Contact Planning Office and ask them to alert Warren Spinner immediately!

Bill, when your office acknowledges an issue, can you tell us what action was taken? Once old trees are cut down, they can not be replaced. What is the procedure here? Warren Spinner is the city arborist. Thanks for quick action.

The police were called to this property on Saturday. Warren Spinner was notified by the police. We are waiting for details from that police report to determine what was witnessed and what action the authorities took. This incident was about 48 hours ago. We will update SeeClickFix watchers with the facts as we learn them.

Excellent! Thanks to all staff and city depts that cooperated in taking action. Special thanks to the person who cared enough to report it.

This is important to myself and a group of past/current tenants of handy court. We appreciate that the issue has been acknowledged.

OK, SeeClickFix at its best? Several City Depts working together to enforce city code BEFORE the trees were cut down? What we have not seen from the posters here is whether the trees were saved, and due process followed? Original poster, please update!

This old tree had half of its branches removed before it was almost cut down.

A few large trees removed. Quite possibly with good reason due to proximity to houses.

Unsightly clearing of a wooded area behind Handy Court. Note that this area is no where near the houses. It's possible that tree removal was stopped before the worst was done.

The trees were cut down before the report on SeeClickFix. Some were diseased like the one in this photo. Others were being examined today by the City Arborist. The property owner has been to the Department of Planning and Zoning today to clarify the scope of work.

We will post any permits, applications or zoning determinations when we are notified of any further action.

Thank you. I have learned that when we hear chain saws on Friday afternoon and over the weekend, there are violations occurring. City staff not available, no way to know if there is a permit. Lousy. When in doubt. STOP the cutting any way you can. Call the police, chain yourself to the tree!

So did I miss the page where it said private or public? Can't know the whole story here untill I know that. sometimes older trees need to be removed for many reasons, and yes, a lot more new ones planted. simple enough. but on private land (homes and farms) its not anyones business. and public lands should have some very good reasons before cutting.

@crusader99, I won't comment on the ethics or politics of thing (or chaining one's self to a tree.....)
but here's the current law:
http://www.burlingtonvt.gov/PZ/When-Do-I-Need-to-Apply-for-a-Zoning-Permit

"no development may be commenced within the city without a zoning permit issued by the administrative officer including but not limited to the following types of exterior and interior work:
-Tree removal involving six (6) or more trees, each of ten (10) inches or greater in caliper or the removal of ten (10) or more trees, each of which is three (3) inches or greater in caliper during any consecutive twelve (12) month period. Such land development shall require the advance approval of the DRB under the criteria set forth in Article 6, Part 2 hereof before a zoning permit may be issued."

Peter, Thank you for the fast response. Very interesting. was not referring to politics, but to the rights of the residents of the city of Burlington, to protect ourselves from abuse, with such things as excessive tree removal, bad sidewalks, graffti on buildings , littering, junk, etc, these are all different forms of our rights to be protected but also as to what the city can make a person do with say furniture on their porches etc. Thanks agian for all the great work you and the group are doing Peter. and I gather then that this main post must be a development company ....

Any resolution here?

This incident was investigated with the help of City Arborist Warren Spinner. Some trees were cut down as reported but we did not find that there was a zoning violation. Property owners are not required to have a zoning permit to cut down fewer than 6 trees which are 10 inches or greater in caliper. We did find trees like the ones in this photograph which were greater than 10 inches in caliper.

Tree calipers make a direct measurement of tree diameter. Calipers are held at chest
height (4 1/2 ft above ground, on uphill side of tree).

The property was checked over the weeks that followed to be sure no additional trees were cut. This was June 2014.

This was July 2014. No additional trees were cut. The area will continued to be monitored but the issue is closed.

Thanks for fixing this issue!