Tree Engineer

Before You Cut That Tree...Find out who owns it!

Tree Engineer, Dean Cawthra, Parks and Rec. Department 203-924-1555 Ext. 349

Homeowners sometimes assume they own all the land between their house and the road. They are not aware the the City's right-of-way may extend  onto their lawn. Connecticut state law, chapter 451, sec. 23-65 demands "any person, firm or corporation, other than a tree warden who removes, prunes, injures or defaces any shrub or ornamental or shade tree, within the limits of a public way or grounds, without legal right or written permission of the town tree warden, shall be fined not more than the appraised value of the shrub or tree and shall be liable civilly for damages." To locate the line where your land ends and the City's property starts, call the Tree Warden, Dean Cawthra, at Park and Recreation.''

The City right of way varies from property to property as shown on the Assessor's maps, which depicts the pavement edge as a dashed line while the property line/City right of way is depicted by a solid line. It is for this reason that staff from this office must first verify, by field inspection & measurements, the true ownership of trees prior to forwarding complaints to the Tree Warden.

The procedure for having the City cut a tree should be:

1). Contact the Engineering Department or Mayors office to file a request to have the tree location determined by the Engineering Department personnel. Homeowner is required to mark tree with a ribbon or another object to make it obvious to City personnel which tree is in question.

2). The City of Shelton Engineering Department determines ownership (city or private).

3). If the tree is on City property, the City of Shelton Tree Warden and homeowner are notified. If the tree is on private property, the homeowner is notified.

If the tree, or brush, you want to cut is within 100 feet of any stream, river, lake or wetlands, you may need to get a permit. Get in touch with the Inland Wetland Commission.