I'd need to see pics of the entire plant, its location (i.e. light source), and its container and soil. Incidentally, there's a Thread just a few posts down that might be of interest/relevance: unhappy Money Tree. plz help Josh

I thoroughly enjoyed my Land Use class in law school reading 100's of cases of issues similar to this. Now building my home and dealing with our town conversation commission isn't as enjoyable. Jules could probably explore legal remedies, but I agree it most likely isn't worth the money unless you land is truly unsellable and worth a great deal. As trained lawyer (I don't practice) I advise most people away from legal remedies. My husband doesn't agree, hence we have pending action against our original engineer who was not as he claimed and did not fulfill his contract and it has gotten us absolutely nowhere.

Your plant is providing you with indications it has an unhappy root system (I looked at the video), and a healthy plant isn't possible unless the roots are happy. FWIW, the overwhelming % of growers who arrive here seeking help are here because of issues related to poor root health/function. If you can't water your soil to the point where it's fully saturated and at least 15-20% of the total volume of water you applied during the watering process has exited the drain hole, your soil is a limiting factor and you'll be fighting it for control over your plant's health until you get the plant into something more appropriate. Simply adding a large fraction of perlite to an already inappropriate soil is a step in the right direction, but all you end up with is an inappropriate soil with a lot of perlite in it. Additionally, you have the fact that Feb thru Apr are probably the worst months to consider repotting to work around. The extra soil volume you added is counterproductive at this point (increases the impact of issues related to excess water retention), so I think I would probably remove the recently added soil and return the plant to it's old pot, after inspecting the roots for rot and correcting any issues I discover. Then, I would flush the soil thoroughly and learn how to deal with the excess water retention until mid to late Jun when I would repot into something more appropriate. There is more to talk about and more specific instructions, but I'll hold on that until I learn whether or not you're interested in following a course that approaches the situation from the plant's POV, which is essentially making sure the things that are most likely to be limiting your plant are fixed. Al

Not arborday as a tree source if the OP wants her child to have visual shelter from a busy road. Fig are not good permanent trees in Columbus, OH since they won't be entirely hardy. Some years they may be, but not most years. Paulownia is an exotic invasive and shouldn't be recommended in the US and doesn't fit the OP's wish for a fruit tree. It sounds like the mulberry idea seems to fit her needs. I have happy memories of one on the grounds of my elementary school which we would climb to eat the fruit, though not during school hours.