Residents push board to adopt tree‑protection ordinance after recent removals

Multiple residents urged the East Hampton Village Board to pursue a tree‑protection ordinance during public comment on July 31. Elizabeth Linker, a local businesswoman and horticulturist, presented model language from Old Westbury and argued that the village should consider similar protections for specimen and large-diameter trees.

"The tree in question on Newtown Lane was about a 198 years old," Linker said, and she warned that replacing the lost carbon from that single tree would require planting "roughly about 400 trees." She called for permitting requirements and protection for specimen trees larger than a specified diameter in the draft she provided to the board.

Olivia Brooks, chair of the Ladies Village Improvement Society (LVIS) Tree Committee, read a letter urging the board to adopt a program to preserve significant private-property trees, citing LVIS's history of planting and maintaining more than 3,500 village trees over 130 years. Brooks and LVIS highlighted recent removals — including a healthy maple at the west end of Newtown Lane and clear-cutting at other private properties — and said tree loss affects community character and environmental health.

Builder and longtime resident Jack Forrest supported tree protection in principle but asked the board to consider exemptions and the practical effects on construction, setbacks, septic and solar installations.

Why it matters: Residents framed tree protection as both heritage preservation and climate/community resilience. The board said it will form a committee, review model ordinances compiled by staff, and hold public hearings before any law is adopted.