Thinking globally and acting locally hit a big bump with the Select Board’s May 12 decision to keep the proposed tree preservation bylaw off June’s Town Meeting warrant.
The idea of everyone starting in their own backyard to combat global warming’s negative impacts ran smack dab into controversy during Lynnfield’s last Town Meeting, where residents loudly protested a tree preservation proposal widely viewed as an unnecessary homeowner property-rights violation.
Town Tree Committee and Planning Board members pushed hard this spring to promote a redrafted preservation proposal with a much narrower focus than the one that ran into a wood chipper at the previous meeting.
The revamped bylaw affects trees in areas where building activity is taking place. Uprooted trees would have to be replaced with saplings, or else the builder removing trees could make a payment into the Town’s existing tree fund, which would support tree-planting and maintenance efforts.
“It applies to every parcel in town, but only applies to a much narrower set of activities,” Planning Board Chair Brian Charville said.
Select Board Chair Richard Dalton and fellow board members acknowledged, during their May 12 meeting, the hard work expended on the revised bylaw. But they said the revision needed extensive Select Board review, meaning its next appearance at Town Meeting will be in October at the earliest.
Bylaw advocates insist Lynnfield owes future generations a concerted effort to protect local trees, especially older ones. They also point to the important role trees and forests play as natural filters, which help to reduce air pollution and control temperature variations.
Opponents warn that the bylaw, even with a narrow focus limited to development activity, represents a threat to personal property rights. They warn against Lynnfield following Newton and Needham’s lead in telling property owners what they can and can’t do with trees.
At first glance, Lynnfield looks like a community with a lot of trees. It’s worth asking what, if any, protections — beyond those already available to the Conservation Commission — the town needs to place on local trees. The Select Board is taking the correct course in deciding to give the revised tree protection bylaw a thorough review.
