Tree Law is In Effect
Tree Law is In Effect
Did the City of Evanston rush to cut down trees before their own ordinance went into effect? Also a new dataset about donations to the Mayor.
Yesterday I was trying to do work while stewing about the City cutting down the tree with the baby woodpeckers, when a press release arrives in my inbox:
Wait, what!?
The press release is a reminder that today June 1, 2024, the new Tree Preservation ordinance (aka “Tree Law”) goes into effect.
Starting Saturday, June 1, a Tree Preservation Permit will be required to protect trees on private property during construction. Tree removal is permitted in cases where the tree is dead, poses a significant risk to people or property, is invasive, or is expected to fail imminently. The permit request form should outline the reason for the removal and can be submitted by either the property owner or the contractor. An arborist from the city will review the permit request, conduct a site visit if necessary, and respond within 14 days. Emergency removals are allowed as specified on the webpage and in the Tree Canopy Preservation Policy.
This policy, which passed City Council 8-0 on September 11, 2023 amends the city code to include both public and private trees.
Tree Preservation Ordinance
As of today (After June 1, 2024), basically any activity within 25 feet of a Protected Tree will require an $80 permit from the City of Evanston and take two weeks. This includes excavating, digging, compacting, boring, and other construction or building activities within 25 feet of the trunk of any tree. Specific permits like grading, building, sewerage, water, plumbing, etc., also fall under this category.
Trees on private property with a diameter of 6 inches or greater are subject to Tree Law requirements. For public trees, a diameter of 2 inches or greater applies. Tree Law permits are required for all city-led projects which have been reviewed by the Public Services Bureau, but all permit fees are waived.
Tree Law divides trees into categories based on their type and diameter. You can read it in the City’s labyrinthine Tree Canopy Preservation Policy.
If you fail to secure a permit, there is a fine. If you remove or damage a protected tree there are fines. If you store equipment on a parkway (?) there is a fine. And these fines will compound for each day a violation occurs.
Tree Replacement Required After Today!
As of today, one of the big changes is the addition of a requirement that protected trees that are removed (for any reason) be “mitigated” - either replaced in situ or at a different location on the property. There are a couple of equations based on the category of tree being removed, the diameter of the tree, and so on. Again, this ordinance applies to both private and public trees.
I have to wonder - did the City prioritize removing the Woodpecker Tree yesterday (ie the day before Tree Law) in order to avoid compliance with their own law? If the City knocked down that tree today, they’be required to mitigate and replace the tree. But that wasn’t true yesterday. The real losers in all this? The baby woodpeckers.
New Datasets Available
Unrelated to Tree Law, I have started working on new datasets available related to City issues. The first dataset is a list of political donations made to the campaign committee for Mayor Biss. I will be making this list available for all city council members and will probably have some kind of searchable tool by election season.
One interesting finding: On 4/21/2024, Mayor Biss, who hasn’t stated whether he is running for anything, reported a $5,000 donation from the Carpenters Union. This was his first such donation from this Union and comes six months after Mayor Biss was the tie-breaking vote on the $800 million dollar Northwestern Football Stadium - surely a windfall for the local trade unions.
Various other local rich people donate off-cycle to Mayor Biss, including two residents of the tiny street by the lake (Edgemere Court) that I wrote about the other day.
Let's not forget, the City hired a tree cop to enforce the Tree Law, so there's that too.
One of the reasons I chose to live in Evanston rather than some godforsaken subdivision is that I wouldn't have to deal with a HOA that would tell me what I could and couldn't do with my property. Instead, we have a City that is becoming an enormous HOA.
Like George Washington, I cannot tell a lie. I hired some random guys to chop down an enormous apple tree in my yard and I didn’t ask or tell no one. Except you guys now. I ripped out another tree because I thought it was stupid where it was. But funnily enough, when I asked the COE to plant a tree in front of my house on the parkway, they said there was not enough room. Even though an arborist said it would be fine. After all, trees grow close to one another all the time in the wild. I don’t want this city telling me what to do on my property- I am thankful I don’t have busybody neighbors who call 911 on the leaf blowers or me, for hiring unskilled labor to fell a huge tree sans permit. And for Pete’s sake- would it have killed the city to have waited 3 weeks for the woodpeckers to fledge?