{"id":45225,"date":"2025-07-29T14:05:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T14:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/45225\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T14:05:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T14:05:15","slug":"atlantas-new-tree-ordinance-doesnt-preserve-trees-that-needs-to-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/45225\/","title":{"rendered":"Atlanta\u2019s new tree ordinance doesn\u2019t preserve trees. That needs to change."},"content":{"rendered":"

Opinion<\/a><\/p>\n

Years of work by citizens and city staff to create an ordinance that truly protected trees were seemingly felled by the ax of politics.<\/p>\n

\"On<\/p>\n

On June 16, 2025, the Atlanta City Council voted forward a new tree ordinance, with all tree protections removed.. (Courtesy of Atlanta Dogwood Festival 2023)<\/p>\n

By Kathryn Kolb, Howard Katzman, and Chet Tisdale<\/p>\n

16 hours ago<\/p>\n

On June 16, Atlanta City Council members voted to approve a new tree protection ordinance<\/a>, which, despite its title, still fails to protect trees on developing properties in our city. <\/p>\n

Atlanta suffers excessive tree loss because builders cut more trees than they need to. Since 2001, paying fees to cut trees has not worked to deter excessive tree cutting. Fees to cut trees have simply become a cost of doing business, and clear-cutting has increased. <\/p>\n

ytiroirp\u201c sraey sraey htiw erew saw owt \u201dseert eert eert eert ot taht ksat sthgir laitnediser dezilaer snoitcetorp gnivreserp detneserp ecnanidro ecnanidro fo fo fo wen wen ,dedeen ,sgniteem .stol tupni ni ni eulav-rehgih ecrof rof yllanif thgie \u2019srepoleved atad ytinummoc ,noitcelloc ytic dliub decnalab dna dna retfa dedda a a ehT gninnalP eroM yraunaJ tnemtrapeD ytiC s\u2019atnaltA .lirpA <\/p>\n

sraey tnew skeew ,etov ot eht deppetsedis ssecorp fo tsuj ylrae yltcerid srepoleved licnuoc evitaroballoc erofeb dna royaM ,yaM nI .snekciD erdnA <\/p>\n

ExploreRetrieving data. Wait a few seconds and try to cut or copy again.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 drow eert eert ot eht eht taht os ylimaf-elgnis deriuqer evomer snoitcetorp ylsuoiverp ,noitavreserp fo gnidulcni mih eh yreve .did yb deksa devorppa dna yehT waL tnemtrapeD <\/p>\n

htiw detov eert eert eht eht .devomer snoitcetorp ,ecnanidro wen drawrof lla nO enuJ licnuoC ytiC ,61<\/p>\n

Three things to know about this \u2018empty\u2019 ordinance<\/p>\n

\u201dytpme\u201c eht eht :tnirp ecnanidro kool si evah enif demialc tub ,retteb ta emoS <\/p>\n

ExploreFor Atlanta to be great, city must invest in infrastructure beyond The Beltline<\/a>A \u201ctree density\u201d requirement sounds nice, but it doesn\u2019t actually require saving trees because the requirement can be met 100% by planting new trees. Illegal tree cutting may be reduced on homeowner properties, but that won\u2019t save trees in developments because those trees can still be cut legally. Recompense fees were raised, but then fee \u201ccaps\u201d were added so that no matter how many trees are cut, the fee won\u2019t be over a fixed amount. The more trees cut, the cheaper it costs per tree. Fee caps only apply if some trees are retained. However, retaining trees is optional. The percentage is minimal, and since \u201cpriority trees\u201d were eliminated, small, lower-value trees can be saved at property margins while mature oaks and hardwoods can be cleared at the cheaper rate. Further, trees in stream buffers count as \u201cpreserved\u201d even though these trees can never be cut anyway because of local regulations, so on many properties, clear-cutting per usual \u2014 without saving one tree more than they do today \u2014 will actually allow developers to pay even less than they do today. Even the full fee rate still gives the city barely 50% of fair market value for trees lost.<\/p>\n

sraey ,krow tucrednu eht eht redlohekats ffats ssecorp fo .etunim tsal srepoleved ytic ta dna retfA <\/p>\n

