Somerville Urban Forestry Committee Approves Memo to Preserve 22 Pine Trees at Development Site

Other Committee · Meeting of May 7, 2026

Somerville's Urban Forestry Committee unanimously approved a memo urging preservation of 22 mature pine trees threatened by the redevelopment of 90 Washington Street in East Somerville. Meeting remotely on May 7, the committee — co-chaired by Michael Hendricks and Leah Grossman, with data compiled by Senior Urban Forestry and Landscape Planner Vanessa Bukili — directed the memo to the Somerville Redevelopment Authority and City Council, which was set to hold an executive session on the competing proposals the following Monday. The trees, estimated at 50 to 75 years old and ranging from 10 to 20 inches in diameter, sit on a landscaped berm in East Somerville, the ward with the city's lowest canopy cover at approximately 8 percent and its worst air quality.

The committee voted to copy the Office of Sustainability and Environment, the Conservation Commission, and the mayor's office, and debated softening language that member Allison Bernard warned could be "thrown back" at the committee to justify tree removal. The committee also provisionally approved an invasive species awareness poster for distribution at Arbor Day at Lincoln Park the following day.

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Source: the Other Committee meeting of May 7, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.