EASTON, Pa. — City environmentalists are sending a letter of concern to city council and Lafayette College after more than 40 trees, along with a slew of foliage and shrubs, were cleared for a $1.2 million walkway project on College Hill.
“I really don't understand what the thinking was,” said Ian Kindle, chair of the city's Environmental Advisory Council. “There are definitely concerns with this not being properly considered as the construction is underway.”
- A $1.2 million Lafayette College walkway project has deforested a slope, clearing more than 40 trees
- The city's Environmental Advisory Council voted on Tuesday to sent a letter of concern to the city and the college
- The project is slated to be completed in mid-August
The city’s Environmental Advisory Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to send a letter to city and college officials listing their concerns about the deforestation across the slope that leads to the college at the foot of College Hill. The letter will be timed to arrive before May 10, which is when city council meets next.
The slope runs from behind the William E. Simon Center for Economics and Business on campus to the Karl Stirner trailhead at North Third Street, accessible by steep steps and visible from Downtown.
In addition to clearing shade trees, council members said soil erosion and sedimentation are also concerns, especially amid recent intense storms.
Robert Christopher, city arborist and conservation manager, was not present at the meeting. Kindle said Christopher has been meeting with college officials to create a replanting plan.
“It kind of seems like an intentional viewscape clearing, but I guess there was some talk about possibly failing trees and other issues of trees being in the way of the project they're working on there,” Kindle said.
"Most of these trees were removed because they were dead, dying or created safety concerns due to the extent to which they leaned over pedestrian walkways."Bryan Hay, Lafayette College spokesperson
In response to a request for comment from LehighValleyNews.com on the deforestation on the campus last week, college spokesperson Bryan Hay said clearing the area was necessary for construction of a multimodal elevated walkway to connect the city’s Downtown and College Hill neighborhoods.
“Most of these trees were removed because they were dead, dying or created safety concerns due to the extent to which they leaned over pedestrian walkways,” Hay said in an email. "Because of the ways [the walkway] will improve the connection between the city and the neighborhood, this work is supported by a grant from the Commonwealth Financing Authority’s Multimodal Transportation Fund.”
College officials are working with the city’s arborist “to establish a replanting plan,” he added.
LehighValleyNews.com on Monday submitted a Right-to-Know request to the city for the engineering drawings and approved plans.
During Tuesday's meeting, Kindle presented a collage of photos taken from a recent drone flight near the slope. It shows widespread deforestation.
“Definitely not scientific data here, but it did give, I think, at least a look,” Kindle said. “In my count, from this imagery, was that we have 28 smaller stumps in this area, and then I think 14 or 16 larger stumps.”
In Nov. 2021, Lafayette announced it had received a $869,694 grant to create a multi-use trail extending diagonally across the slope. The college committed a 30% match, or $372,726, toward the grant for a project total of $1.2 million, according to a news release announcing the funding.
“This public-private partnership, working in close cooperation with the city of Easton and Mayor Salvatore J. Panto Jr., to create a trail connecting the College Hill neighborhood and Lafayette’s campus with the Karl Stirner Arts Trail and the College’s Williams Arts Campus will make it easier and safer for residents, visitors, and students to walk or bike between downtown and our hilltop campus,” said Lafayette’s President Nicole Farmer Hurd in the release.
In mid-April, the college announced the project is on schedule and expected to be completed by mid-August.
