Bill to gut heritage tree protections is defeated
updated July 6, 2011

A bill filed in the 82nd Texas Legislature by Sen. Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay) would have killed virtually all protection for large Heritage trees and allowed developers to destroy 80-94% of the trees on a site without paying a penny in mitigation fees. It died when the legislature adjourned on May 30th.

An editorial in the Express-News summarizes the bill as follows:

...Fraser’s bill would make the tree ordinance so cumbersome to apply and so open to litigation that it becomes practically unenforceable.

Senator Jeff Wentworth and Democratic Senators led by Sen. Leticia Van De Putte blocked SB 1741 from coming to a vote in the Senate. The House companion bill never got a committee hearing because its purported sponsor, Representative Harold Dutton (D-Houston), was not aware he had been named as sponsor.

About SB 1741

Under this bill, San Antonio developers could have destroyed 80-94% of the trees on a development site. Other potential ramifications include:

• stripping virtually all protection from Heritage trees
• creating a windfall for developers' attorneys, who would rush to file lawsuits to capture large settlements with the City
• bankrupting the City's tree planting fund
• frivolous lawsuits against the City capitalizing on the shifting of all litigation risks to the defendant

Because of grandfathering, we would be stuck with a powerless ordinance for a decade or longer. In addition, developers could sue or threaten to sue the city for a refund of mitigation fees they paid.

The bill's effects are not readily apparent from reading it, and would not be known with any certainty until it became law and had time to work. However, be assured it would increase destruction of trees, especially large irreplaceable heritage trees.