New Dewey Ordinance Protects Town’s Largest Trees

Owners Need Official Approval For Removal

By ROB KUNZIG

DEWEY BEACH — Dewey Beach commissioners recently moved to protect the town’s biggest trees, with strictures on removal and, in some cases, requiring an arborist’s approval to cut down a tree.

Planning and Zoning Vice Chairman David King said trees were vital to Dewey’s aesthetic appeal.
“I really do think most people in town like the trees, rather than a barren landscape with a bunch of buildings,” he said. Commissioner Diane Hanson agrees a little shade is nice during the hot summer months, but said the main aim of tree preservation is keeping the soil stable.

“They hold the sand in place,” she said. “This ordinance is more than just beautification.”

King said the measure was designed with larger trees in mind. Any tree with a trunk circumference of less than 20 inches can be removed at the property owner’s discretion; anything larger needs the approval of the town’s code enforcement official. Even then, the official is allowed to grant a permit only if the tree is shorter than 25 feet or endangering people or property.

“Maybe this will put a little peer pressure on people to preserve large trees,” King said.

Old trees cannot halt construction, King said. Removal is permitted if the tree stands in a new building’s footprint, or if rotting branches endanger people or property below.

He said Dewey’s north end is dominated by loblolly pines, towering conifers native to the Delmarva Peninsula. The Japanese black pine is considered an invasive species and requires no permit for removal.

The rules tighten around tree stands, defined as a cluster of five or more trees of related species. A member of a tree stand can be removed only if the stand spans less than 50 feet in all directions and all its trees are smaller than 25 inches in circumference.

If any tree has a trunk circumference greater than 40 inches, it may not be removed without a signed statement from a licensed arborist, commissioned at the owner’s expense. Planning and zoning Commissioner Chuck McKinney said the requirement was unfair to property owners and voted against the ordinance last October.

Hanson said trees that large are relatively uncommon in Dewey.

“It’s not like we’re asking them to hire an arborist for every little tree,” she said. “I don’t think it will be an excessive hardship.”

Should property owners feel wronged, King said they could bring their case before the board of adjustment. Should they take matters into their own hands, however, there are penalties: violating any part of the ordinance means a $500 fine. And property owners who destroy trees without following the regulations are obligated to replace them with a native species of comparable size.

King said he can’t imagine the board of adjustment will hear many hardship cases related to tree removal. Hanson agrees; residents have had plenty of time to raise a voice of opposition.

“This has been in the works for years, now,” Hanson said. “If people had any objections, we would have heard about it by now.”