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Public Service Committee moves master tree plan adoption and code changes to consent agenda
Summary
The committee agreed to place a resolution adopting the city's master tree planting plan and a companion code amendment on the consent agenda. The changes formalize the tree commission's procedures, add objection rights for lawn-strip plantings, and set species guidelines for trees under utility lines.
The Public Service Committee voted to move to the consent agenda a resolution formally adopting the master tree planting plan and an ordinance amending the city codified ordinances to clarify objection rights and procedures for tree planting on the lawn (park) strip.
Councilman Jeff Fusco, sponsor of the resolution, said the action formalizes a plan and procedures the city has used since the tree commission's creation in 2016. "This will do that, formalize the actual master tree planting plan," Fusco said, and he noted the code updates gather rules into a single location.
Service Director Chris Leto said the ordinance is a cleanup to allow residents to object to planting on the lawn strip, not just to specific species. After hearings, the tree commission will make recommendations to the service director or a designee and the director will decide whether to relocate a proposed tree or not plant it in front of a particular home. Leto described the program objective: "our goal is to plant as many trees as we can, and the benefits of the storm water and all the things, heat island." He also said the city will work with residents to relocate plantings away from driveways when possible.
A council member raised a question about trees planted under power lines. Leto said species selection and size matter: the forestry division will prescribe trees sized for the lawn strip to avoid future conflicts with utility lines and to reduce sidewalk damage. He said species planted under lines will be selected for wider, lower canopies rather than tall species that would later require significant trimming.
Committee members agreed to place both pieces on the consent agenda so the formal adoption and code cleanup can proceed; no final council passage is recorded in the committee transcript.
