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Select Board grants conditional approval to retain Hemlock Street plane tree; tree warden to decide removal if health compromised
Summary
Following public concern and additional engineering review, the Arlington Select Board voted unanimously to allow the Stratton Safe Routes to School project to retain a London plane tree at 54 Hemlock St. under conditions: noninvasive root work, modified crosswalk location for sight lines, and that the Arlington Tree Warden has final authority to require removal if the tree’s health is compromised during construction.
After a continuation of a June 8 public hearing, the Arlington Select Board on June 22 granted conditional approval to retain a London plane street tree at 54 Hemlock Street in connection with the Stratton Safe Routes to School project, provided the Arlington Tree Warden determines the tree’s health is not compromised during construction.
Bill Copithorne, the town engineer, presented new field measurements and design updates requested after the prior hearing. Copithorne said his team measured trunk lean angles between roughly 13° and 17°, well under the 30° industry threshold that typically classifies a tree as a structural hazard. He also reported that moving the new crosswalk roughly 90 feet northerly improves sight distance and avoids the tree’s immediate hazard zone.
Copithorne and staff explained that ADA compliance can be maintained even if sidewalk clearances drop to a 4‑foot minimum at localized pinch points, provided the construction meets applicable running‑ and cross‑slope requirements and uses mitigation measures such as porous/asphalt surfacing behind the tree and careful air‑spade excavation in the root zone. He said: "we can still meet ADA compliance, even if the tree were to stay in place," and described standard, less‑harmful construction practices near tree roots.
Several neighbors and community members urged the board to save the mature specimen, citing shade, habitat and the decades needed to replace such a tree. The community speakers and members of the Arlington Tree Committee credited town engineering staff for the additional analysis and recommended retention where feasible.
To reconcile competing concerns, Select Board member Eric Helmuth moved a narrowly worded conditional approval that 1) keeps the tree in place as long as the Arlington Tree Warden determines during construction that the tree remains healthy and likely to survive long‑term, and 2) requires the contractor to follow the contract language that limits removal decisions to the Town Tree Warden (not the contractor or MassDOT) and to use noninvasive root work and porous paving where required. Town counsel and the town manager confirmed Chapter 87 gives the Tree Warden authority to remove a tree without further hearing if it presents a danger or is unhealthy, but the board’s motion clarifies the board’s expectation and instructs staff to ensure contract language reflects that practice.
The Select Board voted unanimously on the conditional approval. Staff said it would continue to require contractor coordination (including arborist oversight and air‑spading) and that any future finding of infeasibility to keep the tree would be documented and, if needed, acted on by the Tree Warden or brought back to the board if non‑health reasons were proposed for removal.
Next steps: contractors will proceed under the updated bid documents, the town will continue field oversight, and staff will confirm contract language naming the Arlington Tree Warden as the deciding authority for any tree removal based on health.
