Budding tree battle in Bloomington

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) - There's a budding environmental battle in Bloomington where changes to a city ordinance will prevent some tree cutting.

Homeowners will soon need approval from city hall to cut down their own trees, at least in some cases.

Homeowner Dick Robinson doesn't like the sound of it.

"It's our choice. It's our property," said Robinson.

Tree professional Jeff Ellington is worried about losing business. He's organizing opposition.

"This is one of the most radical property taking rights that I've seen hit our citizens doorsteps," said Ellington.

City council member Isabel Piedmont-Smith sponsored the change and says it only applies to people who seek to remove a number of trees. Others, she says, can make a simple phone call to city hall to get an OK to start cutting.

"The point is to preserve a community asset which is the tree coverage in our city as a whole," said Piedmont-Smith. "And in order to do that we do need to have some oversight when people are chopping down trees."

The trouble is, the ordinance amendment is vague and that leads Ellington to believe it's the work of environmental extremists.

"I think it's within the Democrat party political because there are certain parts, fractions of that party, who truly believe in saving every tree at all costs," said Ellington, a Republican who once ran unsuccessfully for the state legislature.

Piedmont-Smith responded to the allegations, "If it turns out to be too onerous we can revisit, we can revise."

But for now the message to Bloomington homeowners is that your trees belong to the city, too. Isabelle Piedmont-Smith said that reducing global warming is one of the motivations for the change.

Bloomington already has a similar tree removal ordinance that applies to commercial property owners.