City May Strengthen Protection of Trees

Abuse of trees soon could become a criminal offense here.

City officials are considering a proposal to strengthen the tree ordinance by creating an official Tree Advisory Board and making injury to trees a misdemeanor.

Under terms of the revisions, developers and residents who remove trees without a permit or otherwise injure them could face six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Though the plan was proposed this week, City Council members postponed a vote until next month because of concerns that the change would be too drastic.

“To just suddenly impose this is a problem for me,” Mayor Joanne Coontz said.

The issue arose as part of an ongoing City Hall project to review and update the municipal code.

The city has had a tree law since 1966, but officials decided to stiffen the penalties because developers in particular could decide it is cheaper to pay a fine than work around historic trees on a work site, City Manager David L. Rudat said.

Enforcers would seek the harshest sentence only for severe tree abuse, said Alan Burns, interim city attorney. “A misdemeanor gives you the ability to enforce the most egregious cases,” he said.

Members of the civic group Trees for Orange support the proposal for a new five-member board, which would develop a comprehensive Master Street Plan.

The new panel also would inventory the city’s trees, draft guidelines on tree removal and replacement, and hear appeals from those denied permits for tree activities, according to the proposed regulations.

Some council members, however, said they were hesitant to set up an official tree board, which residents might perceive as another level of bureaucracy.

“We don’t want to establish a tree police,” Councilman Mike Spurgeon said.