Committee advances amended tree-preservation ordinance; adds stop-work violation and permit-suspension language

The Somerville City Council Committee on Legislative Matters on April 29 recommended approval of an amended ordinance changing Chapter 12, Article 6 (tree preservation) after accepting a revised draft and adding enforcement language.

Brandon Salisbury, legislative and policy analyst, walked the committee through edits that mostly responded to prior committee questions. Key changes reinstated language providing that failure to pay a fine may lead to revocation, suspension, or denial of local licenses or permits and the municipal charges lien process. The draft also unified language about planting standards, removed an unused defined term (“replacement caliper”) and explained replacement requirements directly in the planting provisions: replacement trees must have a total caliper equal to or greater than the DBH of a removed significant tree.

Salisbury said the ordinance retains a distinction between diameter at breast height (DBH) for existing significant trees and caliper for newly planted trees. "This previously said planting of new trees equal to the total replacement caliper of those trees. So for the sake of clarity, the new text reads, if any significant tree is to be removed, the plan must show planting of replacement trees with a total caliper equal to or greater than the DBH of the significant tree," Salisbury said.

Committee members and staff discussed enforcement provisions. The committee moved and approved inserting a new subsection to make failure to comply with a stop-work order a separate violation. Assistant City Solicitor Meredith Stivers said it would be acceptable to make that explicit. "I think it would be fine to add to be I think by nature of it being in the ordinance, it's something that you can see as a violation. But if we need to be a little more specific, we can certainly do that," Stivers said.

The draft also restores stop-work language specific to tree pruning and removal, and adds a provision allowing suspension or revocation of tree permits upon written notice if permit holders fail to comply with conditions of the article. Salisbury said the drafting clarifies who may apply for private-property tree permits — a property owner or the owner’s agent — and unifies several passages to allow the city’s senior urban-forestry staff to set planting standards and avoid replacement with inappropriate species or sizes.

The committee voted to accept the attached revised document, add the new subsection making failure to abide by a stop-work order a violation, and to recommend approval of the ordinance amendment as amended. The approvals were taken by voice vote and recorded as carrying; a roll-call tally was not included in the transcript.