Tree Ordinance amendments adopted on November 2, 2006

1. Eliminate protection for most Texas Persimmon, Texas Mountain Laurel, Bluewood Condalia, and Texas Redbud, and make heritage designation for such trees unlikely. Substantially cut preservation of Ashe juniper, Hackberry, and Ash trees.
2. Reduce mitigation for heritage tree destruction by 66%. This amendment applies only to Persimmon, Mountain Laurel, Condalia, Redbud, Arizona ash, Hackberry and Ashe juniper trees.
3. Substantially increase the size of the unpaved natural area surrounding trees in parking lots, but allow paving closer to their trunk if "alternative construction" is used.
4. Reduce preservation for school athletic fields.
5. Assess a fee for clearing trees without a permit as follows:

   Residential ≤ 10 lots	Residential > 10 lots	Commercial ≤ 2 acres	Commercial > 2 acres
   $3,000	$10,000	$3,000	the greater of $10,000 or $75/acre

   
   This amendment was rescinded on November 30, 2006 because it was determined to violate state law.
6. Allow random sampling of heritage trees instead of requiring the trees to be individually surveyed.
7. Create a new "tree canopy" section of the ordinance.
8. Require the City to allow "tree credits" to substitute for preservation under the 2003 and 2006 tree ordinances. These credits, which were secured under the 1997 ordinance, could only be used for that ordinance previously.
9. Create a "Tree Canopy Investment Fund" to be used for planting trees. Funding will come from a $15/lot fee on residential building permits and a $25/acre fee on commercial building permits.
10. When a developer chooses to mitigate destruction of heritage Hackberry and Ash by planting replacement trees, the replacements must be at least 3" caliper as opposed to the 2½" currently required.