TOLEDO, Ohio — Residents in Point Place are still replacing their roofs, cars and making other repairs due to the tornado that hit the area on June 15, 2023.
But they're also asking for help replacing hundreds of trees that were destroyed.
Christine Franks, who runs the Point Place and Shoreland Community Block Watch, said there are two things the City of Toledo can do for the area to make it whole again.
First, promise to get more trees to replace the several hundred lost in the tornado.
"I'm going to say at least 400 and I'm not exaggerating either," said Franks. "Some streets had 30 to 40 trees and there are 4 or 5 now."
Second, she would like the city to communicate with homeowners before planting new trees on their properties.
"Some people just want to kind of have a voice in whether there's a tree planted in their front yard," said Franks. "You can't cater to what every homeowner wants, but they don't want that to impede on their property or way of life either."
Franks asked the Call 11 for Action team to, "help us get a firm answer from the city on this issue." That's what we did.
"The city is committed to restoring the tree canopy in Point Place and funding from the $6 million federal grant will help us in the effort. While the grant-funded planting program won't begin until 2025, parts of Point Place will see new trees going in as early as this spring as part of our normal forestry planting season," said City of Toledo spokesperson Rachel Hart. "As we begin to utilize money from this federal grant in 2025, we will have opportunities for residents to request a tree for their private property, but for now we are strictly replacing trees in the tree lawn."
The city said the trees it's planting in 2024 will not be on residential properties, but on tree lawns and that will be across Toledo.