Arlington leaders urge input as groups blast this tree preservation proposal
Despite several months of public meetings on a proposal to tighten ordinance that protect treasured Arlington trees, members from both sides of the debate said did not feel like they had enough input.
City officials set out to update Arlington’s tree ordinance to save the Cross Timbers ecoregion that touches southeastern Kansas, central Ohio and central Texas. Current city ordinances treat trees native to the region — post oaks, Texas oaks and blackjack oaks — as any other trees when analyzing a project’s environmental impact. The proposed change would create more incentives for preserving trees larger than 18 caliper-inches, a measurement landscapers use to measure trunk diameter, as well as modify policies dictating how developers catalog and survey trees on their property.
This change would harm developers who own small pieces of thickly wooded property, according to Jim Maibach of Peyco Southwest Realty. The city consulted with a “roundtable” of developers, but Maibach said the group consisted primarily of engineers who have less stake in the process than property owners. He suggested pulling several proposed changes and forming a task force to deliberate.
“We’re putting additional taxes on people trying to sell their property,” Maibach said during the meeting.
In an email to Council and Mayor Jeff Williams, Grace Darling, executive director of the nonprofit group Green Arlington Foundation, admonished leaders for modifications to the proposals borne from the discussions with developers.
“And yet those of us who care about quality of life in the city are compelled to endorse it only because the existing ordinance is worse, offering virtually no protection for our heritage species,” Darling wrote.
Council unanimously approved the ordinance changes on first reading, while urging people including Maibach and Darling to discuss their concerns with Council members before giving the proposals final approval during their Nov. 17 meeting. Most of Council were disgruntled that comments about being left out arose after various city groups have taken up the discussion over several months of public meetings.
“C’mon everybody, get on board, we’ve been discussing this for a long time,” said Andrew Piel, District 4 Council member.
Sheri Capehart, District 2 Council member who spearheaded the effort, said she thought city staff and developers reached consensus. While Council discussed tabling the first vote on the changes, she and others balked, suggesting further conversation should take place during the next meeting..
“We could spend another year trying to get input and have nothing accomplished,” Capehart said.
Seven people, including Darling, supported the proposal but did not speak during the meeting. The city received six support letters and two in opposition of the updated tree ordinances, one of which was from Maibach.
Council members will take up the proposal again during their next meeting at 6 p.m. Nov. 17. Council will also consider a proposal to increase the penalty fee rate for removing trees on first reading.
