Poor Old Mrs. Jones

The West Orange Council Chambers were quite full tonight as residents protesting the weakening of the Tree Ordinance politely made their case for a stronger ordinance.... and listened to the Council attempt to explain their "dilemma".

The presentations of several in the audience were quite impressive. There was the mention of Mayor McKeon having supported the Kyoto Accord to reduce green house gases. And here is Mayor McKeon now backing more and more development and tree removal every day in his own town!

There was also the very visual presentation of a tree trunk which was used to demonstrate how trees absorb stormwater runoff. Were the council not so determined to keep the evening short, it could have been mentioned that trees save their host city millions of dollars in infrastructure costs.

But the confluence for the evening was the Council offering as rationale for this diluted and quite useless ordinance the fact that there are two opposing needs: the need to protect individual property owners' rights and the need to preserve the township's trees.

Even if this split in needs were not the ostensible rationale for the Council not having any tree ordinance in place for almost a year, the reasoning strains credibility for all of us watching this process unfold.

In previous discussions, the Council spoke of the poor woman who has neither health, nor youthful mobility, nor monetary resources to appeal if she needed to take down a tree and the ordinance got in her way. Poor Old Mrs. Jones.

Yet, Paul Tractenberg in his presentation, spoke of much more onerous, expensive and confusing ordinances that would necessitate that Mrs. Jones spend time and money she does not have to hold a garage sale, dispose of her leaves or have her chimney relined. Professor Tractenberg's argument went right to the core of the Council explanation of this anemic ordinance. Why does the town council feel so strongly for Mrs. Jones if her hardship concerns removal of a tree, but demands that she go through a rigorous process if she wants to invite her neighbors to pick over her discarded treasures?

It really makes no sense.

And it totally defies logic that there are people in West Orange, who knowing all the facts, would advocate for the diluted tree ordinance that the council would obviously gladly accept. In its absolute application, this ordinance would preserve no trees at all.

Are we really to believe that the Council has heard from legions of Mrs. Jones' asking the Council's intervention to keep the tree ordinance toothless? Hard to believe.

But the Council proffers this moral conundrum as the reason the ordinance has taken 12 months to craft, and now has everyone going back to the drawing boards once again to come up with yet one more ordinance, one more solution.

A solution indicates that there is a problem. Sorry, Township Council. There really is no problem here except for what ever tacit agreement you made with the developers and/or with the Mayor to make certain that nothing and no one gets in the way of progress.

Please don't take your constituents for a bunch of fools. You have made yourselves as transparent as Casper, and we are seeing right through you.

Shark Infested Waters

Hopes, if not dashed, are seriously subdued. On June 2, with the stalwart environmentalists and concerned citizens sitting in attendance, the West Orange Township Council completed crafting an ordinance that would protect the town's trees. The ordinance was the result of nearly 11 months of collaboration, often frustrating and always challenging. The resulting ordinance was not perfect, but as stated previously, it was good enough. Even more than good enough given that for those 11 months West Orange had no protective ordinance at all.

We had hope as we left the Council chambers on the night of June 2 that the ordinance would be kept as is. We also had assurance from the Council members that the language unanimously accepted that night would be the language introduced for final reading.

Just 8 nights later, on June 10----the night of a religious holiday when many of the regulars could not be in attendance---- the council sliced and diced the ordinance, literally making it gutless in fending off development encroachment. Their definition of what a tree is in terms of size would leave a good number of trees throughout the township on the chopping block as they would be too small to be considered a tree. And almost every protective phrase still remaining from the ordinance passed on June 2 now has the caveat "to the greatest extent possible". This language leaves every thing open to interpretation. No tree stands a chance.

One powerful example of the folly of the new language suggested and adopted on the night of June 10 is the steep slope provision edit. The new language will now allow for trees to be removed on slopes FIVE TIMES steeper than the hill on Route 280.

Now any one who travels 280 with any regularity, and especially so when that hill is snow or ice covered, knows that the angle of that slope is formidable. Imagine then, if you will, a slope FIVE TIMES that angle now bereft of trees. Then imagine living down from the slope where all those trees have been removed. Visions of landslides no doubt spring to mind, and that is no dramatization. That no doubt will occur if this ordinance, now clearly a vehicle to invite and allow totally irresponsible development, comes to fruition.

And the ordinance will come to fruition unless there is full scale community turn out on June 24 for the 6:30 p.m discussion.

We need to be there en masse on June 24 to protest the edits that were made virtually behind the backs of those concerned with tree preservation and quality of life in West Orange.

We need to be there to protest the clearly evident bias on the part of town council members who are working on behalf of outside development corporations and not in accordance with their own constituencies. And most of all we need to be there to say we will no longer tolerate the duplicitous, deceptive, underhanded actions that have been taken with the turn-around language on this ordinance.

Are the council members a bunch of untrustworthy, opportunistic sharks looking for the moment to close in and make a kill that benefits them and puts every tree and every person in West Orange in peril?

I have seen no evidence that they are not, and if I have to swim in these waters as a town resident, you can bet I will arm myself. Words are my armament. I hope you will add your own on June 24 at 6:30 sharp.

Hope Springs Anew

On the night of June 2 after more than 6 hours of discussion and deliberation, and with some very animated input from Jerome Sharfman, the West Orange Township Council came to a unanimous agreement on a tree ordinance. Perhaps it is not a perfect ordinance, but it is a good ordinance, and good is good enough at this point.

The final step in making it come to fruition will take place on June 24 at the Council meeting when the Council members will hear from the community at large as to comments on the ordinance.

It is important that everyone in this town come to that meeting on June 24 and support the ordinance as it is written. With a good show of support, the ordinance should be accepted and adopted that night, ending the jeopardy entailed in there being no ordinance at all in place. We are hopeful that this 11 month struggle to get a protective tree ordinance in place will be over with a most positive outcome!