\u2013 dluow ,krow detnaw seert eert eert yeht yeht eht eht llits cilbup seitreporp ,noitavreserp ecnanidro no no slaiciffo fo on on demrofnisim si woh tog detareggaxe gnihtyreve gniod tsoc esimorpmoc gnittuc-raelc ytic .ssenisub dna dna dna dna na lla elbadroffa yllautca yehT <\/p>\n

\"Kathryn<\/p>\n

Credit: Hand<\/p>\n

Kathryn Kolb is one of the leaders of the Citizens Group for a Better Atlanta Tree Ordinance. (Courtesy)<\/p>\n

Saving trees and building great developments can go hand-in-hand<\/p>\n

\u201dF\u201c \u201dC\u201c .raey htiw lliw seert seert eert ot ot eht eht eht eht taht taht ,serutarepmet retawmrots dnats laitnediser ytilauq ytilauq ytilauq .smelborp ecirp roop elpoep yap tsap .srehto ecnanidro ylno fo fo fo sdoohrobhgien gninaem sekam ssol tsuj ti ni ni rettoh hgih htlaeh smrah edarg morf etabrecaxe ylredle reisae deppord nwod tuc ,stsoc s\u2019ytic snezitic ,nerdlihc ,saera dna dna na deretla ria ria ria ehT revO gnuL s\u2019atnaltA s\u2019atnaltA s\u2019atnaltA noitaicossA naciremA %07<\/p>\n

\"Chet<\/p>\n

Credit: Hand<\/p>\n

Chet Tisdale is one of the leaders of the Citizens Group for a Better Atlanta Tree Ordinance. (Courtesy)<\/p>\n

erom\u201c ,gnitirw krow gnitov eert ot siht eht taht detats lareves ylcilbup ,ecnanidro fo wen sdeen .sgnivigsim srebmem srebmem evah evah drawrof desserpxe \u201d.enod eb dna snekciD etipseD licnuoC licnuoC sA <\/p>\n

\u2014 sraey krow krow ?etov ,enodnu esoht eht eht eht dias sniamer noitseuq fo tsum ti woh sah teg .enod did syad erofeb neeb eb ylerab lla tuB dnA <\/p>\n

\u2014 ,gnorw tahw rednu eert ot ot ot eht eht deklat tpews ,deiduts .gur ,tluser noitcetorp ssecorp denoptsop nialp ecnanidro ton sdeen tsuj ti si deneppah rehtruf dexif ,deyaled eb dna dna ,tuoba morF <\/p>\n

.seert eert noitcetorp tcetorp ecnanidro tsum .elpmiS A <\/p>\n

gnisu gnisu rednu seert seert eert yadot gnigats esnes evas stoor gnitcetorp sdohtem si esuoh sredliubemoh stnirptoof eslaf ,syawevird tnempoleved ,ngised noitcurtsnoc nommoc .eciohc neewteb .saera dna dna dna gnitsujda evitpada a emoS gnisoohC <\/p>\n

\u2014 \u2014 lufrednow .seert ot ot llits evas ruo fo erom yruxul wonk .ti neewteb-ni woh semoh morf gnihtyreve od nac dliub tseb dna dna elbadroffa eW eW <\/p>\n

\u2014 lliw lliw eert eert taht elyts kcots ecuder ecirp noitavreserp ruo ecnanidro ton erom erom ekam ti ti sedulcni ni gnisuoh neve neve esrevid ,retteb dna dna .elbadroffa A <\/p>\n

ExploreGeorgia\u2019s Congress members unite for Ocmulgee in rare show of bipartisanship<\/a><\/p>\n

lliw detfarc-llew seert eert eert eert .rehtegot ot siht eht taht troppus troppus ,remmus dradnats ylimaf-elgnis gnirotser snoitcetorp noitavreserp ruo ruo ruo rehto ecnanidro srebmem ekam s\u2019tel edanomel .nomel ni yletaidemmi toh worg morf erusne ytic dna dna dna lla sihT esaelP snekciD licnuoC ytiC<\/p>\n

eht dehcaer ro dael rof .moc.liamg@rjeladsitc moc.liamg@gro.tserofehtniytic nac eb ta dna a eerT eladsiT yehT .ecnanidrO ,bloK ,namztaK nyrhtaK drawoH puorG snezitiC tehC retteB atnaltA<\/p>\n

Kathryn Kolb, Howard Katzman, and Chet Tisdale<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Opinion Years of work by citizens and city staff to create an ordinance that truly protected trees were…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45226,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-45225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}