Newton’s Conservation Commission discussed tree replacement guidelines and stormwater maintenance at their meeting Thursday, reviewing whether guideline changes are necessary.

Newton Chief Environmental Planner Jennifer Steel explained that when the commission established its tree replacement guidelines, it did so in consideration of the city’s previous tree ordinance. 

The city has since updated its ordinance to require applicants to identify and address trees that are 6 feet or greater in diameter at breast height, so Steele discussed revising the tree replacement guidelines to mesh with the updated ordinance. 

“The city has updated its tree ordinance and changed the minimum threshold for trees,” said Steel. “They have to be identified on a plan and mitigated from 8 inches in diameter at breast height to 6 inches in diameter at breast height.”

Committee Chair Daniel Green questioned whether there had been any problems with the current guidelines to warrant changing them. 

Commission member Kathryn Cade said that it might be easier to streamline the process and make the guidelines match the ordinance, considering city regulations are already hard for many citizens to navigate. 

“People have so much trouble dealing with city regs and inconsistencies and city regs, and I would be inclined to just align ours with the city’s tree ordinance,” said Cade. “That way, people don’t have to sort of worry about it. I think it just eliminates an unnecessary point of confusion.”

Commission members then discussed what a change would entail for the trees’ survival, and Green emphasized that he wouldn’t recommend making the change just to make the process easier. 

“I wouldn’t change our regs if that makes it easier for folks, so that they just have one plan,” said Green.

The commission then reviewed a request for Determination of Applicability on the Department of Public Works’ (DPW) road, water, sewer, and stormwater maintenance, which has the commission review whether the Wetlands Protection Act applies to a site or proposed activity in a wetland area.

“The types of projects that I’m suggesting are hand maintenance of older stormwater infrastructure that doesn’t qualify for the exemption because they are too old,” said Steel. “It reads an awful lot like an order of conditions, but I think given those conditions, we are allowed to condition a determination for work in these human-altered areas.”

Commission member Robert Jampol agreed with the idea of conditioning a determination for work in human-altered areas, although he highlighted that the DPW may not be happy with their decision.

“My real goal is to try to establish better lines of communication between DPW and our office, so that we’re really working in partnership,” Steel said. “I wanted to make sure that I was offering them something that had a pretty much guaranteed positive outcome.”