Warden Asks for Tree Ordinance

Tree Warden Bruce Pauley wants to create a Tree Ordinance and Tree Board in New Canaan, to better serve — and preserve — trees on town property. 

Pauley made his proposal to establish the ordinance to the Town Council’s By-laws and Ordinance Committee in February. The committee, which Pauley said turned down a similar request for a tree ordinance two years ago, has not set a date to make a decision about the current request.

“They don’t like passing ordinances,” Pauley told Patch. “It’s more like the anti-ordinance committee. They said there has to be some compelling reason to create another ordinance, and there are ordinances in effect now that are too difficult to enforce. They said, ‘Why create ordinances and no one can enforce them?’”

Steve Karl, who chairs the By-laws and Ordinance Committee, said the group carefully considers the pros and cons of creating any new ordinance before making its decision.

“We don’t mind writing an ordinance, but we need to figure out what the wording is,” he told Patch. “When we write an ordinance it becomes law. We have to figure out the long-term implications. The ordinance committee is a pretty vital part of things. We don’t want to over legislate.”

Pauley said oversight for the ordinance would rest with the tree warden and the board.

"I don’t see anything in this that is an imposition on people or creates problems for enforcement," he said.

Pauley drafted the proposed ordinance using a model from the National Arborists Association, as well as other ordinances from throughout the state. The New Canaan ordinance would apply only to trees on town property, not to trees on private property.

"It's about where trees get planted and what kinds," Pauley said. "Planting is important as far as cost for town. The tree board will put togerher a list of suitable tress for planting in town, knowing which ones would work in which situation. Whether it's the DPW or the garden club, they'd pass by the board. We might say, 'You can't plant that species, but you can plant one of these'.  You want to plant for ultimate success not for failure. Right now there's no oversight."

In the meantime, Pauley is working with a Tree Committee, which was established by the Board of Selectmen, and whose members include Skip Hobbs, Liz Livingston and Keith Simpson. Pauley said  an ordinance and established Tree Board would have more authority to take care of the town’s trees. 

Once the ordinance and board are in place, Pauley would like to enlist residents to participate in what he calls a "Tree Alliance" to help create a comprehensive audit of the town’s trees.

“They would go out in groups and using GPS, locate trees and identify them and assign a number 1-5 as to their physical condition,” Pauley said. “They’d put this information into a central computer and create a database of trees in town. They’d identify the state of physical health so the tree warden has something to follow up on.”

Karl said he supports Pauley’s efforts to organize the job he’s held since November 2010. The part time position pays a $6,000 stipend, and Pauley is responsible for the thousands of trees on town property.

“He is really trying to get his arms around scope and authority and can we use him to benefit the town,” Karl told Patch.

While he awaits word from the By-laws and Ordinance Committee, Pauley looks forward to the day New Canaan achieves the designation of Tree City USA. Established by the Arbor Day Foundation, there are currently 3,400 Tree City USA’s nationwide, with 17 in CT, including Norwalk, Stamford and Wilton. Establishing an ordinance and creating a tree board are the first steps toward achieving the designation.

“It’s kind of cool,” Pauley told Patch. “It opens the path towards grant monies that favor Tree City USAs.”

(Editor's Note: In the original article, Keith Simpson's name was omitted from the list of tree committee members.)