Council to consider changes in development guide, including adoption of tree canopy ordinance; Louisville, KY

Council to consider changes in development guide courier-journal.com The Courier-Journal:
The Louisville Metro Council Thursday will consider three ordinances that would change a document that guides development in the metro area.

The ordinances would:* Protect public safety from excessive or dangerous signs* Encourage saving more trees* Incorporate the Floyds Fork parks project master plan into the documentNone of the ordinances is considered controversial, although the one pertaining to signs could be amended during the meeting.

The so-called tree canopy ordinance provides incentives for developers to save more trees in new developments and gives the city more authority to penalize them if they destroy trees that are supposed to be saved. It also outlaws planting non-indigenous trees and plants.

Tree ordinance move grows into resistance; Chapel Hill, NC

The Herald-Sun - Tree ordinance move grows into resistance: "A move to strengthen the town's tree ordinance hit a snag Monday, drawing criticism from both residents and council members for being too stringent.

As a result, the council sent the draft ordinance back to the drawing board and directed staff to return May 24 with a kinder, gentler version that addresses concerns voiced by council members and citizens during a public hearing on the matter Monday.

'I really wonder after reading this if we've kind of over-baked it,' said Councilman Gene Pease, who acknowledged his role in pushing the town toward the ordinance while serving on the Planning Board a few years ago.

As proposed, the ordinance would establish minimum tree canopy coverage for lots and individual tracts and standards for tree removal activities on residential property, excluding routine maintenance activities.

Removing trees in some instances would require a permit. Property owners would have to demonstrate that a lot will continue to meet minimum tree canopy coverage after trees are removed and replacement trees are planted."

Tree Protection Rules Come Under Fire; Chapel Hill, NC

1360 WCHL - Chapel Hill-Carrboro's News, Talk, and Tar Heels Station:
At Monday’s public hearing, planning consultant and Chapel Hill resident Scott Radway told the Town Council that while he often supports the town’s initiatives, he can’t stomach the new tree protection guidelines.
The proposed changes aim to protect the town’s tree canopy as a whole, instead of focusing on individual trees. Property owners would be required to maintain a percentage of canopy coverage based on the size of their lot. If trees are cut down, those larger than 36 inches would need to be replaced with species that grow to a minimum height of 20 feet to replenish the canopy.
Applicants would have the option of paying a mitigation fee of up to $1,000 per tree instead of replanting. The plan would apply to both residential and commercial property, though most small one and two family lots would be exempt from the regulations.

Town may toughen tree rules; Chapel Hill, NC

chapelhillnews.com Town may toughen tree rules:
Proposed changes to the town's tree-protection rules would require more than four out of 10 homeowners to keep at least 40 percent of their land covered by a tree canopy.
The Town Council will hold a public hearing on the changes Monday night at Town Hall. The meeting begins at 7 p.m.
The proposal is drawing criticism from some citizens and questions from the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce.
'It would appear to me you are about to go overboard again,' local builder Gary Buck wrote in an e-mail to the council. 'To stimulate business and well-being, you must have lessregulation, not more.'
The tree-protection rules aim to maintain the benefits trees offer the town: erosion and flooding control, noise buffers, pollutant absorption, climate moderation and wildlife shelter and food.

Residents remain concerned about design for Southwest 91st Street; Gainesville, FL

Residents remain concerned about design for Southwest 91st Street Gainesville.com:
There was a time when tree-lined Southwest 91st Street was considered out in the country.
Over the decades, residential growth west of Gainesville, including that in Haile Plantation, and the extension of the once dead-end road have brought a steady rise in traffic.
Now linking Newberry Road and Archer Road, 91st Street accommodated more than 8,000 vehicles daily between the stretch from Newberry Road to Southwest Eighth Avenue in 2008, according to traffic count numbers filed with the Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization.
Shaded by an oak tree canopy, the road, also known as Fort Clarke Church Road, has maintained much of its rural look on that stretch from Newberry Road to Eighth Avenue, even as the road has grown heavily traveled.
It is one of one of only five official county scenic roads -- a designation the County Commission approved in 1987.
But some residents are worried the road will lose its charm and see an increase in safety problems under the designs for a road repaving project. Those plans are scheduled to go to the County Commission Tuesday night for what is likely to be a final vote on the proposed design before the project is bid for construction.

