Watchdog: 'Leave the trees alone' - homeowners seek relief from BGE line clearance - Annapolis, MD

Watchdog: 'Leave the trees alone' • Columnists (www.HometownAnnapolis.com - The Capital)

Couple questions BGE's 'one size fits all' policy
By ALLISON BOURG, The Capital

Published 03/28/2011

Paul Goszkowski is no tree hugger.

But that doesn't mean he wants anyone messing with the two 100-year-old Norway spruce trees on his Bay Ridge Road property, where he has lived since 1987. The 50-foot trees form a teepee over the house, shrouding it from the buzz of traffic outside.
"One of the reasons we bought this house was because it was heavily screened from the road," said his wife, Lucy. "We already lost 13 trees to the county when they put the bike path in 1997."

Now, the Goszkowskis are afraid they're going to lose their spruces - or at least a big portion of them - once tree trimmers contracted by Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. start cutting their branches.

The problem, they complained to the Watchdog, is a BGE policy that prohibits trees from coming within 10 feet of utility lines. Paul Goszkowski said he's been told that the spruces sway too close to the wires, even though the trees are planted far enough away from the power lines.