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PTC wants more info on tree rules

By J. FRANK LYNCH
jflynch@thecitizennews.com

Concerned that some changes proposed for the city’s Tree Preservation Ordinance went overboard and others weren’t clear, members of the Peachtree City Council voted to table the matter for further study following a public hearing last week.

City Planner David Rast told the council that the ordinance had been completely rewritten after nearly two years of work by a citizens advisory group.

The main intention in strengthening the ordinance was to give the city more authority to address violations, to preserve the city’s tree canopy and to protect homeowners from fly-by-night tree removal companies.

The group studied 15 municipal tree ordinances from other cities before writing the Peachtree City proposal, Rast said, and also consulted with arborists and the U.S. Forestry Service.

“We tried to cover all the bases,” he said.

The current ordinance has no meat, Rast said, and is inconsistent with many of the city’s standing policies on removing or protecting trees.

As an example, Rast cited an incident involving a lakefront homeowner who recently removed all the vegetation along a city-owned greenbelt so he could have a better view of the water from his house.

“I can’t tell you the number of inspections we’ve done where people have cleaned up a greenbelt, trimmed trees on city property, cleared underbrush for a better view or whatever,” he said. “The end result has always been, ‘Show me where in the ordinance it says we can’t do that?’”

The new ordinance would close that loophole, Rast said.

It proposed ordinance would also limit the size and number of trees homeowners can remove from their property within a 12-month period to a total of 30 inches diameter, all trees added together.

In other words, the proposed rule would limit homeowners to removing 10 trees each three inches in diameter, or three 10-inch trees, or two 15-inch trees, or any combination adding up to 30 inches in diameter during a one-year period.

Also, it would require the purchase of a $25 permit and the hiring of certified tree removal companies for big jobs.

Rast said the revenue would help pay for the considerable staff time spent already on tree inspections.

Councilwoman Judi-ann Rutherford wanted to know if Georgia even licensed tree services.

“I don’t want to force something that doesn’t exist,” she said.

Rast said he was unsure, and also added that the new rules would require all tree companies operating in the city to have an occupational tax license on file.

Rutherford also took issue with a portion of the ordinance that seemed to indicate homeowners would have to buy a permit and hire a service to trim trees on private property.

“It says that I as a homeowner have to have somebody to prune my trees, and I have a problem with that,” Rutherford said. “Have you priced the cost of tree removal lately?”

Councilman Murray Weed said he’d like to see a stipulation in the ordinance that requires replacement of trees as well as a fine when city greenbelt has been infringed upon.

Rast said homeowners shouldn’t be afraid the city is infringing on their rights to remove trees.

“There have been very few times when we actually have gone out to inspect a property and denied somebody the right to remove their trees,” he said.

But last year alone, the city issued 503 tree removal permits which resulted in the lost of more than 4,000 trees, Rast said.

Already in 2004, the city has issued 477 permits and the city has lost 3,543 trees, Rast said. And those numbers don’t count the number of trees that were removed due to pine beetle infestation.

“And it’s not like people are replacing the trees on their property,” he said.

No residents spoke out against the proposed changes in Thursday’s hearing. Homeowner Robert Brown, a regular watchdog at council meetings who worked several years ago to get Peachtree City designated as a “Tree City, USA,” heartily endorsed it.

“We’ve lost 7,500 trees in less than two years,” Brown said, citing the figures noted by Rast. “That’s not what being a ‘Tree City USA’ is all about.”