Effort to revisit tree ordinance places allies at odds; San Antonio, TX

Effort to revisit tree ordinance places allies at odds:
City officials are moving forward on an effort to overhaul San Antonio's tree ordinance, but the work-in-progress has sparked a curious disagreement between traditional allies.
The current version tries to address concerns raised in a report done for the city last year by American Forests, a Washington-based environmental consulting firm, which found that the city is gradually destroying its tree canopy in ways that threaten both air and water quality.
The new plan would lower the maximum allowable destruction of trees from 90 percent to roughly 80 percent; double the fees developers pay into a city mitigation fund from $100 to $200 per diameter inch of protected tree destroyed; and impose project-by-project shade requirements of 25 percent for commercial property and 38 percent for residential after developments are complete.
Exemptions for properties larger than half an acre with a home on them — a loophole some developers have abused — would be closed.

Town to hold hearing on proposed new tree-protection rules Monday; Chapel Hill, NC

chapelhillnews.com Town to hold hearing on tree-protection rules Monday:
The Town Council will consider new rules for tree protection in a public hearing set for 7 p.m. Monday.
The proposed text amendment to the Land Use Management Ordinance reflects suggestions and concerns heard at public information meetings held over the last five months.
The proposal seeks to protect the town's tree coverage without unreasonable regulation of smaller lots and homeowners, town officials said in a news release. The council has been reviewing these changes since 2007, in response to a petition from the Planning Board.
The proposed amendment would establish minimum tree canopy coverage requirements for individual lots and tracts. In addition, the proposed amendment would establish standards related to significant tree-removal activities on residential properties, excluding many routine maintenance activities.

Habitat for Humanity project violates tree protection zone, results in damage to protected tree; Charlottesville, VA

Charlottesville Tomorrow News Center: Damaged tree on Paton Street sparks discussion of tree protection: The fate of a damaged oak tree in the city’s Fifeville neighborhood depends on a decision to be made by Jim Tolbert, the City’s Director of Neighborhood Development Services (NDS). Tolbert will have the final say on a site plan amendment that would permit a developer to not only remove the tree, but also expand the size of a building to be built on the property.
In October 2006, the Charlottesville Planning Commission approved a rezoning that allowed Habitat for Humanity to build up to 21 housing units in the city’s Fifeville Neighborhood. One of the conditions of the rezoning was that the oak tree be saved along with several others. Grading on the Paton Street site got underway at the beginning of the year.
Around the same time, Habitat came back to NDS to discuss a potential request to expand the footprint of the building by four feet. City Planner Ebony Walden told Habitat that the bigger building might cause the structure to come within the “drip line” of the protected oak, which could damage the tree.

City drafts new rules for tree protection during construction, forms partership with UW-Madison to assess tree canopy; Madison, WI

Good news for Madison's urban forest - Isthmus The Daily Page:
Madison Ald. Marsha Rummel says it's about time. The city of Madison is now drafting new rules requiring the protection of trees during construction and levying fines for violations.
'It's better because it's going to be upfront, and the expectation is that everybody is there to protect trees,' says Rummel of the new policy, which will likely be presented to the city's Board of Public Works next month.
Meanwhile, an auspicious new partnership between the university and the city forestry department has the potential to increase the total amount of city tree cover and eventually help improve lake water quality by reducing runoff.

Casey Trees updates FAQ document to reflect new regulations related to Urban Forest Preservation Act; Washington, DC

Urban Forest Preservation Act:
On January 22, 2003, the DC Council passed the Urban Forest Preservation Act (UFPA) of 2002. The Act establishes an urban forest preservation program, requires permits for Special Tree removals or replacements and establishes a Tree Fund to be used to plant trees and defray costs associated with the implementation of this act. Chapter 37 (Special Trees) of Title 24 District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR) was amended in June 2009 to include an income-contingent program to help District residents offset the cost of removing hazardous Special Trees. This program effective January 1, 2010.

