{"id":159842,"date":"2025-09-16T02:27:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T02:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/159842\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T02:27:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T02:27:15","slug":"residents-balk-at-peco-plans-to-cut-down-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/159842\/","title":{"rendered":"Residents balk at PECO plans to cut down trees"},"content":{"rendered":"

EAST BRADFORD \u2014 With many towering older trees along milelong Brandywine Road the canopy is more than a 100 feet above the ground, and even on a sunny day almost completely shades the one-way roadway.<\/p>\n

About 100 trees on Brandywine and Harmony Hill roads in East Bradford Township are threatened to be cut down by PECO, and residents and the township are up in arms with the prospect.<\/p>\n

Other roads that tree removal is projected by PECO are Copeland School, Guthrie and Shenton.<\/p>\n

\"PECOPECO plans to remove some remaining downed trees from along Line Road in East Goshen but not all. (BILL RETTEW – MEDIANEWS GROUP)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not take the decision to remove trees from the community lightly,\u201d reads an email sent to the Daily Local News by PECO\u2019s Madison Davis, communications. \u201cWe understand the importance and benefits of trees and would not have moved forward on this path were it not essential to the future of our region\u2019s electric grid and reliability in East Bradford.\u201d<\/p>\n

East Bradford Manager Mandie Cantlin hopes to save many of the trees that are now marked for removal by outright preserving them from the chain saw or by pruning branches rather cutting down whole trees.<\/p>\n

She has been by seeking a more detailed plan and negotiating to ensure that PECO is not excessive or arbitrary in its removal on Brandywine Road and other township roads.<\/p>\n

\"EastEast Bradford Supervisor John Snook happily points to a centuries-old sycamore that will be saved from the chain saw and only trimmed by PECO. (BILL RETTEW \u2013 MEDIANEWS GROUP)<\/p>\n

The township has declared Brandywine a scenic road via the township zoning code.<\/p>\n

According to John Snook, township supervisors chairman, the roadway\u2019s trees are thus protected and there are prohibitions from vegetation removal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would prefer to see more effort toward trimming in lieu of wholesale removal,\u201d Snook said.<\/p>\n

PECO was asked whether the scenic roadway designation matters.<\/p>\n

\"EastEast Bradford Supervisor John Snook revels in the trees on Brandywine Road. (BILL RETTEW \u2013 MEDIANEWS GROUP)<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d wrote Davis. \u201cThe Scenic Road designation was taken into consideration when assessing the area, however trees that were identified as posing reliability risk will be trimmed or removed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sue Ciccone is a neighbor and regular walker of Brandywine Road.<\/p>\n

\u201cI personally counted 74 trees alone on just Brandywine Road that are tagged for removal,\u201d Ciccone said. \u201cIt will take 100 years to even come close to what we have now.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn old sycamore with a circumference of 180 inches fights for space with a PECO electrical pole. (BILL RETTEW \u2013 MEDIANEWS GROUP)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will not only be devastating to our community, but also the wildlife that lives in these tree tops. I am begging PECO to reduce the number of trees being taken down and consider the future of this gorgeous area and the wildlife that lives within it.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me it\u2019s a cathedral and it will be ruined.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phyllis Skupien is a Brandywine Road resident.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe change in the natural feel of our road will impact our property values as well as residents who enjoy walking along the road for its natural beauty,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

PECO has notified in writing all residents who own impacted trees, more than once.<\/p>\n

Colleen Rogenmuser has several mature trees and saplings that are marked for removal.<\/p>\n

She said that she typically receives an annual notice from PECO about basic trimming and this year\u2019s notice was ambiguous, and did not communicate the severity of the removal that would expose a well-guarded playground on her property.<\/p>\n

PECO has asked property owners that disagree with the removal of trees to contact the power company, and if they don\u2019t it is assumed that the removal is okay with the homeowner.<\/p>\n

Rogenmuser has filed a formal complaint with PECO, and was told that until the trees are further looked at and examined that none would be removed.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe canopy on Brandywine Road in East Bradford Township is very high. (BILL RETTEW \u2013 MEDIANEWS GROUP)
\nOfficialdom\u2019s involvement<\/p>\n

Snook said that the board of supervisors has yet to address the subject publicly at a meeting. He favored a more confrontational approach but is leaving it up to Cantlin to negotiate with PECO on behalf of the township.<\/p>\n

