City crews cut down a massive evergreen outside Bonnie and Tim Torgerson’s home after the city’s forester noticed it stood within the public right-of-way. The family had already planned to remove the nearly 60-foot tree when the city asked to use it as this year’s Christmas tree.
WATCH | Nampa’s city forester tells the story of how he found Nampa’s city Christmas tree—
How Nampa Found Their Perfect Christmas Tree in a Neighborhood Yard
City Forester Adam Mancini says evergreens aren’t allowed in that space under city code because they can block visibility and overgrow onto sidewalks. But this one had roots long before that rule, and he’d had his eye on it since last year. It took until August to make it official — tree adoptions can take some time.
“Normally, I don’t encourage people to cut down a tree. In this case, the city chose this tree because it was going to be removed. It was in the right-of-way, it was in violation of the city code, and the property owners had intents to remove it,” Mancini said…