Belmont Select Board Sends Shade Tree Bylaw Back for Revisions Before Fall Town Meeting

BELMONT — July 13, 2026 — Belmont Select Board sends shade tree bylaw back to committee, authorizes liquor license delegation. The board, meeting for the first time under Chair Taylor Yates on July 13, spent the bulk of the evening on a proposed bylaw from the Shade Tree Committee that would require property owners to pay a mitigation fee of $375 per inch of trunk diameter for trees removed in connection with construction permits — a system modeled on Arlington's, which nets that town roughly $70,000 annually. Members raised concerns about property-rights pushback at town meeting, the 12-month retroactive look-back provision, administrative burden on the building department, and a tight timeline — the November 16 town meeting warrant is written in September. Vice Chair Carol Barbarian was designated as the Select Board's new liaison to help the committee revise the draft before any warrant submission. The board also voted unanimously to authorize Town Administrator Patrice Garvin to approve one-day liquor licenses through June 30, 2027, and heard that Belmont's net additional state aid for FY2026 totals $178,783 after county assessments — including a roughly $2.1 million MBTA charge — are subtracted from the gross increase. Police Chief Shane Smith reported that 53 applicants competed for open patrol positions, with six selected including two lateral hires averaging $38,000 in academy training savings each.