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Council hears concerns about tree clearing and trail alignment in Price Pond Sections 4–5
Summary
City engineering staff and developers discussed unapproved tree clearing tied to a proposed trail alignment change in the Price Pond subdivision; council directed staff and the developer to reconcile clearing, trail plans and remediation within weeks.
Sunbury council and staff took up questions May 21 about tree clearing and trail alignment in Price Pond Subdivision Sections 4 and 5 after representatives from Pulte and EMH&T provided engineering updates.
A council representative raised concerns that clearing occurred in an area where a trail modification had not been approved, leaving uncertainty about whether the trees removed were necessary for the originally approved alignment. City Engineer Carol Odabrowski and developer representatives said they had walked the alignment and marked trees larger than 6 inches near the path, but council asked for a reconciliation to determine whether overclearing occurred and what remediation is needed.
Council requested that city staff, Pulte and EMH&T work together to perform a post‑clearing assessment, reconcile the field conditions with the approved trail plan, and identify remediation steps. An additional, more tactical request from a council member asked the developer to “square off” the southernmost lot in Section 4 to avoid a narrow triangular lot that could create maintenance and homeowner association issues; the developer indicated that change appeared feasible and staff will assess impacts.
Why it matters: the discussion addresses whether the developer followed the approved trail alignment and tree‑protection expectations. If tree removal exceeded approvals, council will expect corrective measures because the trail and tree canopy affect neighborhood character, stormwater and publicly accessible connections.
Next steps: the developer and city staff agreed to assess the clearing and trail alignment over the next couple of weeks and report back; the council member’s suggested lot‑shape change will be evaluated by staff and the applicant as a possible condition for future approval.
