Why a tree in Lakewood is getting such huge attention

There are flesh and blood people, good, even heroic people, who live their whole lives and never once make the news. Then how does a tree do it?

To help close a budget gap, Lakewood decided to close an elementary school and sell off the land. The Ella G. Clarke school is an upper-grade elementary with a long history, and whose students will now be swallowed up through consolidation with other schools in the district.

It’s a bit of a microcosm of what many feel could be a statewide answer to high property tax. Yet many at the local level are upset to see the school close down.

For some, it’s not just the school. It’s the 200+ year old tree that stands in front of it as well.

In 2018, a joint effort between staff and students sought to get historical status for the huge red oak. They researched its age, wrote poems, drew pictures, took photos, and made a school-wide presentation that, in the end, got the town to recognize and give historical status to the tree.

That, of course, was about half a decade ago, when no one had the closing of the school on their bingo card.

Now that it’s happening, many are worried about what it will mean for this tree not quite as old as the nation itself. If the land is sold off, what happens to the tree? No one seems to be certain.

“This is something of significance,” said Lakewood School Board Member Moshe Raitzik, who served on the Shade Tree Committee when the historic designation occurred. “There is a concept in the township that we need to keep it. We need to preserve our history.”

It’s not like some historic properties in New Jersey. Mayor Ray Coles says landmark designation the town granted five years ago was only symbolic in nature. Which means there could be little Lakewood could do if a potential buyer wants that tree removed.

A Republican state senator is suggesting the town passes a stronger ordinance that would give the government the legal power to insist any land purchase includes a clause about the preservation of the tree.

”An ordinance becomes an official action that you can forward to the planning board, which would mean that the planning board could say, ‘We cannot help you if you take the tree down,’” said State Sen. Robert Singer said. “I do not know if it qualifies as a historic site, we have to find out if that can be done, it would send a message that they are going to have to deal with it.”

What was already a drama now has a side-drama involving this living witness to history but one that cannot speak for itself. They say that land could be worth well over $35 million, and it was money after all that started all this. Will the Ella G. Clarke tree be saved? Stay tuned.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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