By ROBERT LINNEHAN
Why get rid of something that is old, beautiful, and healthy for something that is simply younger? That’s what Wendy Kates, owner of Stardust Memories on Tanner Street, is asking the borough. Kates is questioning why the borough is planning to take down a Japanese cherry blossom tree in front of her store to replace it with a young sapling.
Haddonfield is planning to remove several trees from Tanner Street, as part of the ongoing construction of the beleaguered roadway and a decision to add parking spaces on the library side of the roadway.
Borough Administrator Sharon McCullough said the street will be widened a few feet at Library Point to make room for the parking spaces.
Kates said she has received several excuses as to why the tree is scheduled for removal. She has been told the tree’s roots were damaged from the recent road construction, that the tree wasn’t “public friendly” and officials were nervous about breaking branches, and finally that the tree didn’t conform to other “shade trees” in Haddonfield.
“Do they really want uniformity in town? The charm and beauty of Haddonfield is it has various types of architecture, all different kinds of trees, and various kinds of people,” Kates said.
It’s time, Kates said, to gather together and save the tree. Kates is inviting all interested members of the community to her store on Tanner Street to sign a petition to save the cherry blossom tree. So far over 75 people have signed the document, she said, but she needs more than 250 total signatures to officially present it to the commissioners.
She urged anyone who had enjoyed the sight of the tree in the past to sign the petition.
It’s a very old tree. It’s a very healthy tree, and it blooms in the spring. It’s breathtaking and spectacular when it blooms. To replace a tree that is this old, beautiful and healthy with a small sapling is ridiculous,” she said. “I have about 75 signatures right now, I have a lot of interest. Many people in town want to save this tree and they don’t want to see it go.”