Court reduces tree protection law violation fine on appeal, but upholds conviction; Takoma Park, MD

$1,000 fine cut in Takoma Park tree case - washingtonpost.com:
Takoma Park, which prides itself on its leafy canopy, has strict rules about protecting its trees. Arborist Todd Bolton roams the community looking for violations, but Alexander and Wasserstrom say they think he spoke for the trees a little too forcefully in their case.
They appealed their citation in District Court in Silver Spring last Tuesday, and Judge Stephen P. Johnson lowered the fine to $250, plus $7.50 in court fees. The judge also determined that Bolton had cause to issue the citation from what the arborist had seen on the couple's property.

Voters pick newcomers over incumbents - some cite committment to protect tree canopy as deciding factor; Miami-Dade, FL

Voters pick newcomers over incumbents - Northeast Miami-Dade - MiamiHerald.com:
Angela Celis, 42, and Clifton Hamilton, 51, village residents for 10 years, said they voted for Cooper and Ross because their platforms included promises to preserve the village's tree canopy.
Celis and Hamilton also said they were concerned about village spending in a tight economy.
``We want them to keep the costs reasonable and make pragmatic decisions,'' Hamilton said. ``We want them to preserve the trees. This is a bird sanctuary, so the environment needs to be intact and we need to keep it as natural as possible.''
This year's elections had a greater voter turnout with just over 33 percent than the 2007 election, in which 26 percent voted.
``I'm happy,'' said Cooper, 48, inside the Ed Burke Recreation Center, where the votes were cast and counted.``I'm actually grateful for all the volunteers that made this possible. This wouldn't had happened if they hadn't help with the campaign.''
Cooper is a professor and director of collections and digital services at St. Thomas University.
Ross, a paralegal, said she was excited to start her term on the commission.
``I'm very excited about getting to work with the other commissioners, focusing on making Biscayne Park a better place to be,'' said Ross, 50, minutes after the results were announced at the Recreation Center. ``Keep it the gem that we are.''

City horticulturist pursues legal action against developer's illegal felling of mature trees; Johannesburg, South Africa

city of johannesburg - Rosebank's old trees felled:
The architects developing a new site in Rosebank are about to be served with a legal notice by the City, charging them with the illegal felling of mature trees on the land.
GLH & Associates Architects, commissioned with constructing an office development for Standard Bank on the corner of Bolton Road and Cradock Avenue, illegally cut down a number of trees over the age of 60 years.
All thats left of a 80-year-old oak tree Trees over this age are protected by the National Forest Act of 1998 and the Environment Conservation Act of 1989. The protection applies to both indigenous and exotic trees, on either private or public property.
Gabriel Motsatsi, the senior horticulturist and acting general manager for street trees at Johannesburg City Parks, says that he hopes to have a lawyer's letter delivered to GLH by the end of the week.

Communities debate the costs and benefits of regulating tree removal on private property; New York metro area

When Trees Fall Next Door, Neighbors Make the Noise - NYTimes.com:
JENNIE SUNSHINE doesn’t need horror movies. She has witnessed numerous chain-saw massacres right on Ravencrest Road, her sleepy suburban block in this upper Westchester town.
“It seems like every time someone moves onto the block, they begin cutting down trees,” said Ms. Sunshine, 38, a stay-at-home mother of a 2-year-old girl. Three neighbors have deforested parts of their yards in the past two years, she said.
“I’m not a nosy neighbor, but every time I hear the saws, I’m like, ‘Oh, my God, there it is again,’ ” she said. “These trees were not sick or a safety hazard; these people just wanted to rearrange the landscape. I thought, ‘If this continues, what’s Yorktown going to look like in 30 years, the Lower East Side?’

Columnist gives post-op on failed "baby grand" tree protection bill; Sarasota, FL

Ernst: All-or-nothing stance doesn't help the trees HeraldTribune.com Sarasota Florida Southwest Florida's Information Leader:
The news often depicts public debate as a battle between two sides. One recent example is Sarasota County's discussion over how to save trees through the so-called baby grand tree ordinance, which the county commissioners scrapped last week.
While we could generalize that the proposed ordinance pitted environmentalists against developers, builders and the business community, the reality was more nuanced. That's the trouble with labels. Within each camp, plenty of individuals either supported or opposed the ordinance for varying reasons and with varying fervor.
As part of the political theater on the environmental 'side,' we had an exchange between Dan Lobeck, slow-growth land-use attorney, and Jono Miller, former director of environmental studies at New College.
In well-circulated e-mails, Miller actually opposed the ordinance and offered several other suggestions for conserving the county's tree canopy.

