At the July 20 Selectmen meeting LuAnn Bellantoni from Parking Services presented an amended traffic ordinance to include a no parking zone at 19 Sunshine Avenue (off Sound Beach Ave Ext).
Bellantoni said the no parking zone was necessary because the design and implementation of the sidewalk and curb accommodated a historic tree that the tree warden Dr. Greg Kramer ordered spared after a public hearing in May.
She said the new sidewalk is ADA compliant but resulted in narrowing the roadway.
She said parking services had not received any objections from residents who received notices of the proposed parking prohibition.
“I want to thank you all and DPW for listening to the residents there who really were passionate in their opinion about not chopping down that big tree,” Camillo said. “And coming to a solution to save that tree.”
All three selectmen voted in favor of the amendment to the traffic ordinance.
The situation arose after DPW installed sidewalks in the area of Sunshine, which is near ISD, and squeezed in a too-narrow sidewalk at 15 Sunshine that rose and fell over the White Oak’s roots and featured a guardrail.
Then, because the sidewalk was not ADA compliant, the department then proposed to take the tree down.
When the tree was posted, neighbors reacted swiftly, triggering a hearing.
It was in mid May when numerous neighbors and members of the Greenwich Tree Conservancy joined the hearing on Zoom and asked that the town come up with a creative solution that would provide an ADA compliant sidewalk and spare the majestic White Oak, which has a 50-inch trunk diameter (Quercus alba).
In addition to ruling that the tree be spared, Kramer ruled that the two Red Maples (Acer rubrum) of 26-inch trunk diameter and of 24-inch trunk diameter further down Sunshine Ave also be spared.
See also:
Zoom Meeting Draws Eager Support for Town Trees Marked for Removal
