Villarreal and Hardberger announce legislation to close tree ordinance loophole
April 3, 2009

State Representative Mike Villarreal and Mayor Phil Hardberger held a press conference today to announce legislation that will eliminate a loophole in the tree ordinance. Under current Texas law, landowners who claim "agricultural use" are exempt from municipal ordinances, regulations, and ad valorem taxes. Developers have exploited this exemption to remove trees before submitting development applications.

Villarreal's bill will allow the City to determine tree preservation requirements based on the trees that existed 5 years before the land was developed. If trees were removed during that 5-year period, the City could factor them into its tree preservation calculations.

Previously, the City attempted to close the loophole by amending the tree ordinance itself. However, those amendments died after being rejected by the developer-dominated Technical Advisory Committee.