2022-05-12-TREE-rpt1 - Laserfiche WebLink

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V.3 - May 11, 2022 2 3) Tree permit fees have been assessed incorrectly. On July 28, 2021, the Attorney General approved Article 34 passed at Lexington 2021 Annual Town Meeting. The article increased the permit fee from $10 to $20 per removed DBH (diameter at breast height) inch and increased the mitigation fee from $100 to $200 for replacement inches not replanted. For the following demolition permits, the new required values were not used: DBH inches removed Payment Assess ed Correct Assessment • 38 Webster Rd 68” $680 $1360 • 203 Marrett Rd 20” $200 $400 • 59 Laconia St 89” $890 $1780 • 19 Patterson Rd 67” $670 $1340 4) Additional mitigation for larger trees is not applied consistently. To calculate the “replacement inches” on which the mitigation payment is calculated, a multiplier4 of the number of removed inches Is applied for trees with DBH greater than or equal to 24 inches. Here are examples where no multiplier was used: Assessed Replacement Inches/ Correct Assessed Rep. Inches/ DBH Mitigation Payment Required Mult. Mitigation Payment Required • 5 Munroe Rd 52” 52”/$5,200 2 (7/8/21) 104”/$10,400 48” 48”/$4,800 2 (7/8/21) 96”/$9,600 • 68 Colony Rd 24” 24”/$4,800 4 (8/20/21) 96”/ $19,200 124”/$14,800 296”/$39,200 For just these 2 sites, if no replanting was done, the additional mitigation if correctly calculated is $24,400. And, given these figures, the developers might have chosen not to remove the trees. 5) Some applicants explicitly provide false information to the Tree Warden that has then not been verified. There are cases in which developers have indicated to the Tree Warden that no trees were to be removed on a given site. They then do remove trees without reporting their activities. The Tree Warden has not questioned this and made no final visit to the property before signing off on the certificate of occupancy. The Tree Warden has explained that he expected applicants to let him know if more trees than were initially stated to come down were removed. However, this was not done and appropriate fee and mitigation payments were never made resulting in significant financial loss to the Town. The DPW Director has committed to having the Tree Warden always make the visit before signing off on the certificate of occupancy and to having the Tree Warden follow up with the applicants 4 After July 28, 2021 the multiplier is 4. It had been 2 since 2017. After July 28, 2021, the mitigation required per replacement inch is $200. It had been $100 since 2017.