The most important effects for Newton neighborhoods will be cleaner air, fewer heat islands, reduced flooding, and improved public health. There will also be fewer tax dollars spent on heating and cooling, resurfacing roads, and other climate-related problems.

We had many days over 90 degrees F this summer, and we know it's going to get worse. Whether we actually stop destruction of tree canopies (both urban and forest) will influence how much worse it's going to get for all of us as a community.

For individual homeowners, their own trees will be protected from damage from construction on abutting lots. Neighbors to development properties should find more boundary trees preserved – trees that do not affect the footprint of new construction.

State Senator Cindy Creem reminds us how important trees are for every neighborhood:

For decades, the cities and towns of the Commonwealth have lost thousands of street trees worth millions of dollars, from air pollution, drought, neglect, and development. And as climate change brings heat waves that are more frequent and more intense, these heat disparities could grow worse. That’s why the state needs to step in and to help municipalities rebuild tree canopies and protect what’s left, particularly in disproportionately impacted communities and other areas with low tree cover.

Yes. The best practices of Green Housing–called “low-impact development” and recommended in a 2018 City report–include planning construction on any individual site around existing Green Infrastructure, notably trees. (See the City of Newton’s 2018 “Climate Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation and Resiliency Action Plan,” pp. 58-59.)

We agree with Senator Ed Markey: "While we invest in new trees, we can’t cut down mature trees because mature trees store more carbon and provide relief from the urban heat island effect." We can – and must – have both trees and housing.

Does increased tree protection limit the ability to build affordable housing in Newton?

No. Preserving trees will have less impact on affordable housing than the electrification and other requirements in the City’s proposed 2022 Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance.

The 2024 Tree Ordinance did NOT make changes to 40B projects (with 20 % or more affordable housing). The state gives the Zoning Board of Appeals (which reviews and approves 40 B projects) the ability to waive any local regulations.

For special permit projects, which may or may not include affordable housing, current practice is that the City Council routinely makes compliance with the Tree Preservation Ordinance a condition of special permits. The Programs & Services Committee declined to include language in the 2024 Ordinance to make this custom explicit.

No one is suggesting that dense housing be torn down or prevented.

Neighborhoods with greater wealth and social advantages have more trees and all of the health benefits that trees provide. This is evident even in Newton. Compare tree canopy cover for different neighborhoods in Newton:

• Nonantum has 53% of the tree canopy that Waban and Chestnut Hill have.

• Newtonville has 59% of the tree canopy that Waban and Chestnut Hill have.

• Auburndale, Newton Upper Falls & Newton Corner have 76% of the tree canopy that Waban and Chestnut Hill have.

• And we are losing massive amounts of tree canopy even in Waban & Chestnut Hill.

There are Environmental Justice neighborhoods within Nonantum, West Newton, Newton Corner, Newton Upper Falls, and Oak Hill. See the Massachusetts 2020 Environmental Justice Populations Map.

Cambridge, MA passed an ordinance in 2021 to protect trees 6 inches in diameter and larger on all properties. Developers must pay at least $5,000 and residents in certified low-income categories pay only 10% of required fees. Trees that are certified dead, diseased, or dangerous do not require fees or replacement. There has been no legal challenge to this ordinance.

Note that within Massachusetts, property owners may cut protected trees if they provide replacement trees and/or payment.

Other states (such as Illinois) actually prohibit the cutting of some trees by private property owners.

• Watch the 2022 webinar "A Livable Commonwealth: Trees as a Public Good": https://tinyurl.com/TreesPG-2022-webinar

• United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Urban Trees Are Key to Global Biodiversity: https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2022-12/COP15_infographic_final.pdf

• Arbor Day Foundation, Tree Facts: https://www.arborday.org/trees/treefacts/

• Arbor Day Foundation, National Tree Benefit Calculator: https://www.arborday.org/calculator/

• Read about Green Heart Louisville, a grant-funded study to rigorously and scientifically assess the impact of green space on air quality and health in urban communities, https://greenheartlouisville.com/learn/