Phase 2 of the Tree Ordinance rewrite is currently underway with no commitment to achieving the 50% canopy goal Atlanta City Council established in April 2023.  Instead, the official "directive" given by the City to the Tree Ordinance Rewrite committee is to:

•  Promote the preservation and management of trees in Atlanta,

•  Identify and specify opportunities for efficiently and equitably increasing canopy appropriately located throughout the city,

•  While minimizing impacts to developers, home and property owners, the public sector and other stakeholders.

 

Why Phase 2 of the Tree Ordinance Rewrite Won't Save The Tree Canopy

The directive given to the Phase 2 Tree Ordinance Rewrite committee is purely aspirational, with no actual measurable goals. For the 50% canopy resolution to be effective, City Council must commit to establishing measurable goals, not just continue "promoting" tree preservation. As we saw in the first phase of the Tree Ordinance, giving the arborists more flexibility to save trees wasn't enough to save trees.  Now, City Council need to get serious about preserving our existing tree canopy by:

1. Insisting on better standards for tree preservation in the Tree Ordinance,
   
   
2. Limiting the amount of land that can be disturbed in site development, which will require a change to the Zoning regulations currently being rewritten, and
   
   
3. Raising recompense fees to the current rate it costs to replace removed trees inch-for-inch. Presently, the mandated recompense fees do not begin to cover the actual costs of tree replanting.

None of these commitments are included in the current directive, whereas the commitment to "minimize impact to developers" is. At some point, City Council must realize that an effective Tree Ordinance will impact developers' profits, and there is no "minimum" profit loss the development community will accept as long as City Council lets them keep avoiding it.

Also, changes being presently discussed in our Zoning Ordinance rewrite, which is occurring at the same time as the Tree Ordinance rewrite, do not include rezoning for greater tree preservation and planting. When asked how the new Zoning Ordinance will help save the tree canopy, the response is: "The Tree Ordinance rewrite will address this issue." However, zoning ordinances are integral to preserving land for trees, and yet the Zoning and Tree Ordinance rewrites are occurring in silos. 

If we don't change the Zoning Ordinance to limit land disturbance on construction sites, the Tree Ordinance is powerless to save most all the trees currently being destroyed by development!