Among the 33 dead and dying trees that New Canaan will pay about $20,000 to remove following a Board of Selectmen vote this week are an ash and hickory on Ponus Ridge that fell into in such poor condition for a specific reason: A stone wall was built too close to where they had grown—in this case, right up against them—likely causing fatal root damage.
It’s a problem that Tree Warden Bruce Pauley said most homeowners, who truly don’t want to lose trees, are unaware of and that could addressed by a new rule with stone wall installations that requires a check-in when public trees—typically those fronting New Canaan roads—are at stake.
Two trees along Ponus Ridge are dead and must now come down as a result of damage from a stone wall build around them. Credit: Michael Dinan
The two trees on Ponus mark the fifth time that trees have been killed by root damage and grade changes along a road during construction of a stone wall, Pauley said Tuesday at the selectmen’s regular meeting.
Pauley requested that that the tree warden, together with the building department, have some input as to what will be the likely outcome for trees for people putting up stone wall “and if they are to put in a stone wall, they have to assume responsibility of the price of tree removal if it kills the tree, and pruning if it kills the limbs, for a minimum of five years, because that is how long it would take in some cases for the tree to fully die.”
“These trees belong to all of us, and somebody puts in a stone wall, thereby killing the tree, and now we have to pay to remove the tree,” Pauley said during the meeting, held in the Training Room at the New Canaan Police Department.
First Selectman Rob Mallozzi said he supported the purpose behind the consultation and would discuss what could be done with town attorney Ira Bloom.
“Those are town trees, those are big time safety issues, cost issues, and aesthetic issues on these trees, we should have a say in determining ahead of time to say ‘Hey’ if you are going to do something that would adversely affect the health of those trees,” Mallozzi said.
Mallozzi said the first step would be to determine what needs to be done to put into place a mandatory consultation and then how the tree warden’s advice would affect the approval or conditioned approval of the stone wall itself.