AGENDA #11
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TO: |
Mayor and Town Council |
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FROM: |
Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager |
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SUBJECT: |
Land Use Management Ordinance Text Amendments-Modifications to Tree Protection Regulations |
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DATE: |
June 11, 2007 |
Enactment of the attached Ordinance would modify the Land Use Management Ordinance to adjust the tree protection requirements.
We recommend that the Council enact the attached Ordinance which proposes the first phase of a phased adjustment to the tree protection regulations. The proposed interim changes to the ordinance would require a permit to remove trees in a cumulative area of more than 5,000 square feet, even if a building permit is not involved. The interim change will also lower the threshold size of trees that must be surveyed.
To develop new tree regulations, the Council has endorsed a two-phased approach – moderate restrictions in the short term, as described above, followed by more substantive changes in the future. The Council plans to hire a consultant with expertise in specialized tree ordinances to develop the more substantive changes to the Tree Protection Ordinance.
Also attached to this memorandum (Attachment 1) is a recent newspaper article from the New York Times describing one technique to calculate the economic value of the city’s street trees.