A tree management bylaw for the downtown area is being prepared for council’s consideration.
It follows a resolution prompted late last year by Mayor Shane Brienen in which he suggested a tree management bylaw could protect trees on private property, regulate cutting down trees and require ongoing maintenance.
Subsequent research by District of Houston staffers of similar bylaws in the bylaw revealed some common conditions.
“Most noteworthy is that all bylaws researched regulated tree removal through permitting and set out provisions for tree replacement. Implementing and consequently enforcing permits are an option; however, staff are cautioning against stringent requirements that will be difficult to monitor and enforce given limited staffing resources and specific tree knowledge,” staffers laid out in a memo to council.
Staffers also felt a tree management bylaw should not impede development-related activity but to “ensure appropriate preservation efforts are being utilized, especially where large scale clearing and removal is taking place.”
Council members were asked to consider what species of trees that would require a permit before being removed, fees, replacement requirements and how permits would be enforced.
In the end, council members decided to limit any tree management bylaw to the downtown area, already an area requiring a development permit for construction and other activity.
That stems from a section of the municipality’s official community plan designed to promote the infill of vacant lots with additional commercial, residential and public-use development.
And a key portion of that effort is the wide-ranging plan to revitalize the downtown core with the first phase to start this spring by replacing aging civic works and constructing new sidewalks and other people-focused amenities.
The proposed tree management bylaw could be ready for consideration in time for council’s March 17 regular meeting.