Cantlin said that the township solicitor was consulted, and although Brandywine is designated a scenic road, \u201cPECO has rights on what they can do in their right of way\u201d and that is what irks homeowners like Rogenmuser.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a resident\u2019s standpoint, that\u2019s frustrating,\u201d Cantlin said. \u201cRather than attempt an enforcement path with PECO, we are trying to work the best we can to get the best possible result.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Rep. Chris Pielli\u2019s Constituent Services Adviser Matt DeWese sent a letter to an East Bradford resident.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrandywine Road presents a unique challenge because it is so narrow, and the canopy is particularly heavy,\u201d wrote DeWese. \u201cI don\u2019t see a way to accomplish PECO\u2019s objective without significantly impacting the road canopy.\u201d<\/p>\n

In East Goshen<\/p>\n

PECO work also took down dozens of trees in East Goshen on Line Road.<\/p>\n

Many of the downed trees from previous PECO jobs has remained in place in some sections in various townships. Davis said that most of the cut trees in East Goshen will be removed, but not all.<\/p>\n

The following is the from the PECO email to the Daily Local:<\/p>\n

\u201cResidents that had a tree removed on their property worked directly with PECO qualified contractor Davey Resource Group and signed an Acknowledgement Form. As part of this process, the residents that had tree work completed on their property agreed either to keep the wood in 18\u201d \u2013 24\u201d or 8\u2033 \u2013 10\u2033 pieces or to have the wood picked up.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor trees that are not on residential properties, the wood will either be cut up and left or will be removed if there are any safety concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the cases where the wood is being picked up, this will occur in the coming weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

More tree removal is planned for East Goshen, according to township Supervisor Michele Truitt.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn Sept. 10, I was notified by a PECO rep that East Goshen will see another tree removal project along Dutton Mill Road and Manley Road starting in October,\u201d Truitt said. \u201cIt breaks my heart that our township is subject to yet another decimation of hundreds of trees.<\/p>\n

\u201cPECO needs to be reminded that while tree removal may be necessary for delivery of service, there is a true environmental impact by such widespread projects that change the makeup of the land forever and should work to conserve as many mature trees as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis noted how PECO decides which trees to remove and which to trim.<\/p>\n

\u201cPECO works with specially trained and qualified arborists, following the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) A300 standard, to ensure responsible pruning and promote the health of existing vegetation,\u201d she wrote. \u201cEach tree is assessed based on its potential impact on reliability.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf more than 30 percent of the tree needs to be trimmed to reduce the reliability risk, the tree is scheduled for removal. This is a best management practice as the long-term viability of the tree will be impacted.\u201d<\/p>\n

The color code<\/p>\n

Trees marked orange are slated for removal and yellow markings denote trimming.<\/p>\n

Some trees were initially marked orange and then were marked yellow on Brandywine Road, according to residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach tree is initially assessed based on its potential impact to electrical equipment and marked for either removal or trimming. The \u2018removal\u2019 or \u2018trimming\u2019 status can change for a number of reasons, including final project design, long-term viability of the tree, and discussions with the customers,\u201d wrote Davis. \u201cOnce a final determination is made, the tree will be marked with blue as an indication that the tree is ready for work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe areas where work is occurring in East Goshen and East Bradford have been identified as having\u00a0multiple outages caused by vegetation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis infrastructure investment will help our system withstand more frequent and damaging storms and improve reliability by reducing the frequency of outages that cannot be prevented.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince 2023, some customers in the project area have experienced an average of more than five vegetation related outages a year lasting on average 149 minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to the tree work, the equipment in this area will be upgraded to help our system withstand more frequent and damaging storms and improve reliability by reducing the frequency of outages that cannot be prevented.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some new poles will be installed to support the new equipment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition, PECO\u2019s service territory, and Pennsylvania broadly, fall under the \u2018Heavy Loading Zone\u2019 as that is defined by the National Electrical Safety Code (NESC). The NESC recommends standards for those in the \u201cHeavy Loading Zone\u201d to meet expected weather conditions for this area, including hurricane-force winds and ice buildup during snowstorms. The taller poles are part of the NESC recommended standards,\u201d reads the release.<\/p>\n

PECO: \u201cHistorically, in regions where PECO performed vegetation clearance work, there was a 30 percent reduction in vegetation-related outages and a significant improvement in electric reliability. Most outages occur during extreme weather, such as the thunderstorms that caused power outages for more than 100,000 customers in Chester County in July of 2024. Notably, 86 percent of these outages were caused by vegetation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally Published: September 15, 2025 at 7:07 AM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EAST BRADFORD \u2014 With many towering older trees along milelong Brandywine Road the canopy is more than a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159843,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[97306,192,983,3,3234,79,81272],"class_list":{"0":"post-159842","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-chester-county","9":"tag-environment","10":"tag-local-news","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-pennsylvania","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-top-stories-dln"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}