After a 5½-hour meeting Tuesday night before a packed City Hall, including often-lengthy comments from 30 residents, Decatur’s city commission tabled a proposed tree conservation ordinance — the city’s first since 1989 — until its March 3 meeting.
The commission did agree on three amendments to the proposed ordinance:
- A community-wide tree canopy cover goal of 50 percent (previously 55 percent in the proposed ordinance) to be achieved by 2039;
- That in any home project (like a deck or shed, or room addition) where impervious cover is increased by more than 15 percent (previously 10 percent) then replanting's required to comply with the stated canopy goal and
- That homeowners should get more options, or flexibility, in replacing a tree than what's currently stated.
Essentially, the decision not to act last night stems from a flurry of anti-ordinance comments that hit Decatur’s Open City Hall web site over the last few days. Nearly 78 percent opposed or strongly opposed the ordinance. Those same sentiments were reflected in Tuesday’s public statements where 22 of the 30 speakers either opposed or asked to delay it. Most felt the ordinance was both too inflexible and would prove overly expensive for individual property owners.
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