By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

As Ocean Pines residents point to excessive tree removal, the community looks to strengthen county collaboration during the pre-construction phase of new home development.

Ocean Pines resident Tim Peck, the former chair of the Ocean Pines Association’s Environmental and Natural Assets Committee, who stepped down from the post in August, claimed that over the last few years, he and others have noticed “multiple events of clear-cutting of trees on the waterfront and other properties in Ocean Pines.”

“Over a dozen Ocean Pines residents have remarked to me they have been very surprised or even shocked that building lots were clear cut of all trees with no attempt to spare a single tree,” he noted. “This lot clearing pattern appears to have occurred in Ocean Pines only recently since approximately 2020.”

OPA Director of Business Administration Linda Martin said that the association has been made aware of concerns regarding only one clear-cutting incident on Tiller Lane. Martin said that Worcester County only gave approval to their line of disturbance and the contractor removed more than was allowed per county requirements.

“Worcester County has a line of disturbance which may allow for the entire lot to be clear cut,” she said.  “Until recently, Ocean Pines always went with what Worcester County recommended.  This changed with a house being built on Tiller Lane that clear-cut the property and went against both Worcester County and Ocean Pines regulations.”

According to the director of business administration, the OPA Architectural Review Committee updated its lot clearing regulations in April, enacting stricter rules for tree removal. Contractors are now expected to schedule a meeting with the neighborhood’s Compliance, Permit, and Inspections (CPI) department 48 hours before clearing a lot for a new development. They are told what can and cannot be removed and other requirements.

For instance, the guidelines note that “removing trees and other plantings from a waterfront lot within one hundred feet of the water requires Worcester County approval, which will also include their requirements for any replanting.”

“The CPI Department will require notification that the county inspection has been completed along with a copy of any county-required replanting before making their inspection for the Association,” the documents continue.

In response to the Tiller Lane situation and to ensure Ocean Pines has an input on the line of disturbance, Martin added that the community’s inspector will now attend new home pre-construction meetings with Worcester County.

The 1984 Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Protection Act and its 2002 amendment for the Atlantic Coastal Bays within the County address tree removal near waterways.  The law requires that trees within 100 feet of shoreline cannot be removed unless they are dead, dying, hazardous, or diseased. Peck argues that the regulation’s exceptions, which Maryland Coastal Bays Program Director Kevin Smith said could include bulkhead repair or access to a water-dependent activity, are being used “excessively, especially when contrasted with older lots,” and that Worcester County has allowed an acceleration or clear cutting since approximately 2020.

However, per a conversation Peck had with Worcester County over the critical area permitting in Ocean Pines, he said that “[the county] noted that they are following appropriate guidelines to allow the clear-cutting,” despite the resident’s claim that within the last five years, more trees have been removed in the community than ever before.

Peck has stated that his concerns with the perceived clear-cutting lie with the environmental aspect and a desire to continue the tradition of tree preservation that Ocean Pines has maintained for the past 50 years. In terms of the ecological impact of excessive tree removal, the practice can have negative effects on water quality.

“The reason the critical area law went into place is really about protecting our waterways from excessive sediment, nutrients, and pollutants, and things like that,” Smith said. “The buffers that are in place, particularly forested buffers, are really important to help protect these waterways from these pollutants and maintain the environmental and ecological integrity of the waterways themselves, for water quality purposes and habitat.”

“So when you go in, and you remove forested areas or trees adjacent to them, it can have a detrimental impact on the ecology and those waterways as well.”

Smith also pointed out that the wooded community offers its residents a unique beautification aspect.

“It is called Ocean Pines,” he continued. “I think it is one of the reasons it makes that community such a nice community to live in, mostly because of all the trees there. So, there’s a livability factor for people that appreciate trees, forests, and shade… It is also good for maintaining habitat for birds and other critters.”

“he whole community was founded on this wooded area and has been maintained that way over the years. I think that is one of the real benefits of that community and one of the reasons that community is well-liked.”

Still, Smith added the rules and regulations of the critical area law are complex, and even though the MCBP has not “looked into it enough,” to his knowledge, the county is doing its due diligence in its review process for tree removal.

Smith said each case is looked at separately, and tree-cutting allowances are made for different reasons, so it is not a “black and white” situation of simply prohibiting forest removal within the 100-foot buffer.

Assateague Coastal Trust Coastkeeper Taylor Swanson mentioned that Ocean Pines community members have come forward with excessive tree removal observations and his organization is slowly investigating the issue. Swanson also echoed Smith’s remarks, saying that many people do not understand critical area law and that there are “very few” experts on the guidelines.

“The critical area law itself is incredibly complex, and so it is hard to teach anyone critical area law, and for the people that try to enforce these laws and review permits, they don’t have time to be teaching our citizens what’s right and wrong,” Swanson said. “… It is hard for us to know what is right and what is wrong. You can get permits to do all sorts of stuff within the critical area, and as long as you have a permit, you’re okay for it.”

Smith and Swanson noted that an educational campaign would help Ocean Pines and county residents identify when something is amiss.

Swanson added that Assateague Coastal Trust relies on community feedback to investigate violation situations. Those who observe anything that appears out of place can contact the group’s pollution hotline at 443-235-2014. Swanson can be reached directly at taylor@actforbays.org.