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Man Faces Fine For Pruning Tree (only in Massachusetts)
Yahoo News ^ | Feb 3,2007

Posted on 02/04/2007 6:54:18 AM PST by AmericanMade1776

A Worcester property owner is facing a stiff fine after confusion over a city order to clean up a vacant lot brought about the sad end of a 200-year-old silver maple tree.

NewsCenter 5's Jim Boyd reported that an elegant shade tree once stood at the corner of Carver and Belmont streets in Worcester, at the edge of a vacant lot belonging to businessman Anthony Mallozzi.

In September 2005, Worcester officials denied Mallozzi's request to remove tree, insisting city workers would instead prune it. The city did no work on the tree. Last month, Mallozzi paid to have the tree pruned.

That tree was healthy, vigorous and did not need the level of pruning that Mr. Mallozzi undertook," Worcester City Manager Michael O'Brien said.

Mallozzi argued the tree was dying from termite infestation. He took pictures of rotted limbs, and he said the city's Department of Health and Human Services sent him a letter, which he interpreted to mean that he should trim the tree.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; US: Massachusetts
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To: MindBender26

My last house had an (unexercised) easement twenty feet from the property line in a area that required forty+plus foot setbacks for new development. The town could have widened the street by forty feet by exercising the easement on both sides of the street. Some of the main routes in that town were two lane roads, with older houses only a few from the road. It would be impossible to widen the road without knocking down some older houses.

They actually burned down an eighteenth century house as practice for the fire department when they couldn't get anyone to move it. They needed to replace a bridge over a railroad line. The old bridge had been condemned and the railroad (Boston & Maine), which owned and maintained it, wanted to build a taller bridge which would accomodate freight trains, the town didn't want freight trains coming through town. While they wrangled a major N/S commuter thoroughfare (Route 27) was detoured through side streets acrossing a grade crossing.


41 posted on 02/04/2007 7:43:09 AM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (When I search out the massed wheeling circles of the stars, my feet no longer touch the earth)
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To: Moonman62

I agree with all you say regarding protections of trees, but...that is still not the point.

The point is...this guy destroyed this tree for whatever reason, and...it was simply not his to destroy.

And it is not being represented that way on this thread.


42 posted on 02/04/2007 7:44:37 AM PST by rlmorel (Islamofacism: It is all fun and games until someone puts an eye out. Or chops off a head.)
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To: AmericanMade1776

Oh, I know about beating back a jungle, lol. Specific to the crepe myrtle thing, though, the growth habit and appearance of the bush or tree (depending upon the variety) is completely different, depending upon how you prune it. Radical pruning produces something that appears almost like a palm tree, with fronds, and tremendous blooms bunched like grapes. If you have a scented variety, like Natchez, it's awesome at night, with the scent on the breeze. There's nothing wrong with doing this, it's been done a long, long time, especially in more formal settings. It just looks less appealing in winter, like stalks. And, the city doesn't like stalks, apparently. History has nothing to do with it.


43 posted on 02/04/2007 7:47:06 AM PST by RegulatorCountry
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To: AmericanMade1776
Silver Maple.

Worst. Tree. Ever.

44 posted on 02/04/2007 7:48:57 AM PST by Semper911 ("We can stand here like the French, or we can do something about it." -Marge Simpson)
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To: rlmorel

I agree. He probably violated the law.


45 posted on 02/04/2007 7:49:33 AM PST by Moonman62 (The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
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To: AmericanMade1776
Thanks for the link.

I watched the video and that provided me with two details misreported in the article:

1. The tree is on the planter strip, not on Mr. Mallozzi's property.

2. The statement by the City Manager Michael O'Brien was reported incorrectly. In the video he says: "We never direct private property owners to maintain or manage PUBLIC property. That's our responsibility,"

This understandably figures into the confusion of some of the comments here.

This is going to be an expensive lesson in fighting bureaucratic bullspit for Mr. Mallozzi. The tree was probably four to five times the appropriate size for the location, was old and diseased, and needed to come down. But Mr. Mallozzi didn't have permission to do so. Now he has to pay the price.

If it were me, I would adopt the leftist strategy of "Better to ask forgiveness that seek permission" that is so popular today. I would offer to pay to remove the hulk of the tree and replace it with two (or whatever) new similar trees named in honor of MLK, or osama obama or someone who is some local lefty celebrity. They'll be so impressed they'll overlook his attempt at tree jihad...
46 posted on 02/04/2007 7:50:21 AM PST by rockrr (Never argue with a man who buys ammo in bulk...)
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To: AmericanMade1776
One thing for sure, That tree has been eliminated.

He could still sell the rest of it for cordwood.

47 posted on 02/04/2007 7:51:19 AM PST by Hacksaw (Appalachian by the grace of God!)
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To: Moonman62
No it isn't. It's pollarding. It looks like the branches have not been cut off at the correct angles or distances but the tree is not necessarily dead. It is winter, so it's not so bad. The tree may produce lots of young growth in about a year's time and nicely recover later on; it is then that you need to prune it regularly as the growth will be small and the branches may become too crowded, thus doing damage to themselves and the tree. This practice - normally executed more expertly - is practiced in the places where the size of a tree becomes a problem.
48 posted on 02/04/2007 7:52:10 AM PST by aliquis
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To: Right Wing Assault
"It was not his tree. The right of way of roads in most cities includes the pavement, the land between the road and the sidewalk (called the tree lawn in some places), the sidewalk, and a few inches beyond the sidewalk belong to the city. If you look up in city records, they will tell you the width of the street is much bigger than the pavement. Your property begins at the surveyor's stakes (if any), which is where the right of way ends."

