The public hearing to consider a local law to amend Chapter 281 of the Scarsdale Village Code, entitled Trees, Grass, Brush and Weeds, will be held at 8:00 PM on Tuesday, April 24, 2018 in Rutherford Hall, Village Hall. The Board of Trustees welcomes interested residents to attend and provide comments on the proposed amendments to the law. If you are unable to attend in person, the Village Board will accept written comments that should be sent to the Village Clerk at clerk@scarsdale.com.
To serve as background, the Friends of Scarsdale Parks (FOSP) and Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) previously recommended a number of amendments to Chapter 281: Trees, Grass, Bush and Weeds in the Village of Scarsdale Code. In order to review certain FOSP and CAC draft amendments to Chapter 281, the Land Use Committee and Municipal Services Committee of the Board of Trustees convened on June 14, 2016 and requested that a working group comprised of representatives from the Village Staff, FOSP and CAC be formed to further review the law and jointly agree on amendments before presenting to the Board of Trustees for its consideration. The Tree working group issued its recommendation in July of 2017 to the Law and Sustainability Committees of the Board of Trustees.
The Law and Sustainability Committees of the Board held four public meetings where members reviewed the suggested changes of the tree working group, gathered feedback from the public and ultimately made modifications to the proposed amendments that would balance private property rights while respecting the value of trees as a community asset. Ultimately, the proposed amendments will increase the number of replacement trees planted, as it decreases the required replacement for removed trees, from 36 inches to 24 inches Diameter at Breast Height, and provides additional funding for plantings in the Right of Way (ROW) and Village Parks through the activation of a Tree Preservation Fund.
Documents related to the April 24, 2018 Public Hearing
Prior documents related to the Law and Sustainability Meetings of the Board of Trustees and the March 13, 2018 Public Hearing.
Prior reports from the CAC and FOSP