Town commission approves canopy preservation ordinance; St. Simons Island, GA

The Brunswick News - Home Page:
In a separate matter, the commission approved a plan to preserve the tree canopy of St. Simons Island.

The ordinance, which would apply to the island only, requires tree plans to be submitted with all site plans for approval, and also creates a process of establishing tree protection zones.

The new guidelines will also create a credit system for replacing removed trees.

The new rules call for eight tree credits per acre, which means that in general one-twelfth of new property would have to be made up of trees.

The new rules would not apply to residential houses or uses where clear areas are essential, such as golf courses, athletic fields and airports.

Sarasota County may protect more trees by extending protections to "baby grand" trees; Sarasota County, FL

Sarasota County may protect more trees HeraldTribune.com Sarasota Florida Southwest Florida's Information Leader:
Trees that are likely candidates to become tall, canopied centerpieces of a property would get a new level of protection from being cut down under a proposed county law.
Sarasota County already makes it particularly hard to cut down a 'grand' tree, a designation for a dozen species that have reached a certain height, breadth and thickness of trunk. A law that would create a new class of protected tree -- the baby grand -- is running into opposition from some who say the law is too onerous.
A public hearing on the law is set for Tuesday and county commissioners could decide to vote up or down on the issue then.
Baby grands are members of these same 12 protected species, including American elms and live oaks. They haven't reached the height or obtained the canopy of a grand tree, but their trunks are at least 18 inches thick and they are prime candidates to grow into that status.

Tree ordinance protects oak threatened by development of adjacent lot-house altered rather than tree removed; La Cañada Flintridge, CA

La Cañada Valley Sun: La Cañada Flintridge, California:
An oak tree once again took center stage at La Cañada City Hall Tuesday as members of the planning commission debated whether to approve the construction of a two story house that could threaten a large Quercus agrifolia. This time the tree won, minus a few branches.

The original development proposal detailed plans for a new 3,040-square-feet house to be built on a 8,450-square-feet lot located at 307 San Juan Way. A wide drainage channel runs along the west property line, and rooted in the channel is a 35-foot oak tree. Several large branches stretch east over the subject property. The proposal as presented would have required the removal of these branches. An arborist’s report commissioned by the city, however, found that pruning to the extent proposed could fatally damage the tree. The oak tree is one of five species of trees protected by the La Cañada Flintridge tree ordinance.

Morris Arboretum experts mobilize to preserve canopy during Parkway renovations; Philadelphia, PA

Penn Current: Features: Preserving the urban canopy:
A team based out of the Morris Arboretum is helping to protect and enhance the overhead greenery as street-level renovations move forward, including the improvement of traffic lanes, an upgrade in sidewalks and curbing, and the installation of new benches, bicycle lanes and pedestrian crossings.
“We’ve been involved ever since there was the idea in Philadelphia to restore the Parkway,” says Jason Lubar, associate director of urban forestry at the Arboretum. “Early on in the Parkway renovation, it was realized that trees play an important role as part of the design element. As the Parkway has aged, so have the trees that were originally planted there.”
The Urban Forestry Consultants team has inventoried most of the trees along the Parkway, and will provide expert opinion on how to minimize the impact of construction on the avenue’s elder hardwoods and softwoods.

Proposed tree ordinance for Hartford; Hartford, CT

Coming out for trees in Hartford - Rick Green CT Confidential:
The ordinance, which council members Luis Cotto and Jim Boucher plan to introduce, would provide specific protection for Hartford's trees. It would set up a citizen tree advisory commission and a city forester position and create a master plan for the city's trees.
Significantly -- and this may be controversial -- property property owners would not be allowed to remove large trees without obtaining a permit from the city. A special fund to pay for new trees would be financed through permits required for tree removal and fines for illegal cutting of protected trees.