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Pittsburgh City Council

A half mile of trees illegally cut down along the Ohio Riverfront Trail leads to a two-year tree study.

Written by Amy Whipple

The city is planning to spend more than $4,000 to count city trees that were cut down by a property owner in order to determine the restitution needed.

The Department of Public Works requested $11,910 for the Davey Resource Group to conduct tree inventories on the Ohio Riverfront Trail and Arsenal Park over the next two years.

Utility arborist Michael Kelley said during the Oct. 7 committee meeting that the inventory along the Ohio Riverfront Trail is the result of “willful destruction” by an unnamed resident who owns adjacent property. 

“He took out about a half mile of trees without authorization on public land and dumped a good portion of the material into the river,” said Kelley. He said that the trees were neither tall enough to hit, nor capable of falling in the direction of nearby structures.

City forester Lisa Ceoffe said, “It’s devastating, actually.” 

The resident received a violation for illegal dumping into the river. In order to receive restitution to restore the corridor, the city now needs an independent arborist study, Ceoffe said. 

She also said that Lawrenceville Together requested the inventory for Arsenal Park. The park has some older trees that are in decline, and the intention is to determine which can be saved and where the organization could plant new trees. 

Council agreed to move forward with both requests.

Connections to this story

Governments:
Pittsburgh City Council
Public meetings:
City Council · October 6, 2026
Sources:
Resolution 2026-0922 — authorizing the Mayor and the Director of the Department of Public Works to enter into an Agreement or Agreements with…Resolution 2026-0923 — authorizing the Mayor and the Director of the Department of Public Works to enter into an Agreement or Agreements with…

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