Meeting Time
The Shade Tree Commission meets the third Monday of each month at 7:30 pm in Burkart Hall at 56 Keeley Avenue.
Purpose
The Shade Tree Commission advises Borough Council on all matters having an impact on the Borough’s shade trees, which are defined as any woody plants planted in the public rights-of-way along the Borough’s streets and sidewalks.
Responsibilities
- Establish shade tree regulations (see below), including standards for the pruning and planting of shade trees, and the removal of hazard shade trees, in the Borough.
- Establish a list of shade trees permitted to be planted in the Borough.
- Inventory existing shade trees in the Borough.
- Create a Community Tree Plan and Community Tree Education Program.
- Coordinate with the Borough’s Parks & Rec Committee on the Borough’s Arbor Day celebration.
- Make recommendations regarding the employment of people to make and enforce regulations for the care and protection of the Borough’s shade trees.
- Review all applications for subdivision and land development and recommend to Council the approval or denial of such applications, on the basis of compliance with the Borough’s shade tree regulations.
- Oversee the maintenance of the Butler Ave. tree islands (assumed responsibility)
- Serve as the Borough’s link to PHS Tree Tenders and Tree City USA (assumed responsibility)
- Establish streetscape regulations and standards for streetscape amenities, with the approval of Borough Council.
Membership
The Shade Tree Commission shall be comprised of five (5) members who must be residents of the Borough. Borough Council may appoint one Council member to serve as a liaison to this commission and this liaison may serve as one of the five voting members.
Commission Members
Council Liaison: Peter LaMontagne
Chair: Jackie D’Agostino (2022)
Vice-Chair: Diann Smith
Secretary: Marge Eberz (2023)
Members:
- Diann Smith
- Vacant (2026)
Agendas and Minutes
Shade Tree Regulations
- The maintenance, care, or removal of any Borough shade tree is the responsibility of the property owner on whose property the shade tree is located or whose property abuts the right-of-way in which the shade tree is located.
- Maintenance of shade trees within the public right-of-way shall occur in compliance with the Borough’s shade tree regulations. Any cutting, pruning, breaking, affixing a foreign object to, or in any way injuring a shade tree within the public right-of-way is a violation of those regulations.
- No person shall plant a shade tree with any public right-of-way without having first obtained the approval of the STC and a permit from Borough Council.
- No person shall remove a shade tree within any public right-of way without having first obtained a permit from the Borough.
- All mature shade trees must be kept trimmed to a minimum branching height of ten feet, or if required by Borough Council, at an even greater height clearance to eliminate traffic and other hazards.
- The STC has the power to direct property owners to correct, within ten days, any health or safety hazards caused by a shade tree. Should a property owner fail to have the required work done, the STC may recommend to Borough Council that the Borough have the required work done at the property owner’s expense.
- Whenever a shade tree is planted within ten feet of a curb or public sidewalk, a root barrier of a type approved by the STC, must be installed.
