Revere homeowners may soon need the city’s permission to cut down a large tree on their own property. The Revere City Council holds a public hearing Monday, September 28, on a proposed tree preservation ordinance, and the council’s September 14 debate on it showed the city divided before the hearing has even begun.
What is proposed
The motion, from Councillor-at-Large Joanne McKenna and Ward 1 Councillor Jim Mercurio, orders a public hearing on an ordinance “relative to tree preservation.” As Ward 5 Councillor Angela Guarino-Sawaya described it on the floor, the draft would require homeowners to get permission and pay a fee before removing a tree on private property, could require them to plant one or more replacement trees or pay into a city fund, and would carry fines for skipping the process. The amount of the fee is not specified, Councillor-at-Large Michelle Kelley noted. The full draft text has not been posted where we could find it.
The case for it
McKenna showed the council photographs of two healthy mature trees whose owner had cut off the tops and branches, leaving trunks about 30 feet tall. “In recent months, the city is witnessing a stampede of tree cuttings,” McKenna said. “Six taken down on my street.” The councillor argued that trees absorb stormwater, provide shade and help a dense coastal city handle severe weather, and in Beachmont screen residents from Logan Airport’s noise and emissions. “We can plant a new tree tomorrow, but we cannot replace a 50-year-old tree tomorrow.” McKenna listed Lynnfield, Salem, Somerville, Cambridge, Newton, Lexington and Arlington among communities with similar rules.
Mercurio said the point was balance, not “the city telling homeowners what they can do with every tree in their yard,” and that the hearing is the place to make the rules fair.
The case against
Guarino-Sawaya said the phones had not stopped. “Residents are in an uproar over it,” the councillor said, arguing that a homeowner who pays for a tree’s care and bears its liability should decide whether it stays, and that the process could be a real burden for seniors, residents with disabilities and working families. Guarino-Sawaya supports planting on public property and voluntary programs, but not the ordinance as written.
Ward 3 Councillor Anthony Cogliandro relayed a warning from a facilities manager in one of the cities McKenna listed, who said such permits add real administrative burden, and pointed out that Revere’s tree warden is also the city engineer, raising the question of how long permits would take. Kelley said the draft is harder on residents than on developers, who can remove trees simply because they are building. Councillor-at-Large Marc Silvestri agreed the topped trees in McKenna’s photos are now unstable and should come down.
Council President Anthony Zambuto cut the discussion off, predicting “hundreds of people” at the hearing and saying the ordinance would need “a balance that’s constitutional.” After the hearing, Cogliandro said, the proposal will probably go to zoning, leaving time to rework it.
The hearing
The public hearing is at the Revere City Council’s Monday, September 28 meeting at City Hall, 281 Broadway. RevereTV streams council meetings on its YouTube channel.