City council committee to discuss changes to tree protection ordinance

An Atlanta City Council committee will be deliberating changes to the current tree protection ordinance amidst the effort to revitalize the city s tree coverage The Public Advancement and Human Services Committee is set to hold a work session to discuss the tree protection ordinance on May The current draft of the ordinance raises the recompense cost for trees destroyed and not replanted during enhancement and removes the price cap of per acre Greg Levine the Executive Director of Trees Atlanta informed Rough Draft that the proposed hike up right now from to then rising yearly to by is still only a fraction of the actual cost of buying planting and cultivating a tree which is anywhere from to Although Atlanta developers argue that the increased price will hinder Mayor Andre Dickens goal to build or preserve affordable housing units in the city by the current draft of the ordinance states that projects that meet the affordable housing goals will have significantly reduced replacement or recompense payments after the tree density standard is met Despite being cited as forcefully against the proposal Atlanta Habitat for Humanity one of the inadequate developers offering homes in Atlanta for less than is supportive of preserving the city s canopy while still making affordable housing accessible We ve never expressed being forcefully opposed to the tree ordinance Rosalyn Merrick the President and CEO of Atlanta Habitat for Humanity stated Rough Draft We ve never announced that and we wouldn t Instead we start with how we might partner and find a remedy together that serves both goals that the city has to increase the number of affordable housing units available to families and to preserve our canopy As Atlanta grows and we create more housing we have to be mindful of the environmental impacts of that work while also being really conscious of all the costs involved and how we can control that because ultimately those costs do get passed on to the buyer Atlanta Habitat has worked with arborists from the city since about to better understand how disturbing land and trees through growth affects the atmosphere When they started writing this ordinance they came to us asking questions and having solutions and listening to us Brian Findley the VP of Housing and Land at Atlanta Habitat noted Generally I think they ve done a good job of trying to balance all the different entities that are involved here and really has tried to put affordable housing up front While multiple years in the making this ordinance introduced by Council member Michael Julian Bond comes after the council voted to return the city s canopy coverage to percent According to the latest numbers from the current coverage is percent and likely lower Levine says trees are crucial to the environmental sustainability and wellness of the city Soil around trees absorb more water he announced Trees are air conditioning Their stomates release moisture and indeed can cool the city when it s at its hottest point and they also shade streets and sidewalks and protect the streets from heating up as much and make sidewalks more relaxed for people who don t have vehicles or access to transit Trees have been proven to be beneficial to improving healthcare Studies show patients who have a view of trees spend fewer days in the hospital than those who don t and trees decrease the vulnerability of heat stroke the number one weather-related death in America We can really create a better Atlanta no matter what s going on around us Levine mentioned Yeah we aren t going to stop these crazy storms or state change but we can reduce the temperature in Atlanta we can reduce particular of the storm effects in Atlanta We can have a healthier city than other cities as long as we re keeping the canopy up The post City council committee to discuss changes to tree protection ordinance appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta