By SHELBY ASHLINE
Recorder Staff
WARWICK — Come annual town meeting this spring, Warwick residents will be asked to cast their vote on a new herbicide bylaw which would allow for use of herbicides in the road right of way.
According to Town Coordinator David Young, the current policy states that residents can use herbicides on their own property, but no herbicides can be used in the road right of way, with the “right of way” accounting for a different amount of land depending on the road. On most roads in Warwick, the right of way accounts for 33 feet to 49.5 feet.
“We cut brush, we don’t apply herbicide,” Young explained. “Invasive and noxious species are becoming a problem.”
Some plants, such as poison ivy, have sprung up along the roadways, making it difficult for bicyclists and pedestrians to navigate the road’s edges. According to Ted Cady, chairman of the Warwick Planning Board, walking is one of the most common recreational activities in Warwick, though there are few sidewalks outside of the Town Common.
“The problem with (just cutting brush) is it doesn’t touch the poison ivy because it’s low-growing,” Cady said. “It also does nothing to control some of the invasive species … In some places, you can’t step off to the side of the road because of it.”
“Now we’re taking a look at that (current herbicide bylaw) and saying, ‘Maybe there are some instances where herbicide should be used to control the species,’” Young said.
The Planning Board has developed a draft of the new bylaw and is seeking feedback from the Highway Department, Selectboard, Conservation Commission, Open Space Committee and tree warden.
Should the bylaw be approved at annual town meeting, Young and Cady said, property owners would be allowed to use herbicides at the roads’ edges, and the town would also hire a licensed applicator.
“If we do our homework properly and properly inform the voters of what the intentions of the bylaw are, I think there’s a pretty good chance it will pass,” Cady said. “That being said, our town has tremendous respect for the environment and does not want to have inappropriate uses of chemicals.”
Cady noted that the Planning Board will carefully outline in the bylaw that special consideration should be taken to ensure no herbicide will drift onto organic farms or gardens, or affect wetlands.
Plus, Cady said, the bylaw is a temporary fill-in measure to control invasive species until a Vegetation Management Plan is completed. Cady said the Conservation Commission is putting together a task force to draft the plan.
“When there is an approved Vegetation Management Plan, it will supercede the bylaw,” Cady said.