Pine Plains adopts tree law

PINE PLAINS — The Town Board at a special workshop on Thursday, June 24, discussed the proposed tree law, which it ultimately adopted with a vote of four to one (Councilwoman Sandra David was the lone dissenter).

The Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) in the town of Pine Plains proposed Local Law No. 2, in hopes of protecting the town’s street trees.

According to the local law, it sets out to: “Provide a mechanism for the removal, and pruning of trees on public and private lands which impact public highways and other public property in the town, which pose a hazard to the general public.�

But at what cost? Typically the tree work will be done at the town’s expense, but there has been some controversy regarding the issue.

“I think this could have been all done by simple policy change,� town Supervisor Gregg Pulver said. “We can hash this thing out until December and still not have a tree law.�

That “thing� is the only real sticking point in the law — the issue of whether residents should be charged when the town has to prune or cut down trees on private land. Attorney to the Town Warren Replansky said he wrote the law giving the town the discretion to either charge property owners or not, on a “case-by-case basis.�

“We’re still debating on why we need to charge back residents on pruning or removal,� said Pulver with disbelief, adding that it will likely never happen.

“You don’t need to,� stressed Replansky. “It’s up to the Town Board.

“My thing is if you give somebody 60 days notice and they do something to make it harder,� Pulver said. “Like you could remove a tree for peanuts, and then 60 days later it would cost $3,000 because [of something someone did and] you need a crane to come in, we should have the option to charge for that.�

David objected.

“I showed the law to some other lawyers and they [said it had problems],� she said, adding one attorney called it “arbitrary.�

“There are absolutely no legal problems with charging property owners back,� Replansky said.

“I know how to bring this to a head,� said Councilman Bob Couse. “I make a motion to pass this local law.�

“I second it,� said Councilwoman Rosemary Lyons-Chase.

Replansky interrupted the motion and said the board first had to complete the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) process. He proceeded to walk the board through the short form application, which, it was determined, would cause no negative impacts on the environment. It was also determined that a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) would not be necessary.

Couse then repeated his motion to adopt the local law, with Lyons-Chase seconding the move. Pulver and Councilman George Keeler both voted in favor of adopting the law. David voted against the adoption of Local Law No. 2. After the law passed, David requested to read a statement she had prepared.

“I was very pleased,� she said, that the law was proposed by the CAC. However, she said, the town has “never charged homeowners for pruning or taking down trees in the past.... I feel no law is better than bad law.�

The board acknowledged David’s statement and then moved on to its next matter of business.