Updated 2/4/2021
Protect Street/Roadside Trees In Your Community
Some actions you can take to protect your community's tree canopy from possibly harmful utility pruning and removal:
SEE Diagram of Local Action for a schematic illustration of public officials and community groups.
1. Communicate with and/or arrange a meeting with your municipal tree warden and ask him or her to ensure that no healthy non-hazardous trees or shrubs are removed and that they are pruned in accordance with professional pruning standards to preserve their health and structural integrity. All pruning and removal must be necessary for utility service reliability. (Work with a group or form group to do so, if possible. See 3 below.) A permit is required from a tree warden or DOT before any pruning or removal takes place. The tree warden has the power to refuse a permit to prune or remove any tree within the public right-of-way, to limit the pruning, and place conditions on the pruning and removal, subject to appeal by the utility to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA). The application for the permit and the permit issued for pruning and removal should be in writing and should specify the work to be done. (DOT permits are required on state highways, and it is uncertain whether local officials or residents can influence the DOT permit process.) Find your tree warden: Call or city or town hall or consult the following:
List of Tree Wardens in Every CT City, Town or Borough
2. Communicate with and/or arrange a meeting with your chief elected official (mayor, first selectman, borough warden), and other elected and appointed officials in your municipality to express your positions, individually, as part of a group or as a coalition of groups, on utility tree pruning and removal plans. (See Diagram for Local Action.) Request that the chief elected official ask for a public meeting with the utility regarding its plans. If there is a public meeting, make sure it is well attended by concerned citizens and groups.
3. Let your neighbors and friends know about planned or possible tree pruning and removal by a utility, and about their right to object or request a modification (see above). Inform neighborhood groups and existing community organizations, or form new groups, to explore the issues and decide on a course of action. Consider using a brochure and/or flyer.
4. Arrange meetings with the utility to learn about their plans and ask them questions.
5. Even if pruning and removal is not yet scheduled, if there are areas of particular concern, TAKE PHOTOS NOW of the roadside/street trees as evidence in the event that your trees are pruned or removed without a permit, without notice and an opportunity to object, or contrary to an agreement reached not to remove a tree or to prune it in a particular way. (Such an agreement should be in writing.) See also, Damages and Penalties for Unauthorized Pruning and Removal of Trees and Shrubs.
6. Work to draft and adopt an ordinance to govern utility tree pruning and removal and/or the establishment of tree commissions. An ordinance can be based on tree warden regulations and also can govern planting, pruning and removal of trees by the municipality, apart from utility tree pruning and removal. Some towns and cities also have tree commissions. For examples of tree ordinances, commissions and related documents, see Tree Ordinances and Commissions.
List of Tree Wardens in Every CT City, Town or Borough
- Ensure that the tree warden posts all trees, including hazardous trees, scheduled for removal or substantial pruning, and holds a public meeting on such plans. Any person may appeal a decision by the tree warden to PURA following such a hearing. The tree warden has 3 days to decide and an appeal from the decision must be filed within ten calendar days of the decision. This is a different appeal process than that described in 4. below.
- Hazardous Trees: If a tree warden or DOT determines that a tree or branch in the public right-of-way is hazardous ("dead, extensively decayed or structurally weak"), the utility is not required to provide notice to a property owner. Before removing a hazardous tree or branch outside of the public right-of-way, the utility must make a reasonable attempt to notify the property owner of its plans three days in advance.
- State highways: The tree warden knows who should be contacted at the Department of Transportation regarding trees on state highways, and can help persuade the DOT to protect trees and shrubs in the DOT right-of-way.
2. Communicate with and/or arrange a meeting with your chief elected official (mayor, first selectman, borough warden), and other elected and appointed officials in your municipality to express your positions, individually, as part of a group or as a coalition of groups, on utility tree pruning and removal plans. (See Diagram for Local Action.) Request that the chief elected official ask for a public meeting with the utility regarding its plans. If there is a public meeting, make sure it is well attended by concerned citizens and groups.
3. Let your neighbors and friends know about planned or possible tree pruning and removal by a utility, and about their right to object or request a modification (see above). Inform neighborhood groups and existing community organizations, or form new groups, to explore the issues and decide on a course of action. Consider using a brochure and/or flyer.
4. Arrange meetings with the utility to learn about their plans and ask them questions.
5. Even if pruning and removal is not yet scheduled, if there are areas of particular concern, TAKE PHOTOS NOW of the roadside/street trees as evidence in the event that your trees are pruned or removed without a permit, without notice and an opportunity to object, or contrary to an agreement reached not to remove a tree or to prune it in a particular way. (Such an agreement should be in writing.) See also, Damages and Penalties for Unauthorized Pruning and Removal of Trees and Shrubs.
6. Work to draft and adopt an ordinance to govern utility tree pruning and removal and/or the establishment of tree commissions. An ordinance can be based on tree warden regulations and also can govern planting, pruning and removal of trees by the municipality, apart from utility tree pruning and removal. Some towns and cities also have tree commissions. For examples of tree ordinances, commissions and related documents, see Tree Ordinances and Commissions.