Section 3. Except as provided by section five, public shade trees shall not be cut, trimmed or removed, in whole or in part, by any person other than the tree warden or his deputy, even if he be the owner of the fee in the land on which such tree is situated, except upon a permit in writing from said tree warden, nor shall they be cut down or removed by the tree warden or his deputy or other person without a public hearing and said tree warden or his deputy shall cause a notice of the time and place of such hearing thereof, which shall identify the size, type and location of the shade tree or trees to be cut down or removed, to be posted in two or more public places in the town and upon the tree at least seven days before such hearing and published in a newspaper of general circulation in the city or town once in each of two successive weeks, the first publication to be not less than seven days before the day of the hearing or if no such local newspaper exists then in accordance with the provisions of section six of chapter four; provided, however, that when a public hearing must be held under the provisions of this section and under section fifteen C of chapter forty prior to the cutting or removal of a tree, such hearings shall be consolidated into a single public hearing before the tree warden and the planning board, or if there is no planning board, the selectmen of a town or the city council of a city, and notice of such consolidated public hearing shall be given by the tree warden or his deputy as provided herein. Any person injured in his property by the action of the officers in charge of the public shade trees as to the trimming, cutting, removal or retention of any such tree, or as to the amount awarded to him for the same, may recover the damages, if any, which he has sustained, from the town under chapter seventy-nine.
Notes of Decisions
Twomey v. Commonwealth, 444 Mass. 58 (Mass. 2005).
· cites it 4× “The Commonwealth responded with a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, or, in the alternative, summary judgment, denying any obligation on its part to cut trees or bushes surrounding a sign on town property and asserting, moreover, that G. L. c. 87, §§ 3…”
Jones v. Town of Great Barrington, 174 N.E. 118 (Mass. 1930).
· cites it 2× “79, pursuant to the provisions of G. L. c. 87, § 3, to recover damages caused by the falling of a public shade tree upon his house, and this court held in an opinion reported in 269 Mass.”
Cody v. City of North Adams, 265 Mass. 65 (Mass. 1928).
· cites it 3× “It is further provided in this section, G. L. c. 87, § 3, that such a tree shall not be cut down or removed by the tree warden without a public hearing held.”
Jones v. Town of Great Barrington, 269 Mass. 202 (Mass. 1929).
· cites it 5× “79, in pursuance of the provisions of G. L. c. 87, § 3, to recover damages sustained by the petitioner by reason of a public shade tree falling upon his house.”
Hackett v. Costa, 12 Mass. L. Rptr. 420 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2000).
“G.L.c. 87, §3. The tree warden may not cut down or remove or grant a permit for the cutting down or removal of a public shade tree if even one person objects in writing unless such cutting or removal or permit to do so is approved by the selectmen or by the mayor.”
Mosley v. Massachusetts Elec. Co., 5 Mass. L. Rptr. 274 (Mass. Super. Ct. 1996).
· cites it 3× “G.L.c. 87, §3. 3 Any person “injured in his property” by the tree warden’s cutting or trimming of a public shade tree may recover damages from the town by way of eminent domain proceedings.”
South Street Neighbors & Abutters Ass'n v. Ensminger, 2 Mass. L. Rptr. 71 (Mass. Super. Ct. 1994).
“In addition, the complaint alleges that the tree warden has not issued a permit to cut down the tree, as required by G.L.c. 87, §3. There is, however, no allegation that such a permit will not be issued before the tree is cut.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.