Village of East Hills trustees are considering an amendment to the village’s tree laws that would require residents unable to replace a tree approved for removal by the architectural review board to pay into a fund to be used for future tree and flower planting.
But trustees and members of the village’s architectural review board were divided during a public hearing on the proposal on Wednesday over the cost associated with each tree, with the board introducing a $300 fee per tree and architectural review members suggesting an incremental scale based on how many trees are deemed irreplaceable on a residential property.
“I want to emphasize that this is not in any way an opportunity for people to take down trees and pay into this fund,” East Hills Village Attorney William Burton said. “The ARB first determines that a tree cannot be replanted that they want replanted. It comes from the ARB, not the resident. They can’t ask for it.”
Jana Goldenberg, a member of the village’s architectural review board, said a $300 fee per tree would be “way overboard” and could “create issues” with East Hills residents.
She suggested a $100 fee per tree for up to three trees, $200 per tree for four to seven trees, and $400 per tree for eight or more trees.
“This is for a fund to grow over a certain amount of time and then use that money for plantings, and it may not always be a tree,” she said. “It’s not a one-for-one [tree replacement]. This is a fund and not a punishment if they didn’t replace it. This is in lieu of them not having the room on their property to having the trees.”
East Hills Deputy Mayor Emanuel Zuckerman disagreed with the notion of a sliding scale, saying tree replacement can often cost homeowners $450 per tree for a 3-inch caliber tree and that the law as proposed would be less costly to residents.
“If a homeowner is paying $300 for us to replace something comparable as far as that tree is concerned, they’re still getting a bargain for what they’re actually paying, even if it’s only two or three trees, because if they did have to replace two trees, it would cost them close to $1,000 to replace them.”
Trustees adjourned the hearing for continuation at a future meeting, but did not specify when that hearing would be scheduled.
The next East Hills trustees meeting is scheduled for July 15.
In other developments:
• The board unanimously approved a flat $2,500 fee for minor commercial filming within the village, amending its current law to allow crews of up to three people to film indoors for up to eight days. On one of those days, crews would be allowed to film outdoors.
The law amends its previous law that required a $1,000 fee for the first day and a $1,500 fee for each day after that.
Crews will have to sign an affidavit pledging how many days they’d spend filming, Burton said.
The law was proposed, he said, to provide financial flexibility for crews with limited filming budgets.