In my state (MI) you own and are taxed to the center of the roadway. The city,county, state, have access rights to the use of 33 feet from the centerline but they own nothing including trees.

I can cut anything I want. The county can cut or trim anything that interferes with the right of way but even then you own the timber or firewood.

It may be different in other states.
49 posted on 02/04/2007 7:52:39 AM PST by Beagle8U (Thompson / Hunter 2008)
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To: BenLurkin

In the Santa Clarita Valley one cannot prune an oak anywhere on one's property without an inspection and permit...and under no circumstances can one remove an oak without "permission".


50 posted on 02/04/2007 7:59:11 AM PST by ErnBatavia (Forward this to your 10 very best friends....)
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To: BenLurkin
He can cut it down if he wants to, right?

Been living on Mars the past 30 years, have we?

Here in California, we have "Heritage Trees." They don't belong to the property owner. They are somehow communal or state property and woe to you if you so much as stare cross-eyed at such a hallowed object! The old Eucalyptus trees in our company parking lot are being pruned right now and a number of them bear a special yellow banner "HERITAGE TREE". It's laughable.

51 posted on 02/04/2007 8:02:04 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: AmericanMade1776
One thing for sure, That tree has been eliminated.

Looks like a subliminal message to me.

_______________________

NewsCenter 5's Jim Boyd reported that an elegant shade tree once stood at the corner of Carver and Belmont streets in Worcester, at the edge of a vacant lot belonging to businessman Anthony Mallozzi.

If you look close enough at the tree picture Anthony set up another private property message for Worcester officials at the corner of Carver and Belmont streets.


52 posted on 02/04/2007 8:02:59 AM PST by Major_Risktaker
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To: Trteamer
A friend decided to take no chances. He put a little charge in the stump of the tree.

The good news! It did the job.

The bad news!! The vibrations took out his picture window!!

53 posted on 02/04/2007 8:08:15 AM PST by Sacajaweau
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To: rlmorel

It just looks to me like he had all of the parts that overhung the sidewalks and street removed, in compliance with the Health Dep'ts order. He saw his opportunaity and he took it, being understandably frustrated with the city's failure to maintain the tree properly.

As bad as it looks, I am looking out my front door at an only slightly smaller tree across the street that the County had pruned, pretty much to the same extent, to prevent encroachment on power lines and danger to my neighbor's house. I didn't think it would live, but it has sprouted a few new limbs and seems to be doing okay, though it's ugly as sin.

I'm not sure which is worse - the way they mutilated that tree, or the fact that many of my neighbors have had the very large old trees in front of their houses totally removed by the County, claiming that they posed a danger to their homes. The result is that Main Street, which used to be tree-lined, has very few trees left. I can't say I like the way it looks.

I know that having to rely on the County to deal with streetside trees has been a major annoyance to many of my neighbors, who have had to wait for a LONG time before the County got around to doing anything about the trees. In fact, I'm sure that's why most of them chose to simply have their trees removed - because the County couldn't be counted on to maintain them properly.

In any event though we all know that the trees (the few remaining) are on the public easement and thus we cannot removed them ourselves.


54 posted on 02/04/2007 8:11:39 AM PST by BMIC
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To: BMIC

LOL. That tree was not "pruned". It was delimbed to kill it in a way that is done before a tree is to be cut down.


55 posted on 02/04/2007 8:14:06 AM PST by rlmorel (Islamofacism: It is all fun and games until someone puts an eye out. Or chops off a head.)
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To: AmericanMade1776
The area of Travis county I live in, has an ordinance that prohibits me from cutting any ashe juniper (mountain cedar) that is over eight inch diameter at the four foot level above the ground. UNLESS it is in the footprint of a new house under construction. If that is the case, you have to get a city permit to remove the tree. We cannot cut them off at the ground or trim anything over the eight inch diameter, except dead limbs.

One of her cedar trees died several years ago, and it was just over seven inches diameter. I made sure it wasn't too large, because we aren't allowed to cut dead trees, unless all the bark is gone. A protected bird, the golden cheeked warbler, uses the bark for it's nests.

Smaller trees can be cut without a permit. If I had any such cedar trees, they would already be gone. My neighbor still has two live cedar trees left between our homes. Each year, I have to trim the limbs off my roof.

56 posted on 02/04/2007 8:15:53 AM PST by Arrowhead1952 (Global warming = A lie told often enough, is eventually accepted as the truth.)
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To: RegulatorCountry

Best not to plant the Crepe Myrtle if you can not control what happens to them on your property.


57 posted on 02/04/2007 8:16:21 AM PST by AmericanMade1776
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To: Right Wing Assault

A little close to the driveway? Yup, and it's my driveway. I trim the branches right up to the property line, LOL! I don't even ask.


58 posted on 02/04/2007 8:16:48 AM PST by Trteamer ( (Eat Meat, Wear Fur, Own Guns, FReep Leftists, Drive an SUV, Drill A.N.W.R., Drill the Gulf, Vote)
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To: Major_Risktaker
Funny, it was just the way the trimming wound up.

Subliminal or in plain sight, great!

No wonder Massachusetts residents are moving to the south and western states.

59 posted on 02/04/2007 8:18:20 AM PST by TYVets (God so loved the world he didn't send a committee)
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To: AmericanMade1776
(The fine for this tree) is $6,800 to replace the tree," Mallozzi said.

Couldn't the city just order a new one from Burpees' for $29.99?

60 posted on 02/04/2007 8:28:08 AM PST by Virginia Ridgerunner ("Si vis pacem para bellum")
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