Tree Removal Points to Need for Inventory

"We have deferred the removal of probably 12 of the 22 trees," said West Road resident Bill Christopher upon seeing Tree Warden John Howe's decision Friday to cut down 10 trees and severely prune 12 along his street.

Christopher and a number of his neighbors had requested a hearing after the 22 trees on a stretch of West Road less than half a mile long were posted for removal on Sept. 23 (see the map to the right).

Howe says all the trees are in severe decline, and some pose a risk to cars driving along the road or personal property; others are tangled up in utility lines.

Christopher agrees that the trees are "over the hill", but he and the contingent he represented at the Tree Committee hearing Wednesday feel their neighborhood has been unfairly targeted.

They hired an arborist who identified a tree on Waveny Park's great lawn and another along the jogging path in Irwin Park as being in equally poor condition. Those trees could pose a greater risk to the public, yet, Christopher said, "we're the ones whose ox is getting gored."

Tree Warden John Howe says he got multiple calls about the trees along West Road, including one from the Police Department when a branch came down, which prompted the examination of the trees in the area in September. In addition to the 22 trees discussed at Wednesday's hearing, seven trees, including two in front of Christopher's house, were deemed immediate hazards and taken down right away. Three were in such bad shape Howe says it was a wonder they were still standing.

He says the town is obligated to deal with known hazards but, "it's virtually impossible for us to know the conditions of all the trees."

There are about half a million trees under the town's jurisdiction.

"My crusade, for want of a better word, and that of many others is primarily the town's lack of a cogent tree management program covering all the trees in New Canaan," Christopher said.

He wants to see a systematic ranking of trees as to their risk of failure, and he wants the target that a tree could hit should it fall to be taken into account in the culling.

Christopher and his cohort are not alone. While requesting funds for tree replacement at the Board of Selectmen on Oct. 21, Assistant Public Works Director Tiger Mann suggested that the town undertake a tree inventory. And the Tree Committee, which hosted the hearing on the West Road trees in only its third meeting, was formed to do just that.

The Tree Committee will also be working with property owners and the Tree Warden to figure out the selection and location of new trees on West Road. The residents still have the option of appealing the Tree Warden's decision to Superior Court, but Christopher predicts the matter could be settled with an agreeable replanting plan.