Blooming Grove Town Hall Holds Productive Tree Preservation Dialogue
- ejreporter
- Jun 5
- 9 min read
During what was one of the most packed Public Hearings in a year or two at Blooming Grove's Town Hall, about a dozen residents spoke eloquently, suggesting additional conditions to a 25-page set of guidelines that the Town Board has assembled to update its tree-cutting code. Residents have had it with developers who come in and nearly shave the earth of the shade and roots it needs to control temperature and water flow. Each speaker spoke first about their appreciation for the work that the Town Board members had invested in the Guidelines (with input from an arborist, engineer, planners and other professionals).
While each resident entered dialogue with Town Supervisor Rob Jeroloman, he had pen and paper at hand and wrote their recommendations down to be reviewed .... and many of which will be added to an updated version when the Public Hearing is continued in July. Both the knowledge of the speakers and Jeroloman's responses were impressive in their clarity and knowledge, and were delivered respectfully, and with a few light moments such as when Jean Campbell-Galli stood at the podium draped in strings of leaves. She used them to make the point that everyone loves trees, "Just look at those smiles seeing me as a tree."
On a serious note CAC Chair Ryne Kitzrow thanked the Board for the work they have done, but noted that the document had too many conditions that were prefaced by saying that the developer "May", and that in order to carry proper weight most of them would make more of a impact using the word "Shall". He spoke at some length about the importance of canopy trees and the importance they play in the overall landscape. Related to that, he and another speaker added that when decisions about"clear-cutting" are a goal and criteria for cutting is detailed it must be remembered that different varieties of trees grow at different rates and provide different benefits, and so an arborist should be brought when marking which saplings should/and which saplings should not be removed when evaluating at a site.
Susan Blakeney, who lives on Clove Road, had the adjacent Clovewood developer clear-cut a lot of trees along their shared property border and it caused flooding damage on her property. On the other hand, she wanted to know how these new laws would impact her land which has too many "Tree of Heavens", a non-native highly invasive plant (a Chinese tree that not only kills surrounding plants, it also attracts spotted lantern flys). She wanted to know if these new laws would prevent her from removing what is becoming Tree of Heaven invasion on her property. Supervisor Jeroloman said that since the State's DEC has it categorized as seriously invasive and non-native she is welcome to remove all of them if she wants.
A recurrent them was how important it can be to add what some towns are including. They call it a Tree Bank (where developers can place replacement funding for trees that will not be able to be replaced on a particular site, but could be used appropriately elsewhere instead. And much like the Highway Department does when developers are expected to interfere with current roadways or streets, builders doing any significant tree cutting should be required to place a Bond that could be used to repair any damage they cause (or be returned if no damage ensues). Some recent projects have been completed without adequate provision of buffer space for adjacent property owners. Not only can this impact the view, it affects water drainage, rain and snow impact when it is windy and noise impact when there is drilling, work vehicle beeping and traffic. Buffers must be designed to solve these issues, and not just qualify as meeting the law (which all too often happens when small bushes are planted where large and sometimes giant trees previously were.) How supervision of these details could be set up would be complicated since building department oversight may not have adequate landscaping knowledge and arborists would not have authority to issue permits and other official duties. The young lady presenting this issue suggested maybe a person who has both credentials could be hired. Supervisor Jeroloman laughed and said "Hard to find", so they compromised on the advisability of having a arborist accompany building inspectors and planners for periodic project site inspections.
Alec applauded the Town's work, and said how important it is that we address this issue now, or we may no longer be the Town that everyone wants to come to, for generations. That comment went right to the heart of the issue since so many residents came to Blooming Grove for Summer recreation and loved it so much that they moved here.
Lyn Crevling called the Guidelines "a Smart Tool", but added that in their deliberations the Planning Board should make extensive use of an Arborist for advice. She also emphasized that mandatory restoration must be included and that penalties must be increased or the requirements are too often ignored by wealthy developers who often do not care about fines. Jeroloman said that currently faulty tree cutting and restoration plans can be is fined at $1,000 and then backed up with an additional $500 every day that it is not rectified, and that the Town currently has 3 Agencies that can go investigate site issues.. He added, however, "We do not have oversight of state and county property".
John Daly said "It always comes down to enforcement, and unfortunately someone can take down a hell of a lot of trees before enforcement takes place." And some wealthy developers simply do what appears to have happened with the project originally called "Lake Anne" and now called "Clovewood". They simply ignore codes and don't mind paying fines even if they are hefty, and with years passing the state may "forget" if the fine was never paid. This is why it is beneficial to keep increasing the fine if the violation is not rectified. Jeroloman said that the book of fines is not yet closed on Clovewood, since it still does not have final approval.
Kate Ahmadi, Ph.D and one of Blooming Grove's longest and most ardent environmentalists, spoke of Deforestation, and that the new law must not just be a "Tree-Cutting" law, it needs to be about tree Protection, and how we can get into a more "Protective" mindset. She wondered what happened to the era of "Smart/SustainablePlanning" which threatens to turn into Urban Sprawl. Kate has written a treatise about what happened along Woodcock Mt. Road during one of the early phases of encroaching "Sprawl". Developers came in and clear-cut large areas, and the loss of tree cover resulted in serious flooding.
