Springfield Orders Law Department to Draft Woodland Ordinance After Two-Year Push

Town Board · Meeting of July 13, 2026

Springfield subcommittee orders law department to begin drafting a woodland ordinance to restrict clear-cutting on private land. The Sustainability and Environment Subcommittee, chaired by Counselor Davila, directed Attorney Ken Scheer of the city's Law Department to produce a draft ordinance based on a three-page summary document prepared by the Springfield Climate and Nature Solutions group, known as SCANS. The proposal would require permits for removal of six or more trees of at least six inches in diameter at breast height on private lots of 5,000 square feet or more that contain at least 4,000 square feet of woodland canopy, with fees of $50 per diameter inch flowing into the city's existing tree fund.

Davila said the two-year effort could not continue indefinitely: "We got to have a resolution on this either up or down." The subcommittee also tasked SCANS and City Forester Alex with producing a case study on what the fee schedule would cost a representative Springfield property owner, to be presented at a follow-up meeting set for July 28 at 11 a.m.

In the full story:

• Meeting Called to Order and Background
• Review of the SCANS Summary Document
• Case Study on Fee Impacts
• Developer and Tree-Removal Industry Outreach
• Direction to the Law Department
• Next Meeting and Scheduling
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,231 words

Source: the Town Board meeting of July 13, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.