Shade Tree Commission
Brief History of Shade Tree Commission
In the early 1900’s,
Ridgewood was growing as a commuting community.
Most of the area was farmland with few trees. The Village government appointed a Commission
for the purpose of planting trees in the business area and eventually the
surrounding streets. Thousands of trees
were planted over the years. At one
point over 50 town employees worked on Shade Tree projects.
For decades, shade trees
and plantings were the purview of the Shade Tree Commission. However; in 1964
the structure of Village government was changed and the Shade Tree Commission
was eliminated. By the 1980’s, shade
tree responsibility was folded into the Parks and Recreation Department. Ridgewood was designated a Tree City, which
meant it should have a Shade Tree Department as well as appropriate ordinance,
but less attention was paid to trees.
REAC (Ridgewood
Environmental Advisory Committee) discussed this problem, researched the
Village’s ordinance, noticed how out of date it was, and decided to look at
other towns’ ordinances. After one year,
a large study was presented to the Council for their comments. A Shade Tree Commission was also proposed,
and presented to the Council. In 2014 the Council agreed to appoint the Shade
Tree Commission. The commission is in
the process of reinvigorating interest, appreciation and investment in Shade Trees in Ridgewood.