Grand Island conservation board sends revised tree ordinance draft to town attorney for review

The Grand Island Conservation Advisory Board voted Oct. 23 to submit a revised draft of the town's proposed public tree conservation and management ordinance to the town attorney for legal review and return to the board before the Nov. 20 meeting.

Board members said the draft is intended to be a short, clear ordinance focused on public trees, with more-detailed procedures and recommendations kept in supplemental or departmental documents.

The vote followed more than an hour of paragraph-by-paragraph discussion. Members debated whether the single definition of "tree" in the draft should refer only to trees on public land and public right-of-way, or whether the draft should retain separate references to "street" and "park" trees. The board also agreed to simplify capitalization and to use context rather than capital…