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Planning board advances tree ordinance edits, flood‑hazard schedule and master plan housekeeping
Summary
The board agreed May 27 to remove prescriptive tree appendices in favor of a living list maintained by the environmental commission, to refine Flood Hazard Zone schedule text, and to move historic element edits to an addendum for council review.
In other business the Planning Board reviewed and advanced several non‑voting and preparatory items.
On the tree ordinance, members agreed to remove long static appendices and instead reference a living list of recommended non‑invasive street and shade trees maintained by the environmental commission; the board discussed restricting large mature street trees in narrow planting strips and suggested a practical mature‑height guideline of roughly 25–30 feet for street trees while reserving larger shade species for broader public‑space planting. The planner said the environmental commission will vet the recommended species list and the ordinance will hyperlink to that maintained list rather than embed it in the ordinance text.
The board also discussed edits to Schedule B (zoning schedules) and addition of a Flood Hazard Zone (FHZ) designation for mapped areas; members asked staff to provide a block/lot overlay map so the board can align the FHZ text with existing properties and DEP flood‑hazard rules. The historic element was edited to remove appendices and to place supporting materials in an addendum.
Board members asked staff to circulate final language by email; if there are no further comments, the board expects to forward the refined materials to council for review.
