Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Urban Forestry topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Ellsworth council tables updated tree ordinance after extensive public hearing
Summary
After a lengthy public hearing and detailed discussion, the council voted to table proposed amendments to the city’s tree ordinance and asked staff and the Arbor Commission to return with clarified permit standards and related references to permit and land-use codes.
The Ellsworth City Council held a lengthy public hearing on proposed amendments to the City Code’s tree ordinance and voted to table the measure while staff and the Arbor Commission clarify permit language, enforcement mechanisms and links to other city codes.
Casey Hanson, speaking for the Arbor Commission, summarized the draft ordinance and said it would clarify the tree warden role, formalize the Arbor Commission’s duties, set pruning and planting standards and reference ANSI (American National Standards Institute) pruning specifications. Hanson described the proposed scope as including protection for city-owned trees, a permit requirement for certain work on public trees and penalties for violations.
Commission and staff discussion during the hearing focused on the permit requirement and enforcement. A city attorney–level participant recommended referencing Title 30-A M.R.S. § 4452 (the state land-use enforcement statute) in the ordinance to broaden enforcement options. Staff and commissioners agreed that detailed technical specifications would be placed in a separate forestry management plan and that the permit standards and fee structure should be developed in the city’s permit ordinance rather than embedded in the tree ordinance text.
Several public speakers and technical supporters urged protections and said the Arbor Commission would add value by advising planning and public-works review. Public works staff asked to ensure the ordinance would not impede necessary public-works activities such as sight-distance clearing or road openings; the record shows those activities were discussed as exceptions and that volunteers and city crews acting under the tree warden would not require a permit.
Nut graf: The council paused action to allow staff and the Arbor Commission to produce clearer permit language, references to national standards and the forestry management plan, and a recommended fee/permit structure to present back to the council.
At the meeting’s close the council voted to table the ordinance amendment and asked the Arbor Commission and staff to return with a permitting framework, a proposed fee structure and any cross-references to chapter 56 (land-use) and the city permit ordinance.
