Tree Speech

The Express-News tells us that “Americas Builder” D.R. Horton, Inc. is “pleased” with a jurys decision to fine them $15.5 million for decimating the environment on its Kallison Ranch project. Their spin is that the jury must have thought Horton did not violate the tree ordinance.

It was interesting to read lobbyist Ken Browns take on the whopping fine. Brown expects that the judge will overturn the fine based on the jurys decision that Horton subsidiary Continental Homes was grandfathered out of the tree ordinance.

If anything should be overturned, it is the jurys grandfathering decision, based not only the huge fine awarded but, yes, also on the letter of the law. Brown decries the trying of cases in “the court of public opinion” and in front of juries who are “weak on the law”. Presumably, he would prefer cases be decided in backrooms, where highly-paid lobbyists easily outgun the public and trump the will of the people.

It is ironic that Continental wants the jurys decision retroactively second-guessed. Developers loudly bemoan alleged attempts to “retroactively” apply environmental standards after landowners submit their first letters or paper plans. Predictably, they are silent when the Legislature passes retroactive grandfathering laws that ensnare cities attempts to protect the health of their people.

The fact remains, nobody knows how the jury would have ruled on the grandfathering claim if they knew that the judge would nullify their fine. To change their decision after they have gone home is not justice and should not be legal.

In a column titled Hard to separate trees from forest, developers and donations, Jaime Castillo reports that the Greater SA Builders Association and Indian Springs Ltd. are in a legal battle with the City over its new grandfathering ordinance. One of the Indian Springs partners is “influential developer Gene Powell”. Castillo notes that Powell was “giddy” over the quarter million dollars raised for Governor Rick Perry by the San Antonio Real Estate industry.

Part of the 1,500 acre Indian Springs development next to the PGA Tour Resort and over the aquifer recharge zone

City Council recently rejected a grandfathering claim on a different Powell project, and speculation is that this may lead to a second court fight. Apparently, developers feel the grandfathering ordinance makes it too hard for them to lock in the entitlements that allow them to circumvent environmental protection standards.

When the new ordinance passed, the Express-News heralded it with the headline Developers are being reined in. If so, the “reins” must be made out of Silly Putty.

Our primary benefit from the new ordinance is elimination of a loophole in the aquifer protection ordinance that should never have been there in the first place. While the E-N story trumpets requirements for developers to file site plans, it did not reveal that only a small fraction of developments will be required to submit such plans. Moreover, a last minute amendment by Councilman Hall effectively nullified the site plan’s usefulness for reducing entitlements.

For the vast majority of development, the City’s weak grandfathering rules are mostly unchanged. Large projects covering thousands of acres are typically grandfathered by filing “Master Development Plans”. There were no changes to the MDP rules, and a developer who files one can remain grandfathered for 25 years before starting construction.

It is also important to note that the ordinance was necessitated by legislation passed in 2005 intended to increase grandfathering for developers. One of the more curious stipulations allows developers to secure entitlements simply by dropping “fair notice” of their project in a mailbox.

However, the legislature did not define what it meant by “fair notice”, leaving cities across the state scrambling to adopt emergency “fair notice” provisions. San Antonio was 10 months behind Austin in responding to the laws. During that time, our City was unprotected from grandfathering claims made pursuant to the new statutes.

New Urban News reports that tree-lined streets have fewer accidents than streets where roadsides are kept clear of trees. Citing work by Texas A&M researchers, the article contradicts the common misconception that wide travel corridors, free of obstacles, are needed to protect the lives of errant motorists.

In light of this research, TXDoTs planned massacre of a grove of heritage pecans along SH 16 could threaten the safety of people driving through the sylvan streetscape. One of the trees is 300-350 years old.

On top of that, the Medina River will be contaminated by runoff from this project. Here is a picture showing the proximity of the river during drought conditions. It actually comes even closer when flows are normal.

The good folks suing to prevent this travesty inform us that TXDoT has filed a motion for summary judgment to dismiss their lawsuit. If you can offer them any ideas or help, give us a cyber-jingle.

Through a generous grant from ESRI, the cTc has added geospatial analysis capabilities to its urban forestry toolbox. First up on our list of projects - a Tree Ordinance Evaluation program, which will gauge the effectiveness of the tree ordinance in maintaining the health of San Antonios urban forest. The study will use tree cover datasets from American Forests 2003 Urban Ecosystem Analysis and high resolution aerial photographs showing tree cover before and after conversion to the developed state.

This project will be the first look at what the tree ordinance does from an environmental viewpoint. In the past, discussions about the ordinance have suffered from a lack of insight into the amount of tree cover a compliant project retains.

The grant comprises ESRIs flagship ArcGIS Desktop application, ArcInfo, along with classroom training in Advanced Analysis with ArcGIS.

City Councilman Roland Gutierrez is making trees a key component of his plan for meeting clean air standards. Named Project CASA (Clean Air S.A.) the plan includes:

• enhancing quality tree integration and preservation
• increasing city-wide tree planting initiatives
• creating a no-kill zone for all creek and river channels

In addition, Gutierrez is proposing programs to increase hybrid vehicle usage and capture additional grants for clean air programs. Read more on Project CASA in this Express-News story: Councilman pushes incentives to clean S.A. air