PEABODY — The Peabody Conservation Commission is having a special meeting on Jan. 10 to discuss the continued enforcement orders issued to Salem Country Club Inc. and Mayer Tree Services, Inc.
“The Peabody Conservation Commission will hold an Executive Session to discuss litigation matters pertaining to The Salem Country Club, Inc., and Daniel Mayer (Mayer Tree Service, Inc.),” the meeting agenda said.
The Salem Country Club and Mayer Tree Services were issued enforcement orders back in April for a violation order issued on Jan. 30 2022. The violation was for them illegally removing trees in a buffer zone in close proximity to jurisdictional resource areas.
The club did request and got permission from the commission to remove some trees in non-jurisdictional areas in conjunction with their course renovation project. They ended up removing a total of 233 trees illegally out of the 685 they cut down.
“The fact that the country club came to us for 20 trees and cut down 700 is very distressing to the Conservation Commission because … conservation is everyone’s business,” Commission Chairman Stewart Lazares said in an April interview with The Daily Item. “Yeah, there’s a million more trees, but these trees, we didn’t give anyone permission to take them down, and you guys didn’t ask us about more than 20 trees. It’s not the only time this has happened.”
The Salem Country Club and Mayer Tree Services were each fined almost $70,000 for the illegal removal of the trees. The enforcement order requires the club to make and execute a restoration plan, which must include replanting of trees among other tasks.
The enforcement order said, “The Restoration Plan shall include canopy plantings that will restore the forest canopy to the extent that it will function as full canopy in 10 years. At a minimum, the commission is looking for at least one to one replacement for each tree lost. Each tree must be a minimum of 2 inches in caliper. The goal is to provide a Restoration plan to restore the lost tree canopy within 10 years.”
In response the club filed a lawsuit in June against the commission in the Salem Superior Court, seeking relief from the enforcement order. It claimed that the order from the commission wants them to re-plant a higher number of trees than were actually taken down.
The complaint, filed by club attorney Barry P. Fogel on June 29 and verified by the club’s Chief Operating Officer Peter Fischl, states the action is necessary “to review and correct errors in proceedings conducted by the Conservation Commission of the City of Peabody.”
