 |
|
Home ·
Amendment ·
Summary · FAQs ·
About Us |
Citizens endorse tree billBy Jessie-Lynne Kerr The Greater Arlington/Beaches Citizens Planning Advisory Committee has become the first of the city's six such groups to endorse a new tree-preservation ordinance amendment that could go on the ballot at the Nov. 7 general election. The group, representing many neighborhood associations, voted to support the move at a meeting Friday. The endorsement came after a presentation by William A. "Trip" Stanly III, one of the five organizers of the Citizens for Tree Preservation Inc. The group needs to collect 21,000 signed petitions by mid-September to get the proposal on the November ballot, Stanly said. At last count, the group had collected 18,000 signatures, including 12,000 obtained by volunteers who set up tables at polling places during the March presidential primary, he said. "We are concerned with the deforestation occurring with development and want to set minimum standards," Stanly said. "We are asking for support, not only from the [citizen planning groups], but from all the neighborhood associations they represent." According to Stanly, the minimum standards proposed in the amendment are similar to regulations in a city ordinance that was changed in December. The proposed standards would apply to all development, including commercial and residential, and would designate trees with a circumference of three feet or more as protected trees. Pines and palm trees, except for the long leaf pine and the cabbage, or sabal, palm, would not be protected. Protected trees that must be removed for construction would have to be replaced at a ratio of 1 to 3, or by a tree at least a third as large as the one removed. Live oak trees would have to be replaced at a ratio of 1 to 1, he said. If a developer is unable to plant replacement trees at the construction site, an alternative site may be used or the developer can contribute funds to a city fund. Exempted from the proposed amendment are individual single-family homes and agriculturally used property. Under the current ordinance, only trees with a 6-foot circumference are protected, Stanly said. Citizens committee member Valerie Britt, who represents the Pablo Point Civic Association, said regulations similar to the proposal already apply to commercial developments. "Our office parks look better than where we're building homes," she said. |
|
Home ·
Amendment ·
Summary · FAQs ·
About Us |
© 2000 by Citizens for Tree
Preservation, Inc. |