Item 4J
Ordinance No. 585-E, Amending The City of Southlake Tree Preservation Ordinance and Technical Manual
Item 4J
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Governor Abbott Signed House Bill No. 7 that generally:
Prohibits a municipality from requiring a mitigation fee for trees removed from a property having a one or two family dwelling
that is the person’s residence, if the tree is less than 10 inches in diameter at 4.5 feet above ground (DBH);
Requires that mitigation be permitted with trees having a minimum diameter
of 2” (DBH);
Requires that tree replacement must be permitted to be on the subject property at 100% for a person’s residence, 50% residential development, construction or renovation
not for the person’s residence, 40% for non-residential development or on mutually agreed upon location.
House Bill No. 7
The purpose of this amendment is to align the City’s Tree Preservation Ordinance with the recently signed House Bill No. 7 , will go into effect December 1st of this year, which amends
Chapter 212 of the Local Government Code pertaining to Municipal Regulation of Subdivision and Property Development.
The bill generally :
Prohibits municipalities from requiring mitigation
of trees on a persons one or two family existing residence if the tree is less than 10 inches, at 4 feet 6 inches above ground level, otherwise known as Diameter at Breast Height or
DBH
Requires that tree mitigation size be 2 inches DBH
And requires that on-site replacement of trees be permitted at
- 100% person’s residence on site;
- 50% for residential
development, construction or renovation
- 40% for non-residential development;
- or at a mutually agreed upon location; The City’s Ordinance has always permitted the choice for any
percentage of on-site, off-site or payment mitigation.
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Proposed Amendment:
Delete an obsolete term “Caliper” from the definitions section;
Add an exemption from mitigation for any tree having a diameter of less than 10” (DBH) on property
having an existing one or two-family dwelling that is the person’s residence;
Set the minimum diameter for tree replacement to 2” (DBH);
Clarify that the agent in charge of mitigation
may choose on-site, off-site or payment into the reforestation fund;
Tree Preservation
Ordinance No. 585-E
The amendments deletes an obsolete definition for “Caliper”, a method of tree trunk measurement that is no loner used;
Adds the exemption for mitigation of trees less than 10” Diameter
at Breast Height (DBH) for a person’ one or two family residence;
Sets the minimum mitigation tree size at 2” DBH;
And clarifies that the agent in charge of mitigation may choose on-site,
off-site, or payment into the reforestation fund
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Tree Preservation
Ordinance No. 585-E
4. DEFINITIONS
(Deleted, term is no longer used.)
CALIPER: American Association of Nurserymen standard for trunk measurement of nursery stock. Caliper of the trunk shall be taken
six (6) inches above the ground for up to four (4) inch caliper size and twelve (12) inches above the ground for larger caliper sizes.
“Caliper”
Method of measure obsolete to current ordinance
(DBH)
Diameter at Breast Height is the current method Used
Under Section 4, the obsolete term “Caliper” is deleted.
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Tree Preservation
Ordinance No. 585-E
5.3 EXEMPTIONS: Alteration of the following tree(s) shall be exempt from the provisions of this Ordinance:
a. Any tree that endangers the public health, welfare, or safety such that
immediate alteration is required;
b. Any tree that has disrupted a public utility service due to a tornado, storm, accident, flood, or other act of nature, provided that alteration
of such a tree shall be limited to the portion of the tree reasonably necessary to reestablish and maintain reliable utility service;
c. A tree located on the property of a licensed
plant or tree nursery which has trees planted and growing on the premises for the sale or intended sale to the general public in the ordinary course of the nursery’s business;
d. Any
tree, other than a street tree, located on a lot or tract shown on an application or plan for development submitted after the effective date of this Ordinance in any residentially zoned
district, including but not limited to SF20, SF30, SF1, RE and the lots zoned for residential uses only in the Transition, Rural Conservation, Planned Unit Development, or Employment
Center zoning and DT zoning districts, which is the person’s residence owner occupies as a homestead, shall be exempted from the application of this Ordinance except that any lot or
tract, or portion thereof, designated as a tree preservation area, or tree designated as “protected” on a Tree Conservation Plan approved after the effective date of this Ordinance shall
not be exempted from the provisions of this Ordinance.
e. Any lot shown on a plat application or plan for development submitted before the effective date of this Ordinance shall be
subject to the provisions of Ordinance 585-B unless the application or plat expires or the project is abandoned or significantly altered, in which event the lot shall be subject to those
provisions of this Ordinance which apply to the new project.
f. A tree located on property which is zoned AG (Agricultural) and being actively used for agricultural purposes or as a
person’s residence homestead, as long as the tree is located within a radius of 150 feet from the principal structure on the property or which is the person’s residence the owner’s residence
that is used as a homestead.
g. Any tree that is less than ten inch (10”) DBH and is located on property that is an existing one-family or two-family dwelling that is the person’s residence.
Under section 5.3 “Exemptions”, the phrase “ owner occupies as a homestead is replaced with “which is the persons residence”
And the exemptions for removal of trees less than 10 inches
DBH is added for a persons existing one or two family residence.
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Tree Preservation
Ordinance No. 585-E
9.2 SIZE AND NUMBER: A sufficient number of trees shall be planted to equal or exceed, measured in DBH, the diameter of each tree altered. Each replacement tree shall be a minimum
of three inch (3") caliper at 6 inches above ground level, and seven feet in height at least two inch (2”) in diameter at the point on the trunk 4 ½ feet above ground level when planted.
9.3. LOCAT
ION: Each replacement tree should be planted on the same lot or tract as the tree which was altered. However, if the replacement tree cannot be planted on the same lot or tract in accordance
with universally accepted arboricultural standards, the Administrative Official may require agent charged with mitigating the alteration of a protected tree may choose any or a combination
of the following:
a. replacement on other private property within the City of Southlake, with the approval of the owners of both the property on which the protected tree was altered
and the property on which the replacement tree is to be planted. In such an instance, the owner of the property on which the replacement tree is to be planted shall agree, in writing,
to maintain the replacement tree to the standards established in this Ordinance;
b. replacement on public property as approved by the Administrative Official; or
c. payment to the
Reforestation Fund as provided by Section 9.7, below.
Section 9. 2 and add the minimum tree size needed for mitigation to be 2 inch and
Section 9.3 provides clarification that the agent responsible for mitigation has the choice of on-site
or off-site mitigation or payment into the reforestation fund.
Also, that any tree replacement located on public property requires approval of the administrative official.
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Questions?
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