HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-04-23-TREE-minLexington Tree Committee -Working session of Regulations Subcommittee
Minutes April 23,2024 1:00 pm via Zoom
Present:Barbara Tarrh,Tim Lee,Gavin Grant,Rachel Summers,Nancy Sofen,Pat Moyer.
Guest:Matt Foti.A quorum of the Tree Committee was present.
1.Matt Foti pointed out that even on a relatively large lot (30K square feet),after building a
large home with driveway,patio,and buried drainage systems and utilities,with solar
panels there often isn’t room to plant a large canopy tree.He advocated for including
small and mid-sized trees on the list that qualifies for 4x mitigation credit.Those he
would include are
a.American hornbeam,carpinus caroliniana
b.American hophornbeam,Ostrya Virginiana
c.Eastern redbud,Cercis Canadensis
d.American fringe,Chionanthus virginicus
e.Pagoda Dogwood,Cornus alternifolia
f.Florida Dogwood,Cornus florida
g.Sweetbay Magnolia,magnolia Virginiana
h.Thuja Occidentalis and all cultivars
i.Thuja plicata
2.Tim pointed out that if the drainage and landscape were planned together,space can be
allocated for large root systems.
3.Discussion of what will encourage more planting of trees,generally
a.There is more demand for small trees
b.It is more expensive to have an arborist plant a tree than to pay mitigation to the
Tree Fund,but if a builder plants the tree themselves it’s equal to or a little
cheaper than the mitigation fee.
c.Perhaps we need a different incentive structure,with 2x credit for mid-sized trees
and 6x for the most desirable large species
d.Consider changing bylaw to give Select Board the ability to approve such a
change,which is a more nimble way to respond to market forces
4.Discussion of what makes a tree suitable for certain planting sites
a.for near streets and small properties where there may be more compaction,use
trees with low oxygen requirements (red maple,honey locust,London plane,
linden,zelkova)
b.No trees native to Colorado -their climate is drier and those trees are prone to
fungus in our humid climate