A. An owner who receives a court order (or decision of an Administration Hearing Officer) to cure a violation of this chapter stemming from the unlawful removal of native trees and/or protected woodlands shall enter into an ecological mitigation plan with the Village in addition to paying any fine set forth in the order or decision.
B. An owner charged with the unlawful removal of native trees and/or protected woodlands may request to cure such violation by voluntarily settling the violation with the Village and entering into an ecological mitigation plan with the Village, provided the owner shall pay a minimum fine of one hundred dollars ($100.00), as a condition of entering into the ecological mitigation plan.
C. An owner desiring to perform the lawful removal of native trees on the owner's parcel may apply for a waiver of all or a portion of the applicable tree mitigation fee by voluntarily agreeing to implement an ecological mitigation plan recommended by the Village Ecologist, pursuant to which the owner undertakes beneficial ecological restoration of protected woodlands on such owner's parcel. Such ecological mitigation plans will be approved only in those cases where tree mitigation fees would otherwise exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) and the degree to which the owner undertakes beneficial ecological restoration of protected woodlands and completes such restoration activities would merit such consideration.
D. An ecological mitigation plan, together with such application form as may be prescribed by the Village, may be prepared by owner's ecological consultant or collaboratively with the Village Ecologist and submitted to the Village for review and approval. The ecological mitigation plan must be prepared in accordance with the specifications developed by the Village Ecologist for implementation of the ecological cost share programs (but without the cost share). Each ecological mitigation plan shall specify the locations of proposed restoration options, including but not necessarily limited to, native tree and shrub planting, canopy and subcanopy tree thinning, native seeding, invasive shrub removal, garlic mustard removal, and/or prescribed burning. In reviewing and approving each ecological mitigation plan, the Village Ecologist will recommend the forms of ecological mitigation that are most feasible and beneficial to the native woodland on the owner's parcel. Upon request of the owner and approval by the Village President, the Village Ecologist may prepare the ecological mitigation plan for use by the owner, at the owner's expense.
E. Each ecological mitigation plan shall establish timelines. For ecological mitigation of removed native trees, the timeline shall be six (6) months after the date of approval of the ecological mitigation plan. An extension of time may be granted by the Village Ecologist upon request, provided, however that no such extension shall exceed twelve (12) months from the original date of issuance of the permit. A timeline for ecological mitigation of native woodlands shall be as set forth in the approved ecological mitigation plan, but it is not uncommon for such plans to require commitments of three (3) or more years of management/stewardship before measurable restoration performance of woodlands can be confirmed. Each ecological mitigation plan, as a condition of approval, shall be performed by a trained ecological restoration contractor, certified for such work by the Village under the ecological cost share programs.
F. In each ecological mitigation plan, the owner shall agree to reimburse the Village for its reasonable fees and expenses, including consultants' and attorneys' fee to the extent permitted by law, in preparing, negotiating, inspecting and enforcing the ecological mitigation plan, and shall agree that the Village will be entitled to record a lien against such owner's parcel for recovery of any such unpaid fees and expenses. The fees for the services of the Village Ecologist and other consultants will be charged to the owner at rates as set forth in the Village fee schedule. (Ord. 18-03-05, 3-6-2018)