Tree Conservation and Those Who Would Oppose It on Their Own Properties
By Bill Primavera
The Home Guru
As Published in The Examiner, The Putnam Examiner and The Yorktown Examiner
“I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree,” wrote poet Joyce Kilmer, obviously not checking with the property owners in Westchester and Putnam who might argue against local ordinances that require a permit to remove a tree of a certain size, or hundreds of trees for that matter. The reasons for cutting trees are many, some essential, some not. It may be for safety from diseased trunks, for a better view of a lake, to clear the way for a pool or tennis court, for making a house brighter, for preferring open spaces to wooded glens, or simply for wanting to avoid the chore of raking leaves in the fall.
With the important environmental issues associated with tree conservation, namely, to prevent soil erosion and flooding, absorb air pollution, and provide habitat for wildlife, almost all villages and towns in upper Westchester and Putnam have tree conservation ordinances in their town codes. All, that is, except Yorktown, which is now considering the adoption of its first tree ordinance after a number of grievous offenses by private property owners, as well as the town itself.
In the recent past, a developer in Southern Yorktown clear cut a full two acres of trees from a mountaintop, without so much as a development plan for the land, causing run-off problems for all her neighbors below. Also, there was one highly publicized incident in Yorktown three years ago when 38 mature trees on its main thoroughfare were felled by the town itself, but without discussion, prompted by a woman who tripped on an above-surface root and threatened a lawsuit. The trees have since been replaced by a beautification program and a better rooting plan.
Surely everyone would agree that such offenses need regulation. Yet, there are some detractors. At two public hearings, a number of Yorktown owners of smaller properties complained that they do not want to deal with getting permission to cut trees from their own properties. “My home is my castle and I should be able to do on my property whatever I want,” said one. And in a published report, a town employee said that if he wants to put in a pool on his property, he should have the right to take down trees without seeking an application from the town.
“The ordinance being considered in Yorktown is written to be easier on the small property owner,” says William Wellner, chairman of the Yorktown Tree Conservation Advisory Commission. “Dead or hazardous trees can be removed without a permit,” he continues, “and small trees, less than 8 inches in diameter, do not need a permit to be removed.” Further simplifying the ordinance for smaller property owners, “a certain number of trees between eight and 18 inches in diameter can be removed annually without a permit, depending on the size of the lot,” he adds. Further easing the process is that no fee will be charged when a permit is required to remove trees other than those exempted.
“The main detractors have been homeowners who feel they should be allowed to do anything they like on their own properties and owners of larger parcels who feel that the number of trees that can be removed without a permit annually should be increased,” he explains. “But we are hopeful that an ordinance intended to add to the quality of life will not be politicized during the upcoming election season.”
When I owned a home in the city, I had one lone gingko tree on the curb in front of my house, which I protected with ferocity. And when other trees on the street got clipped off by an errant truck or some other disaster, I always entreated neighbors to replace them.
When I found my dream home on 1- ½ acres in Westchester, I was delighted that at least half of the property was filled with a new growth of trees, re-forested since the property’s days as a farm which ended in the 1920s. I vowed never to remove a single one of them. Besides my own property, I was vigilant to the survival of trees on the right-of-way of town roads. I am well known to my local highway department for complaining about over-pruning. There was even an incident where I found the pruning in progress so severe that I pulled my car in the path of the machinery and called the police. The highway crew told me that the branches were hitting school buses. “Don’t you care about school children?” asked the crew person. He had me there, and I retreated, only to come out another day, and another, to complain about other perceived offenses.
Then the tables turned. Mature trees started falling on my property, either from strong winds, ice storms or disease. I asked the tree service owner, who was suddenly getting a lot of money from me, why my trees were the ones that were always falling and, quite logically, he responded that it was because I had so many of them.
When one aged spruce fell like an explosion just inches from my home, I knew that the older trees so close to my home had to go. In one fell swoop, I took down seven very large trees which, if they were to fall, would hit my house. While it was a visceral experience for me to let the trees go, the greatest annoyance is that, now, the sunlight that hits the ground produces all sorts of weeds that never grew when there was deep shade on the property.
And guess who gets stuck with the weeding?
.
Bill Primavera is a Westchester, NY-based realtor ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and marketing practitioner ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) who can be reached for questions or comment directly at 914-522-2076.
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