Concerns... Loss of Trees, Greenery & Open Space
The Concern:
High-density housing development and urbanization means losing trees, lawns, backyards, and all kinds of neighborhood green space. Large-scale development often targets precious open space.
High-density housing development and urbanization means losing trees, lawns, backyards, and all kinds of neighborhood green space. Large-scale development often targets precious open space.
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What You Can Do:
Sign up to receive email updates from the Newton Villages Alliance. Pay attention to how your city councilors are voting on tree issues and on preserving open space. Write, email and call the Mayor, City Clerk and the City Councilors to express your views. Contact info for these decision makers is here. Write letters to the Boston Globe and Fig City News. Tell your Newton friends and neighbors why it's important to preserve Newton's tree canopy, neighborhood greenery and larger open space. Pay attention to Tree Removal Hearing notices on public street trees, and object if you feel a tree should not be removed. If you think private trees are at risk of, or are in the process of, being removed in violation of the Tree Preservation Ordinance, take pictures to document their existence. To learn whether the owner or developer has obtained a tree permit or is exempt, contact Parks & Recreation's Division of Urban Forestry at 617-796-1530, or [email protected]. More About This: |
Tree being removed without required permit. Photo, NVA.
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In Auburndale, the yellow house, above, is to be demolished. The buyer had the seller cut the trees before the closing. Photo, NVA.
A major and visible effect of overdevelopment has been the loss of private tree canopy and open space, adversely impacting abutters, wildlife, and the environment.
Tree Preservation Ordinance
Newton’s Tree Preservation Ordinance, passed in 1999, and last revised in May 2014, was aimed at discouraging the removal of mature trees during teardowns and major construction. It requires developers taking down healthy trees greater than 8 inches in diameter to plant replacement caliper inches or pay into the city’s Tree Preservation Fund, and also requires protection for remaining trees during construction. It has succeeded fairly well for large commercial or institutional projects, as well as golf courses, but less well, especially in recent years, for individual house lot construction.
Tree Preservation Ordinance
Newton’s Tree Preservation Ordinance, passed in 1999, and last revised in May 2014, was aimed at discouraging the removal of mature trees during teardowns and major construction. It requires developers taking down healthy trees greater than 8 inches in diameter to plant replacement caliper inches or pay into the city’s Tree Preservation Fund, and also requires protection for remaining trees during construction. It has succeeded fairly well for large commercial or institutional projects, as well as golf courses, but less well, especially in recent years, for individual house lot construction.
Trees being cut at a West Newton home. Photo, NVA.
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The same West Newton property after addition to original mansard house (at right of photo) and conversion to luxury condos. Photo, NVA.
Because there appeared to be no appetite for limiting the ability of regular homeowners to remove trees, the 1999 ordinance exempted 1 to 4-family residential properties if they were occupied at either the time of tree removal, or at the time an exterior work permit was issued. This, combined with the lack of definition of “occupied,” created loopholes that made the original ordinance difficult to enforce with respect to residential properties.
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While many builders followed the rules as intended, others avoided them by various means, with some openly stating their intent to do so. Methods included making their purchase of a property contingent on the seller removing the trees before the closing, claiming an exemption on the basis that they would occupy the property themselves (which was difficult to disprove), and actually living in the property short-term before flipping it (in which case the capital gains tax exclusion for primary residences occupied for two years would likely be the driving factor).
A Waban house before demolition, with trees. Developer had seller remove trees before closing. Photo, Google.
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The same Waban property during new construction. Trees and hill were cut away. Photo, NVA.
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Some real estate agents would even advise sellers of property with development potential to cut down all their trees before putting the house on the market. Even when trees would not interfere with the ultimate footprint of the new construction, developers may prefer to clear the lot for convenience, and to avoid the need for tree protection measures (which would include not being able to store construction material or equipment under the tree canopy).
Carroll Center-owned property in Newton Corner, 2011. Tudor house is hidden behind tall trees. Photo, Google.
To close these loopholes, revisions to the Tree Preservation Ordinance were approved by the then Board of Aldermen in 2014.
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Trees cut before demolition of same property, 2014. Under revised Tree Preservation Ordinance, this lot would not have been exempt. Photo, NVA.
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Now, in order to be exempt from tree replacement requirements, a lot must be occupied (defined as having a legally constructed dwelling which is a permanent structure, used primarily as a residence, legally being lived in, and having legally permitted and functioning water, sanitary sewer and electrical service), and in addition, the lot must have been owned by the same person for 90 days leading up to tree removal, and remain as a dwelling with persons living in it for 18 consecutive months following tree removal, and must be owned by the same person for 18 consecutive months following tree removal.
What the Tree Preservation Ordinance Doesn’t Cover
Tree canopy will continue to be lost to development despite the Ordinance. One to four-family residential properties that meet the tightened criteria for an exempt, occupied lot will continue to be able to cut down an unlimited number of trees.
Tree canopy will continue to be lost to development despite the Ordinance. One to four-family residential properties that meet the tightened criteria for an exempt, occupied lot will continue to be able to cut down an unlimited number of trees.
Trees removed at homeowner's request. Photo, NVA.
Trees cut at the Leo G. Martin Golf Course. Photo, NVA.
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In addition, under the 2014 revision, while property owners who are vacating a dwelling during renovations must apply for a tree permit, they may request a waiver of any tree replacement requirements if they own and occupy the property continuously for 18 months after renovations are completed.
