal counsel and insurance provider to ensure that we reach the appropriate course of action when handling these matters."
Roots can extend 6 metres
Perez Vega thinks that's unfair. She has lived in her home for about 17 years and pays about $3,000 a year in property tax. She is considering taking legal action.
She said the roots aren't just unsightly; they are damaging the tires on her car, and those driven by her adult children who live with her. They mostly park on the street now, but with winter coming, they'll need to use the driveway.
"I don't want my car to go through all that roots," she said.
CBC News spoke to two paving companies who said tree roots definitely cause problems for driveways.
The roots can extend for about six metres, and even if the driveway is repaved, they can break through again.
Sometimes it's best to remove the trees entirely, if the city approves it. The city did remove seven of the trees near Perez Vega's property that were dead or dying, and pruned 15 others.
But that didn't get to the root of the problem.
"When we plant in urban areas, we don't provide nearly enough soil for the trees, so the tree roots are going to start moving around, looking for more air, water, nutrients," said Joe Kelly of Citygreen, a company that sells urban landscaping products and services.
"It's a pretty significant issue."
The city did cut down and prune some of the trees along Perez Vega's property, but said the damage to her aging driveway falls outside its scope of responsibility. (Submitted by Claudia Perez Vega)
Kelly said many urban areas are now planting trees with special barrier systems to keep roots from spreading.
In its email to Perez Vega, the city suggested adding a layer of gravel under a new driveway to help prolong the life of the asphalt.
Perez estimated it will cost about $10,000 to have the driveway repaved.