Urban Forestry in San Antonio

The cTc Urban Forest Management Program

San Antonio's urban forest is a natural life-support system that sustains our air and water resources and contributes to the health and quality of life of our people. This green infrastructure is worth billions of dollars and should be managed, improved, and maintained similar to transportation and stormwater systems.

We are proposing a six-component program whose goal is attainment of 40% tree canopy cover within the City limits.

The six components are:

1. Evaluation of our existing urban forest
2. Evaluation of the tree preservation ordinance
3. Evaluation of current tree planting programs
4. Trend projections and formulation of tree planting/preservation targets
5. A full-time Urban Forester for the City of San Antonio
6. A Citizens Advisory Committee

Three of these six components have been accomplished:

1. Our existing forest was evaluated in the May, 2009 Urban Ecosystem Analysis for San Antonio.
2. A cTc analysis of development projects built to tree ordinance standards was completed in cooperation with CoSA.
3. San Antonio now has a full-time Urban Forester, Michael Nentwich.

The San Antonio Tree Preservation Ordinance

In 1997, following some high profile tree massacres, City Council adopted San Antonio's first Tree Preservation Ordinance (TPO). Although the ordinance is over 12 years old, a significant number of developments circumvent the ordinance by using our liberal state grandfathering laws. This has led to well-publicized clear-cuttings like occurred at Pulte Homes' Encino Ridge development on Highway 281 North at Stone Oak Parkway.

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A new beginning

In 2003, the City revised the weak 1997 ordinance, which allowed homebuilders to destroy up to 93% of existing trees. Among the changes were:

• increased protection for large heritage trees
• strong protection for trees in floodplains
• smaller protected tree size
• increased preservation percentages
• elimination of the building footprint exemption
• protection for understory trees and vegetation

Wanted: more tree canopy cover

Despite claims to the contrary, research indicates that many more trees are preserved on developments built per the TPO. However, the same study shows the ordinance fails to provide adequate tree canopy cover on completed projects.

This tree canopy deficit results partially from overuse of the fee-in-lieu of preservation. Using this option, developers can choose to pay a fee instead of preserving the prescribed number of trees. Consequently, the rules still needed additional adjustment to slow San Antonio's rapid canopy loss.

Two steps back

In 2006, after intensive lobbying by the land development industry, City Council made substantial cuts in preservation standards for certain species. Most devastating of these changes was the virtual elimination of requirements to preserve understory trees such as Texas Persimmon.

Canopy Cover Ordinance of 2010

Despite getting their way in 2006, some developers chose to exploit loopholes that let them circumvent the ordinance. In response, City officials set out to close the loopholes, and while they were at it, write an ordinance that puts San Antonio on the path to meeting the goals of the 2009 Urban Ecosystem Analysis.

This began a year-long stakeholder process that resulted in two separate revisions of the ordinance. The first revision upped protections for environmentally sensitive areas in order to ensure the continued viability of Camp Bullis.

The second revision, adopted in May, 2010, established canopy cover requirements for completed developments. These requirements are met through a combination of preservation and new tree planting.