New North Haven Clearing Restrictions Aimed at Protecting 'Majestic' Trees

North Haven Mayor Chris Fiore grew up in Uniondale in the 1950s.

“It was one big potato field,” he said this week. “I had to ride my bike to Roosevelt if I wanted to see a tree.”

After decades of living in North Haven, Fiore said he had developed an empathy for what he calls the “majestic” hardwoods that grace many properties and a desire to protect them from the scourge of the chainsaw.

“They will revegetate, and I understand that,” Fiore said of developers who want to work with a clean slate, as it were, when they build a new house and often clear as much of a property as they can before beginning construction. “But it’s tough to replace a 50-year-old tree, and that’s what we want to save.”

To that end, Fiore, working with Trustee Peter Boody, last month unveiled new clearing restrictions that he said would protect both the mature trees and the rights of residents to make reasonable use of their property.

The proposed amendment to the village’s clearing law would require developers who want to clear a lot to first obtain a permit that would require them to submit a survey showing the location of any hardwood trees with a 16-inch caliper, or diameter, at a height of 4 ½ feet from the ground, as well as American Holly and Eastern red cedar trees with a 10-inch diameter at that height. The new law would prohibit the removal of such trees, except under limited conditions.

Trustee Teri Diat, who said, she too shared the desire to protect the village’s rural character, nonetheless, objected to some of the language in the original draft when the Village Board took its first pass at the proposal at its January meeting, arguing it would be too restrictive for otherwise law-abiding citizens who want to plant a garden, put in a pool, or install solar panels.

After she raised her concerns, Fiore and Boody agreed to tweak the measure, loosening the restrictions, so a homeowner could, after an inspection by the building inspector, cut down diseased or dead trees, with the approval of an arborist; remove trees that pose a danger to property or the public, and cut down trees that are in a construction building envelope on file with the village.

“I think it’s good that provisional language has been added,” Diat said on Friday, “but I’d like to see the board take one step further and let homeowners make a case for replacing healthy trees.”

Diat, who was out of town this week, said with her initial reservations, she wanted an opportunity to review the latest version of the law before committing her support to it.

The board will hold a hearing on the proposal at 5 p.m. on February 15.

Fiore said he became interested in the village’s clearing rules shortly after his election last year as mayor when he drove past two lots that had been clear-cut for development. He said when he reviewed the code, which had been modified under the administration of former Mayor Jeff Sander in 2021, he was surprised to learn how easy it was to cut down trees.

“Holy smokes, you can cut down a 75-year-old maple and replace it with beach grass,” he said.

The mayor, who, at last month’s meeting, displayed a photograph of a new house under construction in Water Mill with the stumps of three cut hardwoods in front, said that was the kind of thing he hoped to prevent.

Fiore said that 2021 code revision was an effort to throttle back on overly restrictive clearing provisions that went too far.

“In the old code, you could not cut anything without the building inspector giving you permission,” Fiore said. “And you had to submit a new survey for every change to the preserved vegetation on your property. We didn’t need to be as restrictive as we were.”

North Haven has a list of recommended native trees that it suggests property owners use in their plantings and revegetation plans. The list includes American beech, linden, aspen, ash, and various oaks. Fiore said he would like to tweak the code to add others, including London plane and elms.

Fiore added that the village would continue to exempt five species that New York State has declared as invasive to Long Island. They are the Norway maple, Russian olive, smooth buckthorn, tree of heaven, and black locust.

The new code will have some teeth as well. Violators found guilty of cutting down a mature tree will face a fine of $2,500 for each tree removed. In addition, they will be required to replace mature trees with specimens of at least an 8-inch diameter. But most importantly, the building permit for a property found to be in violation will be suspended for 90 days. While a homeowner might be willing to sit through such a delay, it would likely act as a deterrent to a contractor trying to meet a construction schedule, he said.