Pleasantville Prunes Tree Ordinance, Eases Rules for Homeowners

A newly proposed tree ordinance has stripped away permit fees and mandatory tree replants for Pleasantville residents wanting to take down trees on their property. 

The revised ordinance has removed controversial aspects from an earlier draft presented in Nov. 2024 that faced strong opposition. 

The updated draft ordinance was presented to the village board by the Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) at last week’s work session. 

The new ordinance would allow residents to remove trees

without paying permit fees but would require they apply for a permit online. The ordinance encourages property owners to keep large, healthy trees and limits the number of trees that can be removed, with the CAC recommending no more than 25 percent of a property’s trees be cut down.

“If the property already has ten trees on it then five trees would be too many to take down,” CAC member Helen Meuer explained to the board. “If trees are larger and older and measures around 30 inches in diameter, we know that’s a pretty old tree and if healthy, that tree is hugely valuable to the community and should be protected.”

CAC Chair Michael Inglis, for his part noted that “all this (the ordinance) basically says is please don’t cut down a big tree and please tell us when you cut down any other tree.”

Larger trees (more than 30 inches in diameter) would require justification for removal, such as being diseased or hazardous. 

Last March a developer building two houses on Clark St. took down trees which were not approved by the planning commission. The violation raised the ire of the community. The developer apologized but wasn’t fined. 

This update is seen as more homeowner-friendly and aims to address concerns about the village’s shrinking tree canopy, with the goal of tracking tree removal and encouraging more planting programs. 

CAC had originally mapped out tree locations showing that between 15 and 20 percent of the canopy has been lost in the last 20 years. 

Loss of canopy has been a growing concern in several Westchester municipalities prompting a wide variety of tree ordinances. 

“Westchester has 45 municipalities and 32 of them have tree ordinances,” said Meuer. “Our studies show what other communities are doing and how we came to this.” 

Undecided is fining property owners for taking down trees without a permit and the role law enforcement would play. 

Inglis explained removing the mandate to replant trees.

“We are going to make that requested but not mandated,” Inglis said. “But we would like to stipulate that planting of invasive trees is not allowed.” 

The village may maintain a tree fund to provide residents with plant saplings. The role of law enforcement and fines for unauthorized tree removal remain undecided. 

Board trustee Paul Alvarez said the new proposed ordinance was more acceptable. 

“Without a doubt I think that taking away any penalties makes an ordinance a lot more friendly to any private home owner,” Alvarez observed. 

Trustee Nicole Asquith said the village tree ordinance ultimately will offer an account of trees that are being removed. 

“We will have a better idea what our overall tree canopy is,” she said. “For this to work there would have to be an effort on the part of the village to have a robust tree planting program for street trees.”

The village board will review the proposed ordinance before scheduling a public hearing.

“This is a big step forward and addresses a lot of concerns that people came to me about,” Mayor Peter Scherer concluded.