Reading does not maintain a dedicated public heritage-tree registry in the City Code, but the Reading Shade Tree Commission (Bill No. 42, Sept. 12, 1973) protects all street trees in the public right-of-way under a uniformly strict standard. Specimen trees on private property may be designated for protection through conditions on approved land-development plans under the City's subdivision and land development ordinance. Reading is a recognized Tree City USA community. Mount Penn and the Mountain Top area host significant mature-tree resources.
Reading's tree-protection framework relies on uniform protection of all street trees through the Shade Tree Commission rather than a separately curated heritage-tree registry. The Commission, established by Bill No. 42 on September 12, 1973 and most recently amended in 2011 (five members, five-year terms), oversees all street trees in the public right-of-way through the City Arborist (610-655-6035). The Mount Penn / Mountain Top area east of downtown Reading contains some of the City's most significant mature trees, including stands within the Pagoda site and the Mount Penn Preserve coordinated with the Berks Nature Conservancy. Trees on private property that have been designated as 'specimen' or 'tree to be saved' in an approved land-development plan are enforceable through the Reading City Code's land development ordinance β once recorded on the plan, those trees cannot be removed without Planning Commission and (for right-of-way-adjacent trees) Shade Tree Commission approval. Pennsylvania state forestry standards under the Penn's Woods Sustainable Forestry framework and the PA DCNR Community Forestry program (which provides Tree City USA technical assistance) provide an additional protective overlay for municipally maintained urban forests. Voluntary protection options for private homeowners include conservation easements through Berks Nature or the Schuylkill Highlands program, which create enforceable restrictions surviving sale.
Removing or significantly damaging a designated specimen or 'tree to be saved' under an approved Reading land-development plan without amendment is a zoning/code violation prosecuted as a summary offense, with fines plus required replacement planting at an elevated ratio. Damaging a Reading street tree without Shade Tree Commission authorization triggers fines plus restitution for the tree's appraised value (ISA methodology). Damage to trees on PA DCNR State Forest land or in the Mount Penn Preserve is enforced separately by PA DCNR and the easement-holder.
Reading, PA
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