If you’re a pedestrian who’s strolled by the corner of Germantown Avenue and Bethlehem Pike in the past week, you may have noticed a bit less shade than you’re used to seeing. 

That’s because the large tree that towered over the street corner for many long years has been taken down by developer Michael Young to make way for a new development slated for the property, which currently houses a Santander Bank branch building that’s been vacant since October 2021.

Young said the tree stood within the footprint of the new building, which is slated to be a four-story, 30-unit apartment complex, so it had to go. However, Young added, the tree was on its way out anyway. An arborist recommended he take it down after it had to be cut from the top twice since 2015.

“All you had to do was look at the top of it and see it was dying,” Young said. “All the branches on the top of the tree had no leaves on them.”

For some, seeing such a big tree come down was heartbreaking.

“When I saw the now gaping hole in the skyline at the top of the hill I was left with a deep feeling of helplessness,” said Tim Breslin, a Chestnut Hill Community Association board member who sits on the greenspace committee. “I don’t think people fully appreciate what these heritage canopy trees do for Chestnut Hill.”

Breslin, who has a particular passion for trees, said he is concerned about the future of many of Chestnut Hill’s large old trees. 

“While it is true that a lot of our trees are at the end of their life, I’ve personally observed many trees that still stand, and are long since dead,” Breslin said. “The ones they typically remove are the ones blocking development. It’s just too easy for developers to say ‘The company we are paying to take it down told us it was sick’.”

In addition to the tree on Germantown Avenue, Young also had to take down a large old Ash that was growing behind the building, halfway between the former bank and a dentist’s office. That tree was dying, Young said, due to an invasive species of beetle called the Emerald Ash Borer, which feeds on ash trees. The proliferation of the Emerald Ash Borer has killed millions of ash trees in recent years.

In fact, just a few days before that tree was taken down, it dropped a limb that was large enough to smash the roof of a brand-new Toyota Rav4 that was parked next to it. Kingkiner Tree Service had been contracted by Young to remove the tree a few days prior, but couldn’t take it down in time due to a storm that weekend.

“We were hired to remove a dead tree that can fall at any time,” said the company’s co-owner, Christina Kingkiner. “Unfortunately we didn’t get it down in time before it fell on somebody’s car.” 

Young had tried for years to save both trees, according to Jay Susanin, owner of the Palladio custom frame shop – who was a 13-year tenant of Young’s. He recently moved his shop from behind the bank building to the corner of Germantown and Evergreen avenues. 

“He was always working on that tree,” Susanin said. “Really, Michael is a conservationist at heart. He’s one of the good guys.”