Council sends revised tree-code amendments back to county planning commission

Swarthmore Borough Council voted to send a revised package of amendments to the borough’s street-tree ordinance and subdivision regulations back to the county planning commission for another review.

Environment Committee chair Angie said the package contains four principal changes: removing the borough’s authority to require replacement of privately owned “heritage” trees, adding a definition of “land disturbance,” and revising replanting requirements tied to land-disturbance thresholds. The most substantive change concerns the square-foot threshold that triggers additional replanting requirements; the Planning Commission recommended reducing the draft threshold from 2,000 square feet to 1,000 square feet, and council members said they would accept that recommendation.

A second Planning Commission recommendation that council adopt a procedure for granting additional time for replanting — assigning that discretion to the borough manager — was also accepted. Council members noted the change requires restarting the statutory review cycle: the revised text will go back to county planning for another 30-day review before the council can schedule a public hearing.

Council members discussed the procedural history: several corrections had already been made and circulated to the Planning Commission, which endorsed most edits but objected to the higher disturbance threshold. After questions about timing and the administrative process, a motion to forward the revised amendments to county planning and borough planning passed on a voice vote.

Next steps: staff will resubmit the revised text and await the county planning commission’s 30-day review period before scheduling a hearing.