As we heard earlier this month during a Natick Select Board meeting, trees are much needed and beautiful but also can be a menace—crushing brand new cars, tripping the elderly, wrecking vintage stone walls. Natick’s tree warden and Department of Public Works have been wrangling with these otherwise seemingly gentle green giants for years, and in the midst of street improvement projects, challenges have presented themselves anew.
The Select Board on Aug. 9 held an appeal of an afternoon public tree hearing by the DPW and Office of the Natick Tree Warden that took place on July 20 (and the Board has a sequel set for Aug. 16). Members of the public made their cases for and against public shade trees on a hit list, Board members asked questions, and DPW Director John Westerling and Town Administrator Jamie Errickson answered questions.
Town officials, in the wake of what some have dubbed “tree-gate,” vowed to improve and streamline communications going forward about the way tree removals are handled.
I listened to the 40-minute tree hearing appeal segment of the Select Board meeting three times, and still feel a bit like I was trying to follow the path of a bittersweet vine weaving its way through a forest tree. A bunch of East Natick public shade trees were on the original list, then a bunch were taken off, then some were added. Was it 42, 13, 11, 2….? The matter has been debated vigorously on social media and in the streets, and as one Select Board member noted, the group received “many, many emails.”
I’ll leave it to you to review the Select Board hearing (about 18 minutes into the Pegasus recording), but here are some takeaways, including for those of you who might be in the next neighborhood set for street improvements.
Doesn’t the Town of Natick love trees?
DPW leader Westerling emphasized during the Aug. 9 Select Board meeting that the town cares about its “urban forest,” noting that Natick has been an official Arbor Day Foundation Tree City for 16 years and that the town has worked with the high school on tree planting programs.
You can view an inventory of the town’s public shade trees as well.
Why does Natick remove public shade trees?
In the latest case, the town is making $3.6M worth of roadway and sidewalk repairs this year across three neighborhoods, and in keeping with the Americans with Disabilities Act (minimum sidewalk widths, curb ramps, etc.) and Compete Streets guidelines, trees sometimes need to be removed to ensure safe usage by all. Natick’s engineering division came up with an initial list of 11 trees to be taken down because they were high risk or negatively impacting the sidewalks (heaving, narrowing, etc.), plus 31 more low risk trees to be removed that are likely doomed once roadway improvements are made (their roots will get stressed). Westerling and Art Goodhind, supervisor and tree warden with the DPW’s Division of Land Facilities and Natural Resources, had inspected and identified those additional trees. After the July 20 hearing, the town returned its focus to the 11 must-go trees, with some back-and-forth about other trees on and not originally on the list.
“If you look at all the trees identified, that essentially got rid of all the public shade trees on Abbot, Longfellow, Euclid…and that was the objection that we heard: That the neighbors didn’t want to see the neighborhood clear cut,” Westerling told the Select Board, explaining why the larger list was pared back.
What’s the future of those trees that were taken off the hit list?
Chances are most won’t survive beyond a few years, according to the DPW. Once they are identified as being at high risk, the tree warden is obligated to have them taken down, without any public hearing. The DPW will have a more challenging job of removing them (especially the stumps), however, without messing up the newish streets and sidewalks.
When is a tree considered at risk?
Natick Tree Warden Art Goodhind tells us that:
A risk tree is a tree that has a defect and the defective part of the tree has a target. Tree risk is determined using the International Society of Arboriculture Tree Risk Assessment Manual, which complements the American National Standards Institute ANSI A 300 standard.
The trees listed in the [summer of 2023] posting were within the boundary of public ways scheduled for road reconstruction. Some were determined to be physical obstructions to the work, the others were included in the posting because of concerns for their condition, defect, risk and the likely-hood that road improvements would increase the tree risk ratings, accelerate decline and over a period of time require removal. Most of the trees listed were rated as low risk with varying defects and stages of decline. Such as dead limbs, girdling roots, wounds of the roots and stem, leans and decay.
Why the appeal hearing at the Select Board?
If an objection to taking down a public shade tree is made by one or more people in writing, then the Select Board needs to make a call. Such objections were made to the trees on the “must be removed” list as well as two others, so the Aug. 9 hearing was held. As Westerling noted during the meeting, one tree from the “must be removed” list was removed from the list after a meeting with neighbors, and another on the list was paused pending further investigation.
When the town removes trees, will it replace them?
Yes, though not necessarily at the same spot since sometimes the location has caused the tree harm or the tree is no longer appropriate in the location. Residents can request setback tree plantings from the town, and the town may have access to additional funds for tree plantings.
What to do if you want a high-risk public shade tree removed?
Reach out to the DPW to request that a tree be removed. If the town confirms a tree is high risk, the tree warden must arrange for it to be removed, with no appeal process required. If the tree is not high risk, a public hearing would be required. It would not have to come before the Select Board unless an objection in writing was made at the hearing.
The exception here would be for trees on unaccepted streets not technically owned by the town. The town’s not allowed to mess with those trees unless it’s to gain access to its infrastructure, such as underground pipes.
What about those trees removed near the Police Station?
The trees along the Police Station were Ash Trees and declined severely because of Emerald Ash Borer, says Goodhind, who expects to replace these trees in 2024.
Trees along Natick Common were victims of that insect in 2020 and were removed, then replaced.
Whose neighborhood is next?
More neighborhoods are scheduled for roadway improvements in 2024 (embedded below), including part of Bacon Street and roads off of Speen Street. You might want to start giving some thought to the trees in your area in anticipation of that work.
What about the kids?
Yes, the roadway work and tree removals will also wipe out some sweet sidewalk bike jumps. But kids are innovative…they’ll adapt.
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Trees are the answer – except when they’re not.