Board of Landscape Design adds 3 members, looks to new projects
The Mountain Brook Board of Landscape Design has gained three new members with a lotto contribute to upcoming projects in Crestline and Mountain Brook villages.
The Board of Landscape Design, formerly known as the Tree Commission, is an advisory board with a primary goal of managing the trees that make Mountain Brook so beautiful.
In recent years, the board has focused on revamping green spaces around the city, said Sim Johnson, chairman of the board. Johnson has been a member of the board for three years after he approached the commission to get approval to grow native beech trees in Jemison Park.
“We try to assist the city officials and City Council with making the best decisions for our green spaces that live up to the standard that Robert Jemison and Warren Manning originally laid out for Mountain Brook,” Johnson said.
The board approved its three newest members on June 22: Brooks Sanders, David Lyles and Mary Evelyn McKee. Sanders is a full member while Lyles and McKee are supernumerary members who will learn how the board works so they will be ready later to fill permanent spots.
Sanders is a lifelong resident of Mountain Brook and has been involved in various community projects, Johnson said. These include a sidewalk system and the renovation of Canterbury Park, also known as Triangle Park.
A favorite board project of Sanders that she was involved in was the Heritage Oaks project in October of 2019, she said.
The board offered 300 oak tree seedlings to the city and its schools to be planted in parks and around the schools, Sanders said. The seedlings came from Mountain Brook trees to keep everything natural to the area.
“We had no idea that people were going to be so receptive,” Sanders said, recalling that the board distributed over 200 trees in just an hour.
McKee has also been involved in past community projects, Johnson said. McKee is an interior decorator who is very interested in horticulture. She is a recent past president of the Red Mountain Garden Club.
Lyles serves as the director for the Alabama Department of Transportation for west Alabama, Johnson said. He is new to Mountain Brook and works out of Tuscaloosa.
Lyles’ expertise and knowledge of ALDOT can guide the board in projects like the roundabouts in Mountain Brook Village, Johnson said. The roundabout project is one of two major projects that the board is currently planning.
In 2017, the city temporarily closed access from Canterbury Road to the circle in Mountain Brook Village.
The board is looking into how best to design the village circle if the Canterbury Road closure is made permanent, Johnson said. City Council has not yet voted to make that closure permanent.
“We don’t want to simply throw some curbs on it or lay down some sod,” Johnson said. “The board wants to determine the best use for that space to provide a safe environment for the community to interact."
Another goal of this plan is to include more seating that local businesses could utilize since indoor seating has drastically been minimized, Johnson said.
The Crestline streetscape plan has been a two-year project, Jonson said. It is a long-term plan to improve Crestline Village through native trees, brick work and uniform street grates.
The board’s new members are all eager to keep the community equally functional and aesthetically pleasing, Sanders said. “We are all very passionate about greenspaces and landscaping and want Mountain Brook to continue to be a thriving community.”