Further, privately-owned trees less than 8” DBH (diameter at breast height, 4.5ft above the ground) are not covered at all, and may be cut without replacing the caliper inches. Such trees, while smaller, still have great environmental value for storm water retention and erosion control, as habitat and food source for birds, and as screening between properties. (Some other jurisdictions with tree protection ordinances use a 6” cutoff, while others give special protection to ‘boundary’ trees within the setback along property lines.) The Tree Preservation Ordinance also does not apply to state-owned land, such as the Department of Conservation & Recreation’s Leo G. Martin Golf Course. Further, it will be many years before replacement trees, typically about 2 to 2-1/2” caliper, replicate the environmental impact of the large tree they replace. |
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Public Trees and M.G.L. Chapter 87
Public shade trees, more commonly call “street trees,” are defined as “trees within a public way” and are protected by Mass. General Laws Chapter 87, as well as by City of Newton ordinance. In addition to berm trees, trees just inside the sidewalk are usually public shade trees, and may not be cut down without a public hearing, notice for which must be posted on the tree. Under M.G.L. Chapter 87, if any objection in writing is made by one or more persons, the tree may not be removed unless approval is given by the selectmen (for towns) or by the mayor (for cities). |
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Public shade trees may also be impacted by development. Teardowns, particularly when a single-family house is replaced by a duplex townhouses, may involve curb cuts for new or enlarged driveways, and trees may be “in the way.” In years past, builders sometimes built the driveway first, then appealed to have the street tree removed. In many cases, objections were received, and builders had to redesign the driveways to accommodate the trees. Fortunately, this practice of build first, ask later, seems to have disappeared, but requests to remove healthy trees for curb cuts still occur.
At this Nonantum property, tree removal was approved, over objection, to add two parking places to a 2-family house, bringing the total to four parking spaces. Photo, NVA.
Even when street trees are not removed, their health may be impacted by cutting of roots close to the trunk for curb cuts, and by construction activity in the area under the canopy or over the root zone that is on private property.
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Current regulations prohibit storing of construction materials and equipment within the drip line on public property, but not the area under the drip line on private property.
(Above) 36" Red oak at this Waban property will remain, but a Special Permit approved by the Land Use Committee allows the curb cut to be within inches of the trunk.
(Left) 36" Diameter red oak at this same Waban property: a request to remove the tree for relocation of a driveway in connection with a teardown was denied after many objections were received. Photo, NVA.
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Loss of Green Space and Open Space
According to the Newton Recreation & Open Space Plan for 2013-2019, “Open Space constitutes approximately 20% of the total City area. Inventoried open space typically includes land over one acre that is essentially free of structures, but in general also includes smaller parcels when indicative of an open space asset. Overall, this includes conservation land, park and recreation land, water-bodies, vacant or unused land, cemeteries, golf courses, and school sites, as well as portions of large private parcels, estates, institutions, organizations, and developments with sizable areas of open space.”
The Recreation & Open Space Plan also notes that open land in Newton has decreased by over 80% in the last 30 years.
Since the previous 2003-2007 Recreation & Open Space Plan, there have been additions to the city’s conservation land inventory, including a portion of Kesseler Woods, and to Parks & Recreation land, notably the parcel at Crystal Lake. However, significant parcels of privately held open space have been developed, including Andover-Newton land on Langley Road (now The Terraces condominiums), and the single-residence portion of Kesseler Woods.
Privately owned land accounts for about 41% of total open space, or 968 acres, and publicly owned land 59%, or 1,376 acres. The breakdown of privately owned land is: cemeteries 5%; golf courses 23%; private vacant land 8%; and tax exempt land 5%.
Harder to measure, and not included in the city’s inventoried Open Space, are the smaller parches of less than an acre, and the open space portion of individual house lots. It is these smaller spaces that are being nibbled away at, or in many cases gobbled up, by higher-density development. This loss of open space, trees, grassy areas and back and side yards next door, may have more impact on an individual homeowner than the loss of a larger, but distant, open space.
According to the Newton Recreation & Open Space Plan for 2013-2019, “Open Space constitutes approximately 20% of the total City area. Inventoried open space typically includes land over one acre that is essentially free of structures, but in general also includes smaller parcels when indicative of an open space asset. Overall, this includes conservation land, park and recreation land, water-bodies, vacant or unused land, cemeteries, golf courses, and school sites, as well as portions of large private parcels, estates, institutions, organizations, and developments with sizable areas of open space.”
The Recreation & Open Space Plan also notes that open land in Newton has decreased by over 80% in the last 30 years.
Since the previous 2003-2007 Recreation & Open Space Plan, there have been additions to the city’s conservation land inventory, including a portion of Kesseler Woods, and to Parks & Recreation land, notably the parcel at Crystal Lake. However, significant parcels of privately held open space have been developed, including Andover-Newton land on Langley Road (now The Terraces condominiums), and the single-residence portion of Kesseler Woods.
Privately owned land accounts for about 41% of total open space, or 968 acres, and publicly owned land 59%, or 1,376 acres. The breakdown of privately owned land is: cemeteries 5%; golf courses 23%; private vacant land 8%; and tax exempt land 5%.
Harder to measure, and not included in the city’s inventoried Open Space, are the smaller parches of less than an acre, and the open space portion of individual house lots. It is these smaller spaces that are being nibbled away at, or in many cases gobbled up, by higher-density development. This loss of open space, trees, grassy areas and back and side yards next door, may have more impact on an individual homeowner than the loss of a larger, but distant, open space.
