Florence residents upset with tree removal

FLORENCE If a tree falls in the township, does anyone hear it?

The residents of Boulevard Street sure do, but they feel local officials are deaf to their concerns.

The municipality has been removing trees as part of its project to repave the street and fix curbs and sidewalks. It received a grant for the work, which includes Boulevard Street from Front to Fifth streets.

John T. Smith, who has lived on Boulevard Street for 47 years, said the township is removing a lot of old trees that give the street its character. According to resident David Dimon, as many as 27 trees have been taken out.

After hearing residents concerns, Mayor Craig Wilkie, Township Councilman Jerry Sandusky, Township Engineer Anthony LaRosa and Assistant Township Administrator Tom Sahol met with homeowners to discuss the project.

Smith was not satisfied with the response he got.

The tree removal has destroyed the character of the street, he said.

Smith believes municipal workers are chopping down the trees, some taller than the three-story Victorian homes that line the neighborhood, because they dont want to work around them.

But after a professional arborist surveyed the area and reported that a number of trees were diseased, the township had no choice but to cut them down, officials said.

The trees are in such a state of decline that, in all likelihood in the very near future, we could see a failure of the tree, Sahol said. While the work is taking place, the opportunity is now to remove these safety hazards so that we can reinstall as many trees as possible to give the character of Boulevard Street back to what it should be.

Read this article:
Florence residents upset with tree removal