Avis spoke passionately about how she arises at 4am so that she can have a chance to look at our beautiful trees before climbing onto a bus that brings her into New York City. When she arrives at the complex where she cares for a group of children she takes them for a hike to the Central Park Conservancy. When they get there she has them take off their shoes so they can stand and feel the grass under their feet. She proudly announced "Yes, I am a tree-hugger!"
Guy Jones, Owner of Blooming Hill Farm is a favorite Blooming Grove farmer. His farm is where just about everyone wants to be, because of its flower and vegetable products, its restaurant, farm to table events and entertainment.
He was clearly very sad about how this issue has impacted his family. With the clear-cutting that has happened along Prospect Road, the creek ran a cloudy bluish green with some kind of dyed sticky mulch. The runoff from the Prospect Gardens site on Village of South Blooming Grove property up a steep hillside already threatens and sometimes floods his farm, and he warns that if we don't address it soon, everyone downstream will be impacted by that runoff. Many still wonder if the dye was safe as the blue-ish creek made its way toward the Washingtonville Moodna Creek wells. Sadly, Guy and his family will be leaving Blooming Grove after several generations of very successful farming sometime in the next few years to restart their farming activities on what he hopes is some acreage that will remain protected in New Windsor.
Prospect Gardens Development is a high density development up a very steep hillside from Blooming Hill Farm and channels excessive water which flooded Prospect Road several times in recent years. It is in the Village of South Blooming Grove which has some "Home Rule" diversions from the Town's construction oversight. It appears to have their construction activities on a halt in recent weeks.
Bonnie Rum finished the evening after videotaping it in entirety for the group Preserve Blooming Grove, with an emphasis on what we have learned during the past 20 years....that many overeager and wealthy developers will defy codes no matter what the fines are, and perhaps the only way to deter them is to significantly increase the fines and make them recurrent, or even include jail time for serious offenses.
Education was the one important area that was not yet discussed. People will not deeply care about tree preservation unless and until they have been exposed to and learn to love the attributes of our trees. Several residents on Tuesday began referring to the need for a Tree Preservation Team. The Town's Conservation Advisory Committee already plays a key part as an effective Team (as is evidenced by the number of residents attending this meeting). And there is also the annual statewide sapling planting program called "Trees for Tribs" along river and creek shores to help hold the land there together and prevent erosion. Former Deputy Supervisor and Councilwoman Johanna Kiernan eagerly awaits this annual effort when numerous local people participate in the plantings.
Scientists have in recent years proven numerous health benefits they offer directly to people as well as the earth beneath, including lowering blood pressure and natural cooling (especially for city streets) during a heat surge, removal of an estimated 710,000 tons a year in the US of air pollution, improved vascular functioning and mood, just to name a few.
Given the huge advantages of trees to our community's health, we can only hope (and work hard) to introduce area residents to the beautiful nature in this and surrounding towns by encouraging them to enjoy the new Schunnemunk Rail Trail as it develops from Chester through Blooming Grove, Washingtonville, Salisbury Mills to Cornwall at the Moodna Trestle. A few hikes along that nearly 9 mile trail beside the Moodna Creek can't help but encourage people to make a much bigger effort toward tree preservation.
These youngsters were having quite the adventure on a short hike along the
historic Schunnemunk Rail Trail just behind May's Field.
My personal experience with loss of tree benefits has been great during the past 3 1/2 years. This farmland was settled in 1810 and there are many beutiful maple, oak and beech trees over 200 years old. When Orange & Rockland built their new substation adjacent to my farm they nearly stripped the entire acreage, right up to the stone wall that is my property boundary.... With NO buffer at all, the noise from the following years of work (drilling and scraping a piece of property with vast under the surface granite...(they had to have a special drill made), and increased heavy tractor-trailer traffic throughout the day brought serious morning migraine headaches. As a writer and editor it was a serious deterrent to the work I do from home. Not only did it impact me, I have a Macaw Parrot that even now has post PTSD aftereffect incidents and screams whenever there is a significant noise. He has even learned to identify any noise from the O&R property and lets me know clearly "THEY are here again". After finally thinking that the disruptions were over (since O&R said the work would last for 2 to 2 1/2 years and this is heading into year four) they are now back again one property to the East, drilling and impacting the view of Round Hill Mt., while doing replacement with more powerful lines. Needless to say, a line of trees hundreds of years old does a lot to buffer rain, snow and noise... including the new barrage of big construction vehicles, many of which leave their beepers on for hours. They promised to plant a row of Norwegian Spruce as a buffer over 2 years ago. They forgot, were reminded, forgot again. It is really quite a losing battle to shave the earth of hundred year old trees right up to a property border and expect some small bushes and brand new leafy but not evergreen saplings to make up for it, especially in Winter when the leaves are all gone.. How much smarter would it be to just leave a few rows of the ancient trees along a buffer from the 'get-go'.
Clearly, developers need to balance the impact of clear-cutting with the type
of vegitation they try to replace it with and consider how many years it will take for the replacement trees to do the job they need to do for the bordering homes. In past years Orange & Rockland planted large and healthy evergreens for homeowners along Prospect Road when they first put up the main Prospect Road high transmission lines. Sometimes "the old ways" are still the best!
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By Edie Johnson
Executive Editor
Orange County Courier Journal
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