Select Board approves removal of public trees for Quaker Road parking lot and Scranton/Main widening, orders supplemental plantings

The Select Board on April 28 voted to allow removal of public trees in two separate hearings: two trees on Quaker Road adjacent to a planned 300 Committee parking lot and five Little Leaf lindens along Scranton/Main to accommodate an intersection‑widening project.

Jeremiah Pearson, the town’s tree warden, told the board the Quaker Road red oak and pitch pine were identified by engineers as obstructing sightlines for a new parking lot and that both trees have been heavily trimmed. Neighbors and the 300 Committee land trust raised safety concerns and explained that the permit and driveway design were informed by an engineer’s site‑distance calculations. Resident Raymond Glass said removing the trees alone might not fully resolve sightline issues because of a slope at the entrance; the 300 Committee’s executive director, Jessica Whitenower, said the design team had considered those matters.

The board approved removal of the two trees and amended the approval to require planting four replacement trees (a 2:1 ratio: two replacement trees per removed tree) in another location along County Road.

In a second hearing, Pearson said the root systems of five Little Leaf lindens were compromised by construction tied to the Scranton/Main intersection project and recommended removing the unstable trees and replanting ornamental replacements. Board members, led by Miss Goldstone, pressed for a replanting plan to mitigate the loss of mature canopy and pollinator resources; the town engineer and tree warden committed to supplemental plantings beyond the five replacements. The board approved the removals with an amendment requiring supplemental plantings to address lost canopy and ecosystem services.

Both hearings were conducted under the town’s public‑tree hearing process (Mass. Gen. Laws, Chapter 87 §§3–4), and the board closed each hearing before taking votes.