Clear-Cutting in Yorktown: What’s the Point of Having a Tree Ordinance?
Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the author/producer’s interpretation of facts and data.
By Lisa Woodward
Current Town of Yorktown elected officials do not value trees.
On Dec. 23, I heard a bulldozer and crashing trees in the woods next door to my home. I looked out the window and saw huge 85- to 100-year-old white oaks and other beautiful hardwood specimen trees come crashing to the ground. Imagine, trees that were saplings during World War I and World War II, wiped out in less than an hour! It was heart-wrenching.
A large area of native trees and understory was being clear-cut by my neighbor near the edge of his property for an ice-skating rink, or so he said. It’s important to note that this wooded area is located near a natural spring, a stream, wetlands, steep slopes and a brook that runs down the hill to additional wetlands and the New Croton Reservoir.
It appears that this disturbance and alteration of about 10,000 square feet of native tree canopy occurred in a protected woodland. This action has already adversely affected the area and created a muddy, degraded, unsightly wasteland that is now void of biodiversity. The most immediate devastating changes we have experienced are an increase in noise from routes 100 and 118, an increase in stormwater runoff and soil erosion.
There were many phone calls back and forth to the town, a letter was written to Tom Diana, the new Yorktown supervisor, and copies sent to the Tree Conservation Advisory Commission, Conservation Board and the Advisory Committee on Open Space as well as the Engineering Department.
Granted, it was the holiday season, but the overall response was poor. Mr. Diana made an effort to visit my home on Jan. 18, yet he was unable to view the area because of intense mud and unsafe walking conditions. A member of the Tree Conservation Advisory Commission visited and said that the destruction was “horrendous” and “unfortunately, the town officials will do nothing.”
My family and I have lived in Yorktown for generations and have witnessed the rapid growth of the area and consequent loss of tree canopy and biodiversity in the region. Those of us who love nature spend time each day enjoying flora and fauna and have the privilege of living near red-tailed hawks, owls, bats and many varieties of songbirds, turkeys, salamanders, turtles, tree frogs, snakes, dragonflies and fireflies that breed in the wetland habitat, and skunk cabbage, mountain laurel and rare plants. We notice sadly, that each year there are fewer and fewer species to enjoy.
Our connection to nature in our daily lives has been adversely affected by this callous action and many more that have occurred in the area over the years.
This brings to mind the recent bulldozing of the wooded corner lot at Route 118 and Kear Street near the medical building. The woodland edge of the existing parking lot had native hardwood trees could have been saved. There seems to be no consideration for preservation of existing trees even near the town’s center.
Some people view trees not as habitat or natural resources, but as problems and nuisances. They don’t understand their importance. The removal of even a small habitat such as this will bring more stormwater runoff pollution, noise, light glare, air pollution and increased summer heat.
Another example is the area on Underhill Avenue near Town Hall, which now has the appearance of urban sprawl with missing old trees and poorly planned, uncoordinated development. Each player acts according to his convenience and in a way that suits their interests, with total disregard for any regulation or smart growth.
The controversial Underhill Farm development on the former Soundview/Beaver Farm property is another disaster waiting to happen unless town officials, who are responsible for upholding Article 1 – Preservation of Yorktown’s Trees and Woodlands, are educated and trained. The developer of this site is proposing to remove 75 percent of the trees. This will have a major impact on biodiversity and increase flooding and pollution.
Mr. Diana needs to assign a tree program manager or forester to be responsible for administration and enforcement of the ordinance, education of the public and protection of biodiversity. Presently, the busy town engineer is charged with these tree duties; however, much of his time is spent managing stormwater runoff issues at construction sites or addressing bridge, culvert and road washouts as a result of continuous deforestation.
Our leaders need to do their homework and so do we residents because if we do not stay abreast of current scientific knowledge and learn the cultural, aesthetic and psychological value of trees, woodlands and wetlands, we will forever change the ecological balance of Yorktown. That would result in more frequent floods, droughts, pollution, stress and poor health.
Let’s leave a better Yorktown for our children and grandchildren to inherit.
Lisa Woodward is a Yorktown Heights resident.
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