Tucked away at the end of Arlington Street is a small home where Mary Flores has watched for 15 years as hickory nuts rained down on her cars.“They really do fall like bombs,” she said
Beside her short driveway are two massive hickory trees, one apparently belonging to a neighbor she’s never seen and the other perhaps belonging to the city.
What Flores wants is to see at least one of the trees chopped down so that she can put her car somewhere without having it bombarded.
The trees, she said, are “ruining my cars.”
The hood of one is “totally dented” from the nuts cascading down from the trees, Flores said.
But it’s not clear that she’s going to get relief easily.
City officials said this week they are sympathetic to her plight, but can’t remove a healthy tree merely because its nuts fall on her car.
“Our hands are tied,” Mayor Art Ward said.
Public Works Director Walter Veselka said that “as a green resource for the city, that tree has value.”
Hickory trees grow to about 100 feet tall, but have deep roots as well. They are renowned for their hard wood and for the edible nuts that are doing a number on Flores’ vehicles.
The mayor said that perhaps Flores can prevail on her unidentified neighbor to take down the privately owned tree.
Flores said she’s not sure who owns it, but told officials she doesn’t have the money to cover the tree’s removal, which might be pricy.
Maybe the neighbor “will take care of it,” Ward said. Otherwise, he said, she could sue.
Don Padlo, a longtime public works commissioner, said that it’s possible she could get help from her insurance company as well.
Flores said she wasn’t sure about that avenue.
What she is sure about is that the hickory nuts are driving her nuts.
Though cracking them open is virtually impossible, she said, the squirrels somehow manage it.
They leave behind shards from the shells.
Because they’re so tough and sharp, “they cut our feet,” Flores said.
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
15 comments:
Yikes. This is a real problem.
Sounds like Mary should consider investing in a canvass carport or something similar.
May I humbly suggest:
http://www.carportstation.com/
Hickory Nuts! Hickory Nuts! Hickory Nuts!
Use a hammer to open hickory nuts. The reward for the hard work is very sweet. This tree is valuable and she should harvest those nuts and cherish the shade and beauty the tree provides.
At least the nuts aren't falling on her chin.
Excuse me, but...
The hickory trees aren't the problem. The problem is where the cars are being parked.
There should be a law in Bristol preventing people from cutting down trees for such stupid reasons. Such laws exist in other cities! Trees need to be protected! In fact, we need more trees, not less, to filter the crap coming out of the exhaust pipes of cars/trucks/motorcycles/chainsaws/lawnmowers, and the animals need those hickory nuts to survive through the New England winters!
Rather than thoughtlessly "chopping" down the tree(s), maybe a different parking spot would be a good solution until the nuts have fallen or build a shelter for the cars to prevent the nuts from hitting them. And what's so special about these cars anyway? They certainly don't have the same value as a tree that produces oxygen and food for animals. This woman is wrong, wrong, wrong!
Nature must come first!
Since this tree is not on public property it is not a city matter. She needs to talk to her neighbor. End of story.
there once was a woman named Flores.
Who couldn't take it any more as
hickory nuts were driving her nuts
but she's too cheap to pay for it,
what a putz!
12:17 is a pervert, 12:49 is a wacko, and mary flores is probably some sweet little old lady who is just upset about dings on her 1984 powder blue caddy.
She can't get a canvas carport. They are against zoning regs in Bristol. I remember a campaign against temporary garages several years ago.
Was this happening before Obama became president?
@ July 17, 2009 2:12 PM
To quote a real perverted wacko, PEE WEE Herman,...
"I know you are, but what am I? HA HA HA"
Your impersonation of a prescient ignoramus masquerading as a know-it-all pseudo comedian is quite impressive! LOL
Now Ward is a lawyer too?
Here's a thoughtful way of handling trees. New London could be a model for Bristol.
http://theday.com/re.aspx?re=46959ba8-702b-424f-8503-2d36ed5b5210
Chopping down a tree because it's naturally dropping its fruit should be considered only as a last resort after all alternative solutions are exhausted!
We could also model on New London's policy of wiping out whole neighborhood's for shopping malls.
That was already done in Bristol. Once upon a time there was a thriving neighborhood where the Centre Mall once stood.
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