EASTON, Pa. — It’s been weeks since Lafayette College submitted a replanting plan after deforesting a slope on College Hill for a $1.2 million walkway project without city approval — but the city’s forester still hasn’t seen them.
- Easton's arborist says he hasn't seen formal plans or plant lists for College Hill
- The slope was deforested during construction of a $1.2 million walkway
- Members of the city's Environmental Advisory Council said the plans would go to them for review
“I don't know if it's officially approved,” said Rob Christopher, arborist and conservation manager, Tuesday evening during the city’s Environmental Advisory Council meeting. “I haven't seen any plant list with numbers and sizes in any sort of formal plan.”
Lafayette College in late May submitted a replanting plan to the city after officials threatened to stop work when 46 trees were cleared from the slope behind the William E. Simon Center for Economics and Business that goes to the Karl Stirner trailhead at North Third Street without approval. Viewed in early June through a Right-to-Know request at City Hall, the plan included replanting 98 trees.
At the time, Dwayne Tillman, the city's chief zoning administrator, said those plans were under review by the city’s engineering department. Tillman has not responded to requests this week asking if the plans were approved.
“As I understood it, they were going to come back to us with a more detailed planting plan. And, as far as we know, I don't think anything has been addressed on the hillside itself."Ian Kindle, chair of Easton's Environmental Advisory Council
Ian Kindle, EAC chair, said he and Christopher recently met with city officials to discuss the replanting plan.
“As I understood it, they were going to come back to us with a more detailed planting plan,” Kindle said. “And, as far as we know, I don't think anything has been addressed on the hillside itself.
“Or, at least, we haven't been asked to review any plans for the revegetation of the hillside itself.”
Planting is expected to begin Aug. 17 and continue through mid-October, according to the submitted plans.
The slope’s deforestation has been a point of contention since mid-May, when city officials sent the letter to the college. It cited the city’s steep slope conservation ordinance, which aims to mitigate sedimentation and erosion.
The original plans, approved by the city June 14, 2022, and viewed through a Right-to-Know request at City Hall in late May 2023, show the vast majority of the trees would be retained. Instead, more than 40 trees, along with a slew of foliage and shrubs, were cleared.
In early May, the city’s Environmental Advisory Council voted unanimously to send a letter of concern to city council, citing the negative effects of clearing shade trees, as well as soil erosion and sedimentation concerns.
In response to a request for comment in late April from LehighValleyNews.com on the deforestation on the campus, 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.”
The college has not responded to several requests for comment since that initial inquiry.
The project is earmarked to be completed by mid-August, less than two years after 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.
