Developer escapes penalties for removing trees

A Carpentersville business owner and developer dodged possible penalties for removing almost a dozen trees from property along the Fox River without first obtaining the required permits.

Trustees on Tuesday allowed a retroactive permit to Tom Roeser, owner of Otto Engineering, after Roeser cut down 11 trees along the Fox River without the village's knowledge.

The trees were removed from the riverbank adjacent to 11 W. Main St., in the village's Old Town section. Roeser, who did not attend the board meeting, had told the village the trees were in poor condition and acknowledged in an e-mail to Village Engineer Scott Marquardt that some trees were removed without the necessary permits.

Under the village's tree preservation ordinance, the removal of trees without permission would result in a stop work order. If a tree designated for preservation is destroyed or razed during the construction process, a replacement must be provided based on the size of the existing tree.

In Roeser's case, the trees that were removed would require the equivalent of 104 new 3-inch trees to be planted, Marquardt said in a memorandum to the village board.

But Village President Ed Ritter said improvements Roeser has made to numerous properties throughout the village - from Old Town buildings to residential homes in the Meadowdale neighborhood - should be taken into account.

"This is a fair way to solve this," Ritter said. "He has done more work than the penalties would cover."

Trustee Paul Humpfer said while he did not disagree with Ritter, he cautioned against encouraging such practices. Humpfer said the village has had problems with developers cutting down trees without the proper permits, which in one instance almost ended in a legal battle.

Escapes: President cites developer's